Our Family Coalition

Our Mission

Our Family Coalition advances equity for the full and expanding spectrum of LGBTQ+ families and children through support, education, and advocacy. We seek to create an inclusive and just world where all LGBTQ+ families and children have visibility and opportunities to thrive as valued participants in our schools, institutions, and communities. 

Our Work

For 25 years, OFC has provided community-centered lifelines to LGBTQ+ families, including: an array of caucused, facilitated peer support groups; the delivery of critical basic needs support; and referrals to trusted allies and service providers for supports outside our scope. We also offer research-validated parent training and our programming is designed to directly impact the known “protective factors” that ensure strengthened parental resilience; improved understanding of parenting and child development; and an increased understanding of the social and emotional development of children. We also offer informational and topical workshops with vetted experts on a variety of subjects important to our community, including family formation options and processes available to LGBTQ+ prospective parents. OFC’s work training California educators in LGBTQ-inclusive pedagogy and curricula directly works to reduce anti-LGBTQ bias and improve school climate for LGBTQ+ students and families. The State Department of Education has selected OFC to provide statewide educator training and professional development consultation, curriculum development, and advising regarding inclusive classroom practices.  Finally, OFC collaborates with regional and state-wide partners to advocate for policy which recognizes, protects and strengthens LGBTQ+ civil rights in areas of crucial importance to LGBTQ+ families and children, including healthcare access, immigration reform, and economic justice.

Our Impact

Over the organization’s history, OFC has directly served thousands of LGBTQ+ families and children and impacted millions through our Education and Policy advocacy programming. 

In 2020, Our Family Coalition designed and hosted 245 events, groups, and training workshops which directly facilitated community-building among approximately 3,500 individuals. Some 2,500 LGBTQ family members particpated in our family support programs, and about 1,000 educators, school-based professionals and child-serving professionals participated in our anti-bias and inclusiveness training workshops. Further, in the first several bewildering months of the pandemic we live-streamed readings of children’s picture books featuring family diversity multiple mornings and evenings a week: to date these story times have been viewed over 15,000 times.  Also in 2020, OFC’s groundbreaking LGBTQ-inclusive education work led to our selection by the California Department of Education to train all county leads on LGBTQ+ inclusive History & Social Science curriculum impacting all 977 California school districts and the more than six million students enrolled in K-12 schools.