Our 2023 Year In Review
Thank you for your support this year 🏳️🌈
As we close out 2023, we want to take a quick moment to thank you for supporting our nonprofit work at Worthy Mentoring! This has been an exciting and impactful year as we’ve grown in our mission to empower the coming out and being out journey for all LGBTQ+ individuals. We’re proud to state that Worthy Mentoring has had the privilege of impacting thousands of lives this year across the United States, and we could not have done it without you. Our work, however, is far from complete, and we cannot wait to share our plans for 2024 with you soon!
Now, let’s take a look at Worthy Mentoring’s 2023 year in review!
We launched the Worthy Mentoring App 2.0 this year! Thanks to our supporters, partners, and development team, this new app contains updated designs, engaging on-boarding, empowering resources, and enhanced trust and safety tools. So far, our users are loving the new app, and it has strengthened our ability to provide powerful LGBTQ+ mentorship. To date, our platform has empowered 600+ mentor/mentee matches in the LGBTQ+ community! If you haven’t downloaded it yet, click HERE and learn more about being a Worthy Mentor or Worthy Mentee!
The 2023 Worthy Mentoring Pride Brunch was a huge success! We welcomed more than 400 attendees, exceeded our fundraising goal, and threw an incredible celebration of Pride! Not to mention, we were honored to recognize Dr. Fauci with the inaugural Worthy Mentor award and shine a light on the importance of Pride through learning, remembering, and respecting our LGBTQ+ history. If you missed it, you can see a full event recap in District Fray Magazine HERE!
Worthy Mentoring partnered with an Off-Broadway Musical inspired by one of our very own Worthy Mentees! This year, we received an exciting note from a Worthy Mentee that his coming out story of finding acceptance and love was being made into the Off-Broadway Musical, Straight Forward. Worthy Mentoring dashed to New York to meet the production crew and performers, and we got the formal blessing to be the official non-profit partner for the musical! Pictured above is a Straight Forward round table hosted by NYC Council Member Erik Bottcher that included the cast and crew and our Worthy Mentee who inspired it all!
D.C. United honored Worthy Mentoring with the 2023 Community Champion Award! Alongside amazing organizations like Rainbow Allies and Trans Pride DC, Worthy Mentoring was recognized for our work in empowering and strengthening our LGBTQ+ community. Pictured above we are joined by the leadership of local LGBTQ+ organizations during the 2023 D.C. United Night Out! Cheers to D.C. United for shining a light on so many amazing LGBTQ+ organizations and leaders.
Worthy Mentoring partnered with Born This Way Foundation, Jack.org, and National SOGIE Center to strengthen our Worthy Mentor training. Every Worthy Mentor that joins our platform is now provided with free LGBTQ+ Competency Training powered by the SOGIE Center and free Mental Health Communication Training powered by Born This Way Foundation and Jack.org. These training videos equip Worthy Mentors with the effective tools and resources to facilitate empowering LGBTQ+ mentorship. We’re grateful to partner with these amazing organizations in working together to improve our community!
Worthy Mentoring maintained a powerful presence at the Capital Pride Festival! At our booth in June, we connected with thousands of LGBTQ+ individuals young and old, as well as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other allies. We explained the importance of creating a safe digital coming out experience for the LGBTQ+ community and how Worthy Mentoring meets that need. Special thanks to our CEO’s parents and partner and our Worthy Mentoring board members for the support as the Festival welcomed about 475,000 attendees 😱
THANK YOU
From the leadership, board, volunteers, and advisors at Worthy Mentoring, thank you for joining us in our mission to improve the mental health and well-being of all LGBTQ+ individuals. We’re excited for the events, partnerships, and impact we’ll have in 2024, and we can’t wait to update you as we grow and scale our work throughout the United States!
If you’re considering year-end nonprofit contributions, we hope you'll support our work at Worthy Mentoring 🏳️🌈
Cheers to you, and thank you for empowering all LGBTQ+ individuals to know that they are worthy.
Michael Edmonson
Co-Founder & CEO, Worthy Mentoring