Member Spotlight: Julia Suggs

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family:
My partner Dan and I live in Somerville, Massachusetts, with our two cats, three degus, and dozens of in-progress craft projects. I work for Harvard University as an Adaptive Technology Coordinator, where I assist students with disabilities by providing course content access and testing accommodations. Dan is a scientist at a biotech start-up.

How did you first hear about the Foundation?
I reached the point in my life where my financial situation settled down, and I no longer had to put off a bunch of personal goals in order to eat and pay bills each month. Since I then became able to take care of myself sufficiently, it was important to me as a secular humanist to also ensure that I take care of the other humans around me as well as the world we live in and resources we depend on. Politically, I was also looking to show that charity is not the exclusive domain of religion, organized or other. Luckily, the Foundation comes up almost immediately when doing an online search for secular charities.

Why are you a member?
The entire structure of FBB greatly appeals to me. I like the idea of spreading my donations out to different areas of work and parts of the world, but I was intimidated by the idea of trying to search for varied charities on my own and dig up whether or not they have religious ties. With the Foundation, that grunt work is done for me, yet I still have the opportunity to make the decision of how my money will split among the various quarterly recipients. Even if the situation ever arises where I don't want to donate to any of the charities chosen a particular quarter, I can still apportion my money to the Foundation for that time in support of the overall mission.

Do you have some favorite cause categories?
Human Rights is consistently my favorite category. I find keeping up with world news of how humans are treating each other is often a depressing task. The charities that are featured in the Human Rights category almost always lift my mood with the work they do to counter such human-on-human abuse.

Any beneficiaries so far that particularly moved or interested you? 
I have a very personal attachment to the mission of the It Gets Better Project, the Human Rights category selection for this quarter. The meme of high school as "the best days of your life" can be traumatizing to teens dealing with abuse based on their identity, or even those who are hiding those core aspects of their identity to avoid such abuse. Reaching out to those teens with the message that better days are still ahead provides them with hope to soldier on.

Dan Savage, co-founder of our current Human Rights beneficiary It Gets Better Project, talks about the heartbreaking inspiration for the first It Gets Better video, the suicide of Billy Lucas, and his hope that the project will help LGBT teens everywhere. 

Dan recently started a new It Gets Better show on MTV--click here to learn more. 

Current Natural World beneficiary Population Connection sends this report from their annual advocacy weekend, Capitol Hill Days. Population Connection educates young people about unsustainable population growth, informs constituents across the country about their congressional representatives' stances on population growth and family planning, and works directly with Congress and the White House to inform family planning policy and funding levels. 

Each spring, more than 100 enthusiastic and motivated Population Connection activists arrive in Washington DC for our annual advocacy weekend, Capitol Hill Days. The weekend consists of renowned speakers, advocacy training, and interactive informational sessions, culminating in lobby visits on Capitol Hill. Throughout the event, participants get the unique opportunity not only to gain insight into the important issues of women’s empowerment and global family planning, but to lobby their representatives directly on behalf of sound family planning policy and increased international family planning assistance. 

Capitol Hill Days has made a profound impact on many of our participants, some of whom were previously unaware of population issues. Lehigh student Karina Licea describes the experience as nothing short of life-changing: 

“It really opened my eyes about issues that I was so uninformed about beforehand. I am not exaggerating when I say that it was a life-changing experience, and hopefully one that will help me change other lives later on.… I’m really excited to share what I learned through Population Connection.” 

Every year, we are encouraged and humbled by the dedication that these young activists bring to our cause. Capitol Hill Days is a wonderful way to educate and inspire the next generation of population activists as we continue to fight for a sustainable and healthy global population.