Conam Charitable Foundation
Who We Are
We are proud of who we are and what we have achieved together, and we know more change is desperately needed.
We foster equality, acceptance, and opportunities for everyone to thrive.
Our Mission
To champion the rights and well-being of LGBTQ+ individuals through advocacy, education, and community empowerment. We collaborate with partners to promote equity, create safe spaces, and inspire lasting societal change, ensuring that every person is supported to live their truth with pride and dignity.
Our Vision
To create a society where LGBTQ+ individuals are fully included, empowered, and celebrated, fostering equality, acceptance, and opportunities for everyone to thrive. We envision communities where love and diversity are embraced as strengths.
Our Values
Over the past two decades, we have contributed to transformative progress in the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals across Ontario and Canada. Today, we celebrate equal rights to love, marry, and build families, and we continue to advocate for the inclusion of LGBTQ+ identities, relationships, and histories in education systems across the country. Through our campaigns, we spark positive changes in public attitudes and policies. We strive to ensure LGBTQ+ people thrive at every stage of life by developing long-term, impactful partnerships with institutions that shape our daily experiences—whether in schools, workplaces, places of worship, or community spaces. We amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ communities and anchor our work in evidence, lived experiences, and professional expertise. Above all, we empower individuals and communities to drive change from within.
Inclusion
We believe in creating a world where every individual, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression, feels valued, respected, and included.
Equality
We are committed to advancing equal rights and opportunities for all, ensuring that no one is left behind due to prejudice or discrimination.
Empowerment
We inspire and equip LGBTQ+ individuals and communities to advocate for their rights, embrace their identities, and drive meaningful change.
Resilience
We stand strong in the face of adversity, continuously striving to overcome challenges and build a better future for LGBTQ+ people.
Compassion
We approach our work with empathy, understanding the unique experiences and challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals and responding with care and support.
Our Strategy
We imagine a world where LGBTQ+ people everywhere are free to be themselves and can live their lives to the full. We are proud of who we are and what we have achieved together, and we know more change is desperately needed. Because in every community in the Canada, and around the world, LGBTQ+ people are still being abused, thrown out of their homes, and bullied in schools and workplaces. The institutions that should protect us – our governments, communities, faith institutions and families – too often stand silent, or actively harm us. Despite increasing challenges to the rights we’ve fought so hard to secure, we remain steadfast in our mission. We won’t stop until every LGBTQ+ person is free to be proud, free to be loved, free to belong, and free to be their true selves. Our work continues until the inclusive and equitable world we imagine becomes a reality.
Freedom
We will campaign for:
- A legally enforceable ban on conversion therapy across Canada, with support for survivors and training for frontline professionals.
- Hate crime and hate speech laws in Canada that protect LGBTQ+ communities, as well as advocating for restorative approaches.
- Better UNHCR guidelines on deciding LGBTQ+ asylum claims, and fairer outcomes for LGBTQ+ refugees here in the Canada
- Inclusive legal recognition which respects and protects who we are, and our relationships.
Equity
We will:
- Campaign for accessible and high-quality healthcare for all LGBTQ+ people.
- Ensure we are properly supporting and working alongside LGBTQ+ people of colour.
- Build strong relations with inclusive faith communities and challenge religiously-informed discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
- Create a strong evidence base to support activism and campaigning work that tackles the deep inequalities within our communities.
- Support LGBTQ+ people across their lives, from school age to retirement age and beyond.
Potential
We will:
- Expand and improve our Diversity Champions and Global Diversity Champions programmes so that more LGBTQ+ people are accepted and celebrated at work, wherever we work.
- Expand our empowerment programmes so that more LGBTQ+ people and their allies can step up as leaders, role models, and activists in their own communities.
- Campaign for LGBTQ+ inclusion across sport worldwide so that every LGBTQ+ person feels comfortable and confident taking part in the sports and physical activities they love.