Zuna Institute

HISTORY

In 1999, Zuna Institute was born at the kitchen table of sistahs who believe that the black lesbian community can benefit from a national presence. The discussion focused on creating an organization that would advocate on behalf of black lesbian's on a national level. While it is apparent that Black Lesbians across the country are doing the grassroots work to improve the quality of our lives, Zuna want's to build on this work by creating an organization that would advocate our position on issues on a national level. The founders also want to bridge the gap between geographically dispersed organizations and communities to provide a vehicle where we can join forces to become a more visible national community.

MISSION

Zuna Instititue is a National Advocacy Organization for Black Lesbians that was created to address the needs of black lesbians in the areas of Health, Public Policy, Economic Development, and Education.

VISION

The vision for Zuna institute is to call upon our national collective wisdom, strength and courage to improve the quality of Black Lesbians lives, by eliminating barriers that we face on a daily basis. These barriers are deeply rooted in public policies that encourage homophobia, economic and educational injustices, and all other forms of discrimination

PURPOSE

Zuna Institute is a not for profit national advocacy organization for Black Lesbians. Its focus is the economic development, education, public policy support, and improved health of its constituents. Through community organizing, training, and networking Zuna institute will focus on eliminating barriers that black lesbian's face within the black community based on sexual orientation and in the LGBT community based on race. Zuna Institute will also host a bi-annual national conference where black lesbians come together to address the issues of our communities and organizations.

2001 Conference
Participants