Here are the top reasons to join SAGENet.
Get consultation, information and training from experts in LGBT aging. Affiliates have access to ongoing technical assistance which can take many forms including trainings, research and information. Recently, we offered an LGBT Aging 101 Train-the-Trainer webinar to our affiliates.
Participants form lasting relationships with other SAGE leaders that help them. As affiliates grow and develop new programs, advocacy initiatives, services and funding sources, they come to rely on each other for ideas, support and information. Often, the SAGE leader is the only person in his/her community who has their particular job. Many SAGE leaders have expressed their appreciation for this network of professionals and have stated that the network is an important contributor to the success of their affiliate.
Meet with and learn from people who do the same job as you. SAGE holds an annual meeting of all SAGE affiliates. The specificity and variety of trainings offered at the annual meeting would be hard to find anywhere else. Participants select the training topics themselves based on their most pressing issues and concerns. Some recent training topics are: transgender aging; development and fundraising; research and evaluation; bridging racial justice and LGBT equality and coalition building with LGBT and aging organizations.
Opportunities to present at conferences and reach a wide audience. Being part of SAGENet means that SAGE leaders are invited to be panelists and co-presenters in national forums, giving the affiliate a unique and important opportunity to highlight the work of their organization to select audiences which often include funders and policy makers. Conference participation, more than many other activities, extends the reach and influence of affiliate organizations.
Stay connected to your peers, keep abreast of new research and advocacy opportunities, problem solve and share your successes. SAGENet leaders participate in monthly calls. With the near constant flow of information, new research, funding opportunities and emerging best practices, it is hard to remain aware and updated. During the monthly calls, SAGENet leaders receive timely, relevant information that ensures that SAGENet leaders are up-to-date. This is also another opportunity to highlight the work of the affiliate organizations.
Share your success on the national stage. The successes and accomplishments of our affiliates are continuously highlighted in our publications and media outlets, providing exposure to future constituents, funders and policy makers.
Connect with the national LGBT aging network. SAGENet leaders are also members of the National LGBT Aging Roundtable, which affords them the opportunity to engage with LGBT aging professionals across the country in monthly calls and meetings at national conferences. Roundtable members are another important source of research, best practices and information.
Opportunities to participate in national grant initiatives that increase funding for your programs and raise your visibility among prominent funders. From time to time, SAGE is able to create shared grant opportunities designed to build capacity, increase program impact or conduct local advocacy initiates. For example, four SAGENet affiliates currently host a SAGEWorks program in their affiliate. SAGEWorks is an innovative program designed to provide employment assistance for older adults with the help of AARP's WorkSearch. The mission of SAGEWorks is to improve the capacity of LGBT older adults to remain relevant, vital and contributing members of the nation's work force. It is because of the affiliates' connection to SAGE that they are able to participate in bringing SAGEWorks to their region.
Share your innovative practices with a national audience. Just as SAGE shares what we have learned in our 34+ years providing direct services to LGBT elders in metropolitan New York, we rely on our affiliates to share their innovative programs and services and policy and advocacy successes with all of SAGENet.
Ready to join?
- Go to Start a SAGE Affiliate for the benchmarks to becoming part of SAGENet.
- Complete this form and we'll contact you directly.
