Purpose
Alturi is an influential human storytelling project that offers a unique and inspiring window into the lives of LGBTI people worldwide. Sponsored by the Caravanserai Project, Alturi’s purpose is to provide a platform for people to share their experiences, insights, and wisdom to bridge divisions between identities and communities.
Potential
Divisions threaten the safety and freedom of all LGBTI people. By highlighting social and cultural stories as told by global LGBTI activists, Alturi seeks to educate readers about the lives of marginalized LGBTI people. By learning about the diverse and myriad lives of LGBTI individuals, Alturi has the potential to build bridges of understanding and compassion between different communities and identities.
Promise
Alturi is committed to promoting and supporting the voices of activists from eclectic LGBTI communities worldwide. Alturi offers a unique opportunity to learn about activists’ experiences and struggles by prioritizing authentic storytelling. Its logo symbolizes a rare unity transcending national boundaries and divisions within the LGBTI community. Alturi strongly encourages readers to lend their support to the activists it features. Through human storytelling, Alturi hopes to inspire a love for humanity that surpasses all differences.
Alturi aims to unite across identities and communities to show that Human is Human™.
People
Joel Klausler – Project Strategist
Joel is a University of Minnesota graduate with a master’s degree in strategic communication and a minor in human rights. He is passionate about promoting stories of global LGBTI activism. Contact joel@alturi.org
Robert Blackmon – Project Director
Robert is passionate about the use of technology to improve the political, social and economic conditions of marginalized communities. His online consultancy, Demotrac, specializes in messaging and community-building integrations for non-profits in the LGBTI and media spaces. Contact robert@alturi.org
Charlie Rounds – Alturi Co-Founder
Charlie Rounds is the co-founder of Alturi and Give OUT Day. He was a travel industry executive for more than 30 years including 13 years at RSVP Vacations. Charlie has served on the board of directors of Meet Minneapolis, The Civil Marriage Collaborative, The Center for Victims of Torture, and the Kevin J. Mossier Foundation. Contact charlier@alturi.org
Sebastian Tangelson – Alturi Global Communications Intern
Sebastian is a second-year Global Communications intern at Alturi in his senior year at St Louis Park High School. Influenced by his Argentine-American background, Sebastian believes in leveraging his multilingual and cross-cultural skills to assist Alturi in its LGBTI livelihood work in the Caribbean and South America, namely encouraging multinational corporations to better engage in the economic well-being of the global LGBTI community. Contact sebastian@alturi.org
Alexandra Kuenning – Lead Writer
Alexandra (Xandie) Kuenning (she/her/hers) is a graduate of Northeastern University with a Bachelor’s in International Affairs and is currently pursuing an International Master’s degree in Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies. In her work with non-profit organizations, she has concentrated on Eurasian affairs, with a specific focus on the emergence of LGBTI rights and organizations. Contact alexandra@alturi.org
Partners
Alturi is grateful for the support and partnership of a number of leading governmental, non-governmental and non-profit organizations, as well as corporations and non-profits. These include:
U.S. Partners
- Advocates for Human Rights
- Advocates for Youth
- American Jewish World Service
- Amnesty International USA
- Astraea Foundation
- The Fund for Global Human Rights
- Heartland Alliance
- Human Rights First
- Human Rights Watch
- ORAM – Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration
- OUTRight Action International
International Partners
- Akahatá – Equipo de Trabajo en Sexualidades y Géneros
- Alternatives-Cameroun
- Arus Pelangi
- Asociación ALFIL – Identidades en diálogo
- CariFLAGS
- Friends of Prague Pride
- Friends of Zagreb Pride
- J-Flag
- REDLACTRANS
- Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)
- Thai Transgender Alliance
- UHAI EASHRI (East African Sexual Health and Rights Initiative)
Photos courtesy American Jewish World Service: Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera of Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG) and activist with Movimiento de la Diversidad Sexual Costeña (MODISEC) in Nicaragua photographed by Evan Abramson.