CenterLink, Inc.
The Community of LGBT Centers
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Serving 40,550 people each week, LGBT community centers are a vital part of communities, offering programs for LGBT people ranging from healthcare to social programs and increasing public understanding of LGBT people and their lives. The field remains strong - and growing, with new centers being founded to serve LGBT people across the country. LGBT community center leaders consistently express an ongoing need for CenterLink to provide continuing education and training for their staff leaders and Boards of Directors, while also facilitating networking opportunities face-to-face, online and through conference calls. The 2018 Community Center Survey Report (a project of the Movement Advancement Project and CenterLink) showed that LGBT community Centers rely on CenterLink more than any other LGBT movement organization for technical assistance and support. Sixty-eight percent of all Centers responding to the survey said they received help from CenterLink.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Leadership Summit
CenterLink hosts an annual training and networking conference for executive directors and board members of LGBT community centers.
Leadership Bootcamp
The program is designed to help build the skills, talents and knowledge of center executive directors and to equip them to lead and manage their centers more effectively, while bringing stability to their organizations.
YouthLink
Youth Link has a three-fold purpose:
1. Provide leadership and organizational development for LGBT youth centers through technical assistance, training, strategic planning and resource sharing;
2. Develop a national online resource portal of program examples, policies, procedures and funding; and
3. 3) Bring increased national attention to the issues facing LGBT youth by giving youth leaders the opportunity to gather, discuss the issues most important to them, develop a national policy agenda and coordinate with national advocacy organizations to incorporate the agenda into their policy strategies.
Leadership Development & Technical Assistance
CenterLink offers technical assistance, capacity building and leadership training, opportunities to centers in all stages of formation. Through online & telephone interactions as well as in person consultations, CenterLink helps community centers improve governance, leadership, mission and strategy, and to streamline their administrative, program development, fundraising, and advocacy efforts.
LGBT HealthLink
LGBT HealthLink is a community-driven network of advocates and professionals looking to enhance LGBT health by eliminating tobacco use, and other health disparities within our communities. They are one of eight CDC-funded tobacco and cancer disparity networks.
ActionLink
ActionLink enables LGBTQ+ community centers and the people they serve to act as effective and powerful champions, protecting the social services, health care, programming, and funding necessary for our communities to thrive. We advise our network of threats and changes to policies affecting the LGBTQ+ population, then offer quick, simple ways to take action.
Where we work
Awards
Champions of Change 2012
The White House
2012 High-Impact Nonprofit 2012
GuideStar Take Action & Philanthropedia
2012 Great Nonprofits Top Rated List 2012
Great Nonprofits
2014 Great Nonprofits Top Rated List 2014
Great Nonprofits
2017 Great Nonprofits Top Rated List 2017
Great Nonprofits
2018 Great Nonprofits Top Rated List 2018
Great Nonprofits
2016 Great Nonprofits Top Rated List 2016
Great Nonprofits
2013 Great Nonprofits Top Rated List 2013
Great Nonprofits
2019 Great Nonprofits Top Rated List 2019
Great Nonprofits
2020 Great Nonprofits Top Rated List 2020
Great Nonprofits
2021 Great Nonprofits Top Rated List 2021
Great Nonprofits
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of coalition members
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Leadership Development & Technical Assistance
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of list subscribers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
CenterLink helps develop strong, sustainable LGBT community centers and builds a thriving center network that creates healthy, vibrant communities. We strive to support community center organizations through expanding LGBT center organizational capacity, enhancing their infrastructures, increasing their level of professionalism, and increasing local community awareness of the work and importance of centers.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1. Provide relevant and strategic technical assistance according to the needs of centers,
2. Conduct an annual conference for EDs, CEOs, and Board Leaders to network with professional colleagues and access specialized training,
3. Host an annual Executive Director Boot Camp for newer EDs focusing on organizational management, program development, fundraising, board governance, financial management, and diversity,
4. Provide peer leadership development,
5. Provide individual coaching/mentorship for center directors,
6. Assist community center leaders to address economic, civil, and health disparities within our communities
7. Host webinar training series for boards, leadership, and all staff members of centers on a range of professional development topics, as suggested by members through needs assessments,
8. Institutionalize diversity and inclusion training and practices into ongoing capacity-building services to ensure the broadest recruitment and retention of leadership.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
CenterLink has a small but motivated staff with decades of experience working in and leading nonprofit organizations. Our board of directors is comprised of center executive directors, foundation and corporate representatives, and community members. Working closely together, these individuals provide the long-term vision of the organization while also ensuring that the organization is adequately funded for the goals it has set. Our CEO holds a certificate from BoardSource for governance training and is a licensed consultant with the Standards For Excellence Institute.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2020:
In collaboration with the Movement Advancement Project, produced the 2020 LGBTQ Community Center Survey Report,
Virtually hosted the 9th Annual Executive Director Boot Camp, a training for center directors with 1-4 years of experience - 11 executive directors attended,
Through our YouthLink program, provided technical assistance and support to staff at youth-specific and youth-serving centers, including programming calls and a semi-monthly newsletter,
Expanded Q Chat Space nationally, working with member center staff to increase program accessibility, and provide real-time, chat-based, professionally facilitated support groups for LGBTQ+ teens who are unable to access in-person programs. This program (a partnership effort with Planned Parenthood and PFLAG) is co-brandable, expanding the program offerings for centers across the country,
Continued to provide funding for unrestricted grants to centers with small budgets, with a goal of increasing their capacity and sustainability,
Facilitated in-person and virtual board and staff training at nine organizations across the U.S., with a concentration in strategic planning and board governance,
Continued to partner with the Johnson Family Foundation on its mental health initiative awarding grants that will increase the variety and quality of mental health services
provided by LGBT community centers and strengthen the overall organizational capacity of these institutions,
Hosted the 14th Annual Leadership Summit virtually as part of our larger E-Summit. The agenda included tracks on health; leadership; governance; advocacy; fundraising and financial health; mental and physical health; program development; and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Over 700 center leaders, board members, and staff registered for the E-Summit,
Continued to improve and expand our members-only portal, MyCenterLink, where community center staff and board members can access resources and tools. This year we added a COVID-19 resource page, as well as a Race & Equity resource page,
Provided quarterly check-in calls with grant recipients, increased resource materials online, and continued our newsletters and programming calls,
Through LGBT HealthLink, continued to support best practices to reduce health disparities, improve health programming, promote SOGI data collection, and increased linkages between centers and health funding sources
Conducted member surveys to measure program impact, gaps, and opportunities for the organization, as well as separate surveys for YouthLink and HealthLink,
Through our ActionLink program (Center Action Network) continued to partner with and work closely alongside national coalitions to mobilize LGBT Centers and their constituents on the continuing federal policy and legislative issues that impact LGBT Centers and the communities that they serve. A strong focus this year was on Get Out the Vote activities and health insurance and Medicaid information campaigns
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
We support the leaders (board and staff) of LGBTQ community centers.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.),
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
Added two new training programs to allow more people across our membership to participate.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
CenterLink, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Glennda Testone
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Center
Term: 2022 - 2023
Robert Boo
The Pride Center at Equality Park
Term: 2020 - 2023
Christopher Bartlett
William Way LGBT Community Center
Cece Cox
Resource Center Dallas
Lorri Jean
Los Angeles LGBT Center
Glennda Testone
The LGBT Community Center - NYC
Stacie Walls
LGBT Life Center
Marvin Webb
Funders for LGBTQ Issues
Michelle Kristel
McCormack+Kristel
Paul Moore
David Bohnett Foundation
Robert Boo
Pride Center at Equality Park
Jay Maddock
Bell's Beer
Modesto Valle
Center on Halsted
Sarah Anderson
Campbell and Company
Antonio Garcia
Affirmations
Lance Toma
San Francisco Community Health Center
Tandra LaGrone
In Our Own Voices
Phyllis Harris
LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/04/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.