Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Ebony Coleman
Hi Sean, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started advocacy work by looking for what I needed when I was younger and by just coming out. My goal was to raise awareness about the unique needs of our community by telling stories that had the greatest impact. I wanted to connect the dots and show the intersections of multiple communities and issues. I wanted people to understand how unemployment and underemployment were directly linked to individuals facing housing instability, or how poor health outcomes were related to the lack of access to adequate food sources, such as grocery stores or food markets. I also needed people to understand that we, as a community, needed more than just the bare minimum. Through being a member of the house and ballroom community, I leveraged my connections to start working with community members, which allowed me to capture data from a largely ignored community.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not! This has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I entered this work thinking I would be celebrated by others who were also doing the work and by those claiming to want to help people like me. However, I quickly learned that many were more focused on their funding and the community often came second. This led me to gain a bird’s-eye view of the disparities between support for Black and brown agencies and leaders compared to our white, cisgender counterparts. It was both eye-opening and disheartening.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What do I do? A little bit of everything. I design and develop programs that are impactful and measurable. I work on creating meaningful collaborations to further assist in programming, and I seek out funding opportunities, whether they come from the government, corporations, or private donors. I also manage a staff of 95 people, always mindful of supporting their individual professional development.
In the past, our organization, Destination Tomorrow, was the grantmaker for the TRANScend Community Impact Fund, sponsored by Gilead Sciences. As the sole Black Trans grantmaker in the country, I have been honored to uplift and support the work and professional development of Black and brown Trans leaders.
I’ve additionally developed housing models to provide emergency housing for Transgender and gender nonconforming/non-binary (TGNC/NB) former or current sex workers and am currently working to open a larger shelter to accommodate more TGNC/NB clients.
I have successfully replicated Destination Tomorrow’s model in Atlanta, GA, and Washington, D.C. What I’m most proud of is my consulting work in partnership with Ranaverse. This project called United We Stand, supported by Unilever, allows me to work with nonprofits in areas that historically haven’t received funding support and are not seen as major LGBTQ+ hubs. Thanks to the funding support and the guidance I provide as their coach and consultant, we are now in our fourth year and have been able to grow the operating budgets of these organizations.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I always bet on myself and my team—if I don’t believe in us, who will? We take chances on new, innovative ideas that can advance our clients. For example, we took a chance by opening new locations in different cities and states, and it paid off. We also took a chance by becoming a provider for the migrant shelters the city opened, and now we operate two of them. We are recognized as one of the best providers with minimal incidents. What you may call a risk, we see as a calculated investment—an investment that will ultimately benefit our community. In my view, that’s a win-win.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://destinationtomorrow.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/destinationtomorrow452/
Image Credits
Desmond Picotte photo credit