Applications for Lavender Phoenix’s Third New Member Cohort are OPEN!
APPLY BY OCTOBER 23RD!

PURPOSE:

This fall, Lavender Phoenix will launch our third Rise Up cohort — a training series designed to prepare a new cohort of transgender and queer Asian and Pacific Islanders living in the Bay Area to join our membership as rising leaders ready to advance our collective work.

Right now, we are all witnessing intensifying fascism on various fronts. We are facing the erasure and attack on trans lives, continuous retaliation for anti-imperialist movements calling for the end of the genocide in Palestine, state neglect around the mass disabling covid pandemic, and the forced disappearenses and violence against migrant communities – all among the ongoing climate crisis and growing economic instability especially for the poor and working class. 

We know that advancing genuine justice and safety in this moment requires collective care, grounding in the power of relationships, a sharp class analysis, and a commitment to revolutionary purpose and action. Grace Lee Boggs told us that “By being in an organization, we internalize the meaning of commitment and care”. If you are a trans or queer Asian and Pacific Islander living in the Bay Area looking to commit to a political home, we need you to join Rise Up!

To learn more about Lavender Phoenix’s work, check out our 2024 Year in Review and our Theory of Change.

CONTENT:

To support grounded commitment , skill development, and relationship-building, we’ve split our new member onboarding program into two phases. 

Phase 1: Building Foundations

November – December 2025

In the first phase of Rise Up, participants will attend two workshops aimed at familiarizing them with key foundational knowledges about our history, values, strategy member expectations, and pathways to growing as a member. After Phase 1 workshops conclude, our Rise Up cohort will learn more about our member-led committees through committee open houses and select a committee to join in Phase 2 of our program. We encourage cohort participants to reach out to current committee members and/or committee managers for 1:1’s to share experiences. At this time, cohort participants can opt out of Phase 2 if they find that Lavender Phoenix is not the right political home for them! 

Phase 2: The New Member Period

January – April 2026

In the second (and final) phase of Rise Up, cohort participants (now referred to as “new members”) will join their selected committee to grow their understanding of what our work and practices look like day to day and begin contributing to build their organizing muscle. New members are expected to attend monthly committee meetings, Lavender Phoenix events, take on responsibilities to move committee work forward, and attend two final Rise Up workshops about our organizational culture and political praxis. Each new member will also be matched up with a LavNix buddy – a tenured member on their committee who will meet with them on a monthly basis to answer questions and process learnings. At the end of phase 2, each Rise Up participant will meet with a member-leader from their committee to give a grounded response to continued membership with LavNix and give and receive feedback about their new member experience. 

By joining our 2025 Rise Up cohort you are declaring your interest in becoming a Lavender Phoenix member! We hope our program design will support participants in making a grounded assessments about their capacity and interest in joining our membership and will confirm those decisions with participants at the end of phase 1 and phase 2. 

RESPONSIBILITIES: we expect all participants to…

• Attend all 4 virtual meetings on Saturdays from 1:00 PM -4:30 PM PT (exact dates: 11/8, 11/22, 1/24, and 2/7)
• Build connection and organizing relationships with current and other incoming Lavender Phoenix members.Remember, you will get what you put in– by showing up present and ready to engage, you will co-create an activating experience for you and your cohort!

QUALIFICATIONS: we invite you to apply for this program if you…

• Are a transgender, non-binary, and/or queer Asian and/or Pacific Islander person living in the Bay Area. All QTAPI Bay Area residents are invited to apply and we are specifically interested in uplifting the leadership of people who identify as working class, Bay Area raised, Trans, migrant, Southeast Asian, Southwest Asian, South Asian, Pacific Islander, young people, and/or elders. 
• Demonstrate excitement to practice queer/trans API leadership in an organizing context.
• Consistently communicate and follow-through with your responsibilities and tasks.
• Possess a long-term commitment to the values and vision that guide LavNix’s work.
• Exhibit a desire to build intentional, long-term community with other queer/trans API people.
• Display a commitment to growing, learning, and approaching challenges with humility.

APPLICATION TIMELINE:

At this time, we are ONLY able to accept a maximum of 13 participants to support a thorough, intentional, and connective onboarding experience.  In the event that we receive more than 13 applications, our team of members will conduct a reading round to select a group of 13 participants.  

• All application RSVPs are due by Thursday, October 23rd, at 11:59pm PT (no extensions).
• In the event that we receive more than 13 applicants, LavNix members will conduct a reading round on Monday, October 27th, to decide on our final cohort. 
• All applicants will be notified of their application status by Tuesday, October 28th

Please reach out to our Membership Coordinator, Julz, at julz@lavenderphoenix.org with any questions.

🔥 APPLY HERE by Thursday, 10/23! 🔥