2026 Gala

Jon Stryker is one of the global LGBTQ movement’s largest and most committed donors and advocates. In 2000, after coming out as a gay man in his 30s, Stryker, an architect and species conservationist  founded the Arcus Foundation based on his conviction that people can live in harmony with one another and the natural world, as expressed in the foundation’s tag line.

By 2025, Stryker, through the foundation and other giving, had already contributed more than $600 million to social and environmental justice causes; also by that time, Arcus had contributed more than $250 million to LGBTQ-related work and led a successful, groundbreaking initiative to promote greater philanthropic support of transgender activism. The impact of Arcus’ grantee partners is evident around the globe, from North and Central America to Africa, the Caribbean and beyond, where grantee partners have played key roles in decriminalizing homosexuality, winning legal protections for LGBTQ people, and supporting organized religions in increasing the inclusion of LGBTQ people. In addition to his support of the movement through the Arcus foundation, Stryker and his husband, Slobodan Ranjelović, have contributed many millions to important LGBTQ causes, including the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project and Stryker’s endowment of the Audre Lorde Visiting Professorship at Spelman College, the first-ever queer studies chair at a historically black college or university (HBCU).  In alignment with his holistic commitment to justice and his passion for the conservation of nature, Stryker has made contributions to species conservation efforts on par with his LGBTQ-related philanthropy and is a Patron of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.