Please Complete Our Interest Form

Thank you for your interest in the Allied Learning Benefitting You (ALBY) Program. We are ecstatic about taking part in your organization’s journey to an even more inclusive and mindful environment for community members, staff, and yourself! Please complete this interest form and a team member will follow up within 2 business days.

If you have any questions or would like to complete the interest form with a staff member, please contact Albert at asedano@thecenterlv.org.

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More About This Program

The LGBTQ+ Center of Las Vegas is delivering a Community Ecosystem Strengthening Model, a voluntary community learning and engagement initiative designed to help organizations strengthen LGBTQ+ cultural responsiveness, affirming practices, community trust, and inclusive service delivery.

The initiative is collaborative, growth-oriented, trauma-informed, and adaptable to each organization’s capacity and readiness. Participation is entirely voluntary and is not intended to be punitive, regulatory, or compliance-based.

This initiative is designed to help organizations move beyond symbolic inclusion toward sustainable, operational, and relationship-centered affirming practices.

Why This Matters

Recent Gallup data estimates:

• Approximately 9% of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ+
• Nearly 1 in 4 adults under age 30 identify somewhere within the LGBTQ+ spectrum

This means organizations are already serving:

• LGBTQ+ employees
• Clients and patients
• Students
• Families
• Community members
• Volunteers and stakeholders

Research consistently shows that many LGBTQ+ health and social disparities are not caused by LGBTQ+ identity itself, but by:

• Stigma
• Discrimination
• Rejection
• Trauma exposure
• Minority stress
• Structural and systemic barriers

Many LGBTQ+ individuals quietly evaluate whether spaces feel emotionally and psychologically safe before fully engaging in services, employment, healthcare, or community participation.

This initiative is designed to help organizations move from:

“We support LGBTQ+ people”

to

“We have intentionally built practices and systems that support LGBTQ+ people.”

The goal is not perfection.
The goal is meaningful, sustainable, and community-informed growth.

Key Organizational Benefits

Organizations that invest in inclusive and affirming practices often experience stronger:

• Employee engagement
• Workplace morale
• Psychological safety
• Client trust
• Community reputation
• Staff retention
• Collaboration and innovation

Organizations may also strengthen workforce recruitment and retention as younger generations increasingly prioritize authentic inclusion and values alignment.

Meaningful inclusion practices can also help reduce reputational risk by ensuring organizational actions align more closely with public values, messaging, and community expectations.

What This Is

• Community learning initiative
• Technical assistance and capacity-building model
• Trauma-informed organizational engagement framework
• Relationship and trust-building initiative
• LGBTQ+ affirming ecosystem development model
• Workforce and leadership development opportunity

What This Is NOT

The program is not:

• A licensing process
• A punitive audit
• A public grading system
• A disciplinary investigation
• A regulatory requirement
• A “call out” initiative

The initiative intentionally emphasizes growth, humility, collaboration, and sustainability over perfection or compliance.

Organizational Participation Model

Organizations may participate at different levels depending on:

• Organizational readiness
• Number of staff participating
• Desired level of engagement
• Capacity for implementation
• Leadership buy-in and scheduling flexibility

Organizations are not expected to already be experts in LGBTQ+ inclusion or care.

The Center’s role is to support organizations in building:

• Knowledge
• Confidence
• Responsiveness
• Trauma-informed awareness
• Affirming practices
• Sustainable systems over time

Trusted Referral Network Component

Organizations actively engaged in affirming practices may become part of a growing trusted referral and partnership network for LGBTQ+ community members seeking safer and more responsive services.

This component helps address a major barrier frequently reported by LGBTQ+ individuals: uncertainty around which organizations are genuinely safe, affirming, and prepared to provide responsive services.

Long-term, this initiative may help strengthen Southern Nevada’s broader community support ecosystem by improving cross-sector relationships, referral pathways, and collaborative care coordination.

Participation Components

Participation may include:

• Introductory meetings
• Organizational readiness or needs assessments
• Staff trainings
• Leadership discussions
• Resource sharing
• Optional consultation and technical assistance
• Follow-up learning opportunities
• Continuing education opportunities
• Annual renewal or engagement activities depending on participation tier

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Complete this form and a team member will be in contact shortly

Questions? Please email Albert at asedano@thecenterlv.org.

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