Gay Community Endowment Fund to host 25th Anniversary Celebration
Activist Jim Obergefell to serve as keynote speaker
The Gay Community Endowment Fund of Akron Community Foundation invites community members and leaders to save the date for "exhALE: Advancing Lived Equality," the fund's 25th Anniversary Celebration. The event will take place on Friday, June 5, 2026, at 6 p.m. at House Three Thirty.
In celebration of the fund's 25th anniversary, activist Jim Obergefell will speak and participate in a Q&A with guests. Mr. Obergefell draws from his unique experience at the heart of the Supreme Court marriage equality ruling to move and empower audiences to stand by their beliefs – and prove that love always wins. Sponsors at the $2,500 level and above are invited to meet Mr. Obergefell at a VIP reception before the main event.
During the event, the fund's leadership will also honor the Founders of the Gay Community Endowment Fund with the 2026 Paul Daum Award. The award, which is named for an early donor of the fund and a former professor of theater at the University of Akron, honors those who have demonstrated a significant commitment to LGBTQ+ causes and whose involvement has benefited the Greater Akron community at large. Created in 2016, the award pays tribute to Paul Daum's generous estate gift to the Gay Community Endowment Fund, which left a legacy that will forever meet the needs of Greater Akron's LGBTQ+ community.
The Founders include Jody Bacon, Claudia Bjerre, Cindy Christman, Gerardo Cisneros & Phil Seibel, Charlene Clamp & Robin Donald, John Grafton & Richard Worswick, Scott Griffith, Joe Haban, Ian Haberman, Chris Hixson, Rabbi David Horowitz, Harry Jackson, Eric Jones, Jim King, Bruce Kriete, Rick Krochka & Dr. Steve Schmidt, Gerald Larson, Tim Maynard & Ernie Stone, Brian McGuire, Kris Mikolajczyk & Annette Nicoloff, and Peter Schofield.
Corporate and individual sponsorship opportunities for the event range from $500 to $7,500. Proceeds from the event support the GCEF Scholarship Fund, which annually awards scholarships to LGBTQ+ and allied students in Northeast Ohio.
For more information about becoming a sponsor, visit akroncf.org/exhALE-sponsorship or contact Affiliate Fund Event & Volunteer Coordinator Malia Rivera-Speer at 330-436-5649 or [email protected]. To be notified when individual tickets go on sale this spring, register for the Gay Community Endowment Fund's e-newsletter at akroncf.org/GCEFNews.
About the Gay Community Endowment Fund
Founded in 2001, the Gay Community Endowment Fund is a philanthropic endowment of Akron Community Foundation. The fund supports the Greater Akron LGBTQ+ community by providing grants and scholarships that enhance the right to live safely, openly and authentically. Since its inception, the fund has grown to nearly $2.9 million while reinvesting nearly $925,000 into the community. Contributions of any amount are welcome and support future grantmaking. Checks should be sent to Akron Community Foundation, 345 W. Cedar St., Akron, OH 44307, with Gay Community Endowment Fund in the memo line. Donations may also be designated for the GCEF Scholarship Fund. For more information, or to contribute, call 330-376-8522 or visit gaycommunityfund.org.
About Akron Community Foundation
For 70 years, Akron Community Foundation has been our community's champion and generator of enduring philanthropy. In 1955, a $1 million bequest from the estate of Edwin Shaw established the community foundation. It is a philanthropic endowment of $348 million with a growing family of nearly 930 funds established by charitable people and organizations from all walks of life. The community foundation and its funds welcome gifts of all kinds, including cash, bequests, stock, real estate, life insurance and retirement assets, just to name a few. To date, the community foundation's funds have awarded $267 million in grants to qualified nonprofit organizations. For more information about Akron Community Foundation or to learn more about creating your own charitable fund, call 330-376-8522 or visit akroncf.org.