AN INSTITUTE
OF CHANGE
THREE DECADES
OF CHANGE
GLAAD has learned a lot since its founding in 1985 about the media’s role in changing hearts and minds. GLAAD demonstrated not only media’s powerful influence—impacting how people treat others, how they vote, and their daily decisions—but our own authoritative potential to lead the conversation, reshape the narrative, and ultimately, change the culture.
Now it’s time to share that experience more widely, giving people the tools they need to break barriers, champion acceptance, and amplify media impact in today’s culture.
“We won’t settle for anything less than 100% acceptance.”
– SARAH KATE ELLIS, PRESIDENT & CEO, GLAAD
WHAT
WE DO
The GLAAD Media Institute enables people to build the core skills and techniques that effectuate positive cultural change. This is accomplished through three pillars:
TRAINING
Spokesperson and media engagement education for effective storytelling
CONSULTING
Serving industries, corporations, and organizations positioned to take a stand for justice
RESEARCH
Fielding studies, evaluating data, and developing metrics to strengthen our mission and drive action
IMPACT
A nationwide network of 20,000 LGBTQ and allied students, activists, and spokespeople who can move hearts and minds in national and local media markets
Accurate, inclusive stories and messages in media outlets that increase and enhance representation of LGBTQ people
More educated Hollywood film and TV show creators to produce compelling, entertaining LGBTQ characters that do not reinforce common stereotypes
Improved reporting and understanding of LGBTQ people and non-discrimination policies by national and local publications and media outlets
A database of research and resources including media guides on best practices, fair and accurate reporting, opposition materials, and responsibility indexes
ACTIVATE
NAVIGATE
AND INITIATE
SOCIAL CHANGE
Nothing is more powerful than the personal stories that humanize our community.
Moving hearts and minds involves so much more than just supporting social justice. It requires the skills to uncover, hone, and communicate your narrative. It demands a keen understanding of your audience and the complexities of today’s media machine. It calls for dedicated follow-up to ensure that your message goes the distance, stays on-target, and is being leveraged and amplified consistently across multiple media platforms.
Using the best practices, tools, and techniques we’ve perfected over the past 30 years, the GLAAD Media Institute turns education into armor for today’s culture war—transforming individuals into compelling storytellers, media-savvy navigators, and mighty ambassadors whose voices break through the noise and incite real change.
Confirmed Training
- Tuesday, July 16, Dallas, TX | Telling Your Story: Register Here
- Thursday, July 25, San Francisco, CA | Telling Your Story: Register Here
- Wednesday August 14, Jackson, MS | Telling Your Story: Register Here
- Thursday, August 15, Columbus, OH | Telling Your Story: Register Here
- Tuesday, August 20, Richmond, VA | Telling Your Story: Register Here
- Thursday, August 27, Miami, FL | Telling Your Story: Register Here
- Wednesday, September 11, New Orleans, LA | Telling Your Story: Register Here
- Wednesday, September 25, Columbia, SC | Telling Your Story: Register Here
- Thursday, October 10, San Juan, Puerto Rico | Telling Your Story: Register Here
- Thursday, October 17, Orlando, FL | Telling Your Story: Register Here
- Wednesday, October 23, Raleigh, NC | Telling Your Story: Register Here
Training Coming Up
- TBD, please check back.
Taught by GLAAD Media Institute Experts
CONSULTING:
WE MEAN
BUSINESS
Using the best practices, tools, and techniques we’ve perfected over the past 30 years, the GLAAD Media Institute turns education into armor for today’s culture war—transforming individuals into compelling storytellers, media-savvy navigators, and mighty ambassadors whose voices break through the noise and incite real change.
Advising
We work with businesses on how to make smart, researched decisions before launching new products, services, and marketing campaigns.
Coaching
We train corporate spokespeople to use best practices on message-making and narrative development.
Behind-the-Scenes
We work with the television and film industries to ensure casting reflects the new realities of this generation, and that LGBTQ character presence is authentic.
Training
We train newsrooms and journalists on appropriate current terminology, and how to report on critical issues including hate crimes, nondiscrimination laws, marriage equality, and HIV.
RESEARCH
You can’t move what you can’t measure.
The more we know and understand about the state of acceptance, the more effectively GLAAD can fulfill its mission.
GLAAD currently publishes several reports yearly. Since 2014, we’ve partnered with the Harris Poll to track nationwide sentiments and comfortability surrounding the LGBTQ community, sharing the results in the Accelerating Acceptance report. Other key resources include the Where We Are on TV report analyzing diversity across broadcast and cable networks and streaming services, and the GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index (SRI), a road map toward increasing fair, accurate, and inclusive LGBTQ representation in film.
As the GLAAD Media Institute builds a new network of ambassadors nationwide, our ability to collect data at a granular level will improve. With an expanded, enhancedability to field custom research that best meets the needs of our clients and audience, our goal is to create a more robust, proactive research arm that can undergird and inform more impactful work across communities…and beyond.
Every year, the South Asian community comes together to celebrate Diwali, a massively popular worldwide event that has a rich complexity in belief and meaning. Also known as the “Festival of Lights,” it signals the New Year while for others, it represents a time for reflection and renewal.
On the morning of June 28, 1969, a group of patrons at the Stonewall Inn – a New York city bar that was a frequent target of police raids because it catered to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community – fought back against police brutality and harassment. Their uprising set in motion a wave of activism among LGBT people that put the issue of LGBT civil rights on the American political map. This resource kit will help journalists cover the 40th anniversary of this momentous event in the history LGBT rights.
Announcing Equality: Inclusive Newspapers List 2008
GLAAD is encouraging journalists to include gay, bisexual and transgender fathers and their families, as well as straight dads that have LGBT children in media coverage of Father’s Day. This toolkit provides potential story ideas and suggestions on how make Father’s Day coverage more inclusive.
For many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, the excitement of prom season may be overwhelmed by concerns that they may not feel welcome, or worse, might be actively excluded from prom. This toolkit will help journalists craft prom coverage that integrates the experiences of LGBT youth into stories.
GLAAD is encouraging journalists to include LGBT families in their coverage of Mother’s Day. This toolkit provides potential story ideas and suggestions on how to make coverage of Mother’s Day more inclusive.
Resources for crafting Valentine's Day coverage that integrates LGBT couples' romantic celebrations.
Chanukah, Christmas, Eid al-Adha, Kwanzaa, New Year's, Muharram, the Lunar New Year and other seasonal celebrations will soon set the stage for countless news and feature stories in mainstream and ethnic print and electronic media.
FOUNDING PARTNER
EARLY PARTNERS
