2025 CHANGEMAKERS AWARDEES
A total of $80,715 was awarded this year to local organizations and projects that align with the life’s work and advocacy of Urvashi Vaid

Establishment of the Provincetown Juneteenth Freedom Foundation
Establishment of the Provincetown Juneteenth Freedom Foundation: Supporting the diverse and intersectional community of Provincetown through education and activism. We seek to develop and establish a community organization focused on celebrating diversity and engaging in racial justice education and activism, particularly as it relates to the diverse and intersectional communities that live on and visit the Outer Cape. We are in the process of evolving from an unincorporated group to a formal organization. In addition to planning an annual Juneteenth celebration, we intend to develop a Provincetown-based racial justice walking tour and related curriculum for Outer Cape elementary, middle school and high school students.

Outer Cape Commoners
Rooting our Youth through Ritual, Connection, and Traditions of Environmental Stewardship. The Outer Cape Commoners is a new initative launching in June 2025 with a five-day gathering aimed at connecting young people with careers in environmental stewardship through our shared public spaces - the Commons. Traditionally, commoners were stewards of collectively managed resources; today, we're reimagining this role through careers in local resource craftsmanship, food production, ecological restoration, and other innovative approaches to caring for our shared land and water resources. Beginning with this gathering, participants will work alongside local mentors to develop pathways for meaningful work in community on the Outer Cape.

P.U.E.N.T.E
A Pilot Program Bridging Community Resources and Support to the Latino Community Residing on the Outer Cape. This pilot program,"P.U.E.N.T.E." (Spanish for "bridge"), empowers the Latino community on the Outer Cape by training Spanish-speaking "Community Resources and Support Specialists" (CRSSs). CRSSs will serve as bridges between the community and social service systems, providing culturally congruent guidance and addressing barriers in healthcare, housing, employment, etc. This initiative aims to foster greater equity and improve access to essential resources for all, promoting Unidad (unity), Empoderamiento (empowerment), Navegación (networking), Transformación (transformation), and Equidad (equity).

Summer of Sass
Summer of Sass program offers LGBTQIA+ young adults 18-20 years old the opportunity to work and reside in Provincetown for the summer. We subsidize travel costs and housing and an initial food budget while connecting program participants with pre-screened and vetted localemployers. We provide support, outings and mentorship as we widen their perspective and help them build their self confidence in an accepting and welcoming community. By investing in these individuals, affectionately referred to as "Sassers", Summer of Sass amplifies voices that are often underrepresented while fostering self-expression, self-actualization and self-advocacy, the impact of which has proven to be profound and far-reaching. The funds requested will offset the expenses to sponsor one Summer of Sass participant.

Delilah's Healing and Educational Collective
We and the Land Are One Thing - Film & Maushop’s Return: Natural Law, Balance, and Renewal of the Earth - Puppet Performance. This project invites members from various communities to collaborate on creating the story behind the film and lantern/puppet performances. The film narration lays the groundwork for the puppet play, which enacts Wampanoag cultural history and oral tradition. These two pieces complement each other and can be used together or separately to share cultural prescriptions for healing the earth. Relationship-building across diverse communities will involve sharing cultural knowledge, stories, food, and music. Strategic planning sessions, workshops, rehearsals, and performances will be recorded and filmed to document the process and behind-the-scenes activities.

Lower Cape Pride Celebration
The Lower Cape Pride Celebration, a collaborative effort between several Cape towns, will debut this year. This intergenerational event will feature a diverse program including a parade, performances, educational lectures, and social gatherings across the community. Planning is underway with a broad range of participants and includes involvement from the LGBTQ+ community, allies, local organizations, schools, senior centers, churches, town officials, and more.

Twenty Summers
Quil Lemons - presents American Faggot Party (AFP): A Declaration of Resilience, a community-based curatorial project hosted by Twenty Summers. Twenty Summers has invited "rising star" photographer Quil Lemons to be our inaugural "curator in residence" and develop a series of community-facing programs over a four month timeframe: a large group exhibition, a series of public celebrations, film screenings, public art, and more for 2025, all in Provincetown. Lemons' project is called American Faggot Party (AFP) and is a chronicle of endurance, a beacon and sanctuary. AFP will spotlight 30+ contemporary queer artists who celebrate diversity and queer life, while challenging norms, and fostering dialogue around issues of identity, representation, and equality.

The SpaceMakers Society, Inc
Curating and Controlling our own Narrative: a series on the power of storytelling within the LGBTQIA+ community of color. A critical component of the annual Womxn of Color Weekend pride event is knowledge sharing. Through a series of shared meals, shows and workshops we prioritize both the lived experiences and trained expertise of BIPOC, queer, woman- or genderqueer-identified folks and invite them to facilitate discussions on a wide range of topics. This year’s theme for our workshops will focus on agency, self-actualization and abundance through the lens of telling our own stories, thereby controlling our own narratives in response to the continued attacks we see in media and politics against the LGBTQIA+ communities.

Cody Plays
Hyper-local, year-round community plays. CODY PLAYS is a theater project in which Cody Sullivan writes site and community specific plays to be performed one night only, by his company of actors alongside new guests in the Wilde Theater at the Gifford House in Provincetown MA. They are free to attend.

Lower Cape TV
After Hours is a hybrid program designed to provide young adults (18-35) on Cape Cod with a collaborative gathering space and access to resources that foster community engagement, skill-sharing, and innovation. Hosted at Lower Cape TV’s Orleans facility, the program blends elements of makerspaces, coworking spaces, and social hubs to foster a safe and dynamic environment where individuals can work, play, and explore in each other's company.

Micro Neighborhood Alliance
The Water Doesn’t Know Your Address: Coastal Resilience Through Comics. A year-long project of special reporting on three areas of importance to the Outer Cape. Each explores intersectionalities, and in each community engagement is critical to protecting basic human rights: access to health care for transgender youth, access to abortion and reproductive health care, and resistance to vaccination and its potential effect on public health.

In these areas, healthcare access is affected by gender identity and sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, lack of access to accurate scientific knowledge, and the effects of powerful political forces in the larger world. Informing and engaging the local community can make a difference in providing and preserving that access.

Frolic
Frolic Weekend is a destination event in Provincetown, MA, that celebrates and connects queer and trans men of color from around the world. By fostering a vibrant and inclusive space, the event enhances diversity in Provincetown while showcasing the town as a welcoming, safe, and exciting destination for all.