NGPA Family,

Happy Black History Month!

As we move into the final weeks of February, it is important to reflect on our past, present, and future as it relates to what it means to be LGBTQ+ in our society. As members and allies of our community, it is important that we band arms with other minorities to continue taking steps forward in the fight for equality.

Throughout history, LGBTQ+ people and People of Color have had to work together to make progress. Marsha P. Johnson is a perfect example of this. Marsha, a black trans-woman from New York City, was on the front lines of the Stonewall Uprisings that began in the summer of 1969. Marsha was passionate about the advancement of equality for the LGBTQ+ community and co-founded S.T.A.R., the Street Transvestite Activist Revolutionaries, among many other strides in progress, prior to her death in 1992.

Celebrating who you are is something every one of us should do daily. Unfortunately, it is all too common for members of the black community to feel unsafe expressing their fullest selves. Our job is to support them in any way we can: listen, learn, share, and care. Take time to read from black authors or support black businesses. Stand up for your friends as if they were your family–because they are.

As we wrap up these next couple of weeks, I encourage you to think about how we got to where we are at today. Listen to people, talk to people, and love one another.

Next month, we plan to highlight those members who identify as a woman! If you are interested in writing an article for On the Fly, please reach out to us! If writing isn’t your thing feel free to send us photos of yourself so we can feature you in our Women’s History Month edition of On the Fly!

Short-term Projects 

• Surpass 10k followers on Instagram
  • We need support from our members to reach this goal! Increasing our followership will unlock new marketing instruments. Please interact with our posts as much as possible by liking, sharing, and reposting with your family, friends, and colleagues. We hope to complete this project by June 1.

• Establish a more professional LinkedIn presence
  • Outlining types and frequency of postings that are consistent with the workplace atmosphere of the platform. Growing this platform is necessary as well so that we can continue to enhance displayed offerings via Career Connection. We hope to implement this project in early March 2023.

• Collaborate with ally organizations
  • Working with like-minded organizations will allow us to capitalize on shared experiences, resources, and membership. Our Peer Organization Liaison is brainstorming ideas to execute this project. This project is ongoing.

Long-term Projects

• Analyze components of OTF to understand what content readers want
• Establish uniformity within our social media platforms
• Review and compare quarterly social media analytics to understand opportunities for adaptation and growth

Join our team! To continue great work, we need more talented and dedicated volunteers. Reach out to either of us for more information or if you are interested in getting involved.

We want to hear from you! If you have any questions or ideas for the Marketing Committee, submit them here.