Program Mission
Outright’s Bet Initiative aims to foster inclusive economies that advance economic inclusion and livelihood access for LGBTIQ communities. An inclusive economy is an economic system that ensures all individuals and groups — regardless of their background, identity, or social position — have equitable opportunities to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from economic activity. The term livelihoods refers to the means and activities through which individuals sustain their lives, including employment, skill development, and income generation. Therefore, economic inclusion is the constellation of processes that enable everyone to enjoy equal access to finance, education, and legal status, which is essential for actively and meaningfully engaging in labor markets, being entrepreneurial, and building economic independence. The objectives of this process include:
- BUILD: LGBTIQ people have the capability to seek and obtain fair and decent work,
- EARN: Employers value and seek LGBTIQ workers, and
- THRIVE: The labor market provides employment opportunities in which hiring, terms and conditions, and all other employment and labor decisions are non-discriminatory and respectful of the dignity of LGBTIQ people.
LGBTIQ individuals and communities will only be able to sustain themselves holistically if they can live with dignity, be included in the economy, and enjoy full access to their economic rights and opportunities. Local entrepreneurship presents opportunities when governments fail to support and protect marginalized communities. Inclusive economies are also inherently intertwined with inclusive democracies, as economic resilience yields both greater civic participation and a stronger movement.
Our Model
Outright provides support through a model that combines grantmaking with technical support, pairing funding to local LGBTIQ organizations with mentorship, where feasible. Our priority areas of focus are skills and human capital development, entrepreneurship development, financial inclusion, advocacy, partnership, and capacity building for inclusive institutions, and social enterprises.
Skills and Human Capital Development
Education and training that strengthen professional, vocational, financial, and digital skills, as well as job placement support for LGBTIQ+ individuals. The goal is to enhance employability, earning potential, and leadership capabilities in contexts where exclusion often limits access to training and fair work.
Entrepreneurship Development
Supporting LGBTIQ+ individuals to start and grow businesses through training, mentorship, business incubation, and startup support. It helps community members overcome discrimination in formal labor markets by building independent income pathways and networks that affirm their identities.
Financial Inclusion
Expanding access to credit, savings, insurance, and other financial services—such as microfinance or community-based lending—to LGBTIQ+ people who may be excluded from traditional banking institutions. This increases the ability to start enterprises, cover emergencies, and build long-term economic stability.
Advocacy, Partnership, and Capacity-Building for Inclusive Institutions
Working with businesses, government agencies, financial systems, and educational institutions to reduce discrimination and ensure that LGBTIQ+ people can access jobs, training, and services on equal terms. It strengthens policies and organizational practices to make economic systems safer and more inclusive.
Social Enterprises
Using market-based, revenue-generating strategies to pursue social, environmental, or community goals rather than primarily maximizing shareholder profit. Unlike traditional nonprofits that rely on donations, social enterprises aim to be financially self-sustaining through the sale of goods or services while directing surplus revenues toward their mission.
Our Activities
Outright, as one of the few organizations working as both a donor and technical support partner at the country level, fills in gaps and catalyzes work already underway to include LGBTIQ communities in the economy. Outright draws upon its global reach, crucial multilateral and bilateral relationships, and experience working across key thematic areas to support national and local civil society.
Outright has a strong and ever-expanding network of civil society organizations around the world, thanks mainly to our global programming and grantmaking. Our leadership at the UN as the Secretariat of the UN LGBTI Core Group boosts our credibility. Outright is strengthening its leadership role in multilateral and bilateral advocacy to increase economic inclusion for LGBTIQ communities, including at the World Bank, regional development banks, and bilateral development agencies. By offering a comprehensive approach that combines direct advocacy at the global and regional levels with technical support and strategic grant-making at the local level, we are uniquely placed to empower civil society to pursue economic and social inclusion for their communities.
Grantmaking
Since 2021, Outright has awarded over $2 million in 70+ grants to advance economic inclusion and access to livelihoods in over 30 countries. A few of our signature programs are:
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Outright’s Economic Inclusion Program (2025-present) is supporting 15 grants to advance livelihoods work in 14 countries, totaling over $400,000.
The Looking Outright Fund (2024-present) is a unique partnership between the Looking Out Foundation, Outright International, and P&G. The Looking Outright Fund, housed at Outright, supports creative initiatives that aim to advance economic empowerment and inclusion and access to livelihood opportunities for LBTQ+ women in the global South and East. The program has awarded over $300,000 in grants to organizations working in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Outright International and LesbianGlobal launched the LBQ+ Women’s Economic Empowerment Program (2026-present), a funding initiative to support LBQ+ women-led projects that strengthen livelihoods, expand economic inclusion, and challenge systemic barriers to economic participation. The program responds to the structural discrimination, social stigma, and limited access to financial systems, which continue to shape the economic realities of LBQ communities worldwide.
Through Inclusive Solutions, Outright partnered with LGBTIQ organizations in four countries to explore what interventions could improve the employment prospects of LGBTIQ people in the private sector. This project included an extensive monitoring and evaluation component to help identify successful measures that can be replicated in other countries. Inclusive Solutions was generously supported by Google.org, Scotiabank Foundation, and The Walt Disney Company.
The USAID-funded Alliance for Global Equality (2023-2025), led by Outright and implementing partner the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, equipped key political, civil society, and faith-based stakeholders in target USAID presence countries to lead social change for more inclusive economic growth and democratic participation. As part of this program, Outright’s onward grantmaking and technical support in more than 15 countries focused on strengthening LGBTIQ movements through building LGBTIQ-led organizational and leadership capacity, economic resilience, and allyship. Nearly $700,000 in direct grantmaking support was focused on livelihoods activities.
Inclusive Development
Each year, wealthy countries provide over $200 billion in overseas development assistance to support these programs, in addition to $230 billion in financing by multilateral development banks. Outright seeks to ensure LGBTIQ people are included in all international development activities. We advocate and work in partnership with others to ensure that development policies and programs recognize the unique needs of LGBTIQ people and respond in ways that improve LGBTIQ development outcomes. Outright supports innovative programs and research to identify how governments and the private sector can support LGBTIQ people as full and equal participants in the economy.
Multilateral Development Banks
Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) like the World Bank and regional MDBs provide $200 billion annually to governments of low- and middle-income countries, home to an estimated 500 million LGBTIQ people. Outright has three goals in its work.
- In countries that are supportive of LGBTIQ rights, MDB can provide billions of dollars to support government programs that seek to expand economic opportunities for LGBTIQ people.
- In countries that are less supportive of LGBTIQ rights, advocates can seek the implementation of non-discrimination standards according to multilateral development bank policies that prohibit the exclusion of LGBTIQ people from MDB-funded programs.
- MDBs can use their enormous influence to advocate for the inclusion of LGBTIQ people in development policy.
At the World Bank, Outright has advocated for the inclusion of LGBTIQ people in all global practice areas. Outright has also coordinated advocacy to support the request of Ugandan LGBTIQ advocates that the World Bank suspend loans to Uganda as long as the Anti-Homosexuality Act remains in place. To learn more about how you can advocate for LGBTIQ people at the World Bank, take a look at our guide.
At the Asian Development Bank, Outright has coordinated a campaign to include LGBTIQ people in the definition of “disadvantaged and vulnerable groups,” which would trigger a series of safeguard provisions to protect LGBTIQ people against discrimination and exclusion from programs financed by the Bank.
