2024 Moxie Award Winners Announced
The staff and leadership of PFund are thrilled to announce the recipients of the foundation’s 2024 Moxie Awards. The Moxies are an annual event hosted by PFund Foundation that celebrates the queer individuals and organizations who help build equity for LGBTQ+ communities across the Upper Midwest.
PFund invites members of the public to join us for the Moxie Awards Ceremony on Friday, April 19 at 7:00 p.m. The event will feature a silent auction, happy hour, dinner, and awards ceremony featuring local drag legend Dick Von Dyke as the MC for the evening. Tickets are available for purchase for $150 apiece on EventBrite.
The 2024 Moxie Award recipients, chosen for their advocacy on behalf of the regional queer community, are as follows:
Chris Stedman | Minnesota
A long-time advocate for queer, trans, and gender-expansive people, Chris served as one of the inaugural ambassadors for PFund’s first TRANSCEND Campaign last spring. His tireless promotion of TRANSCEND helped transform what PFund initially conceived of as a $25,000 rapid-response campaign into an ongoing fundraising initiative that to date has raised more than $135,000 to help gender-expansive individuals and families access safe schooling, affirming medical care, and other resources. Chris is a writer in the Twin Cities and also serves on PFund Foundation’s board of directors.
The Transformation Project | South Dakota
A 2023 PRISM and TRANSCEND grantee, the Transformation Project supports and empowers transgender individuals and their families as well as educating the broader community about gender identity and expression. Unfairly targeted by the political leadership in South Dakota, the Transformation Project successfully sued and settled with the state following the cancellation of a contract for community health work. As part of the settlement, not only did South Dakota have to pay the organization $300,000, but it also issued an apology for how the Transformation Project was treated.
Route to India, LLC | Minnesota
Route to India, a new culinary business led by queer, South Asian women, began by building solutions in the food service community using the time tested principles of Ayurveda and Yoga. Founder Nalini Mehta fosters an intentional kitchen culture focused on the mental wellness of the folks who cook for the business. A 2023 Equity Fund grantee, Route to India has used grant funds to build consumer awareness and confidence in their Yoga Pops brand while ensuring the business’s food suppliers have access to opportunity, and the education and equipment they need to grow efficiently and sustainably.
The 2024 Moxie awards are made possible thanks to the generous sponsorship provided by Bremer Bank, Roya LLC, and Minuteman Press.