The mission of Equality Arizona is to protect and defend the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people across Arizona. We accomplish this important work in many ways but primarily through advocacy and education.

As we end this year and begin a new decade, we are going back to our foundation, back to basics if you will. We begin anew with hope and determination to work in a collaborative way with you and many of our progressive partners in the state by focusing on key elections and the legislative process.

Since becoming an all volunteer organization again in November, we have been working to re-craft our strategy for 2010. These are just a few of the exciting updates:

• The board met with Mickey MacIntyre of realChange Partners to set goals and strategy for the upcoming legislative year.
• Board members have also met with many leaders across our communities to gain feedback and support. The results have been very encouraging and we look forward to sharing more in the coming days.
• We have set the date for our 19th annual awards dinner. It will be held Saturday June 5th. The location for the dinner will be the Fairmont Scottsdale.
• We have made significant and substantial progress in addressing the financial challenges of the organization. In addition, Bill MacDonald, the founder of the organization 19 years ago, has agreed to lead a Tiger Team to raise additional funds to further the work of the organization.

As we close this year, we once again would like to thank all of the staff who worked tirelessly to protect each of us and extend the work of the organization through the better part of this year. We would also like to thank all of the past and current volunteers and board members who have been and continue to be essential to the success of this organization.

Thank you to all of you who have and who continue to support the vital work of this organization with your generous monetary gifts.

With all of you, our work is possible.

We wish all of you an incredible 2010.