Location: Germany

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Meet Astraea donor, Ise Bosch!

Long-time donor Ise Bosch discusses donor activism, founding the International Fund for Sexual Minorities in 1996, and why she chooses to #GiveToAstraea.

The granddaughter of German engineer Robert Bosch, Ise Bosch is a German founder, managing director, and heiress. During the 1980’s, she attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where she encountered the American understanding of philanthropy. Since then, she has become a prominent philanthropist, specifically in the areas of human rights, women’s rights and the rights of sexual minorities. She founded Astraea’s International Fund for Sexual Minorities in New York in 1996, and in 2001 she founded Filia, an internationally active women’s foundation in Hamburg, where she was a member of the Executive Board from 2003 to 2011. She is also the founder and managing director of Dreilinden gGmbH in Hamburg, which supports the rights of lesbian, bi-, trans, and intersex people.

In this video, Ise discusses donor activism, founding the International Fund for Sexual Minorities in 1996, and why she chooses to #GiveToAstraea.

Read more about Ise Bosch, or watch her speech from our 40th Anniversary Gala in November 2017.

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Video transcript:

I’ve been a donor to Astraea since 1996. We started with a project grant, project being international funding from Astraea. The first two years were like that, and this was really one of the great moments for me was when I heard from Katherine Acey back then,that they said, “We’ve looked at what we did these past two years, and now we want to take it on as our own program. We will start fundraising for the international program. To me, that was arrival. This was, “Yes, this can work out. I do want a long-term partner.” Astraea can do that.

When I connected with Astraea, it was 20 years ago. And it was with a concrete wish to do international funding. Astraea was interested in doing that, hadn’t started yet, but really wanted to. So they took me as a chance to get started and I’ve been watching it grow since then, go through many phases and meeting excellent folks working there. What satisfies me so much about the work is it’s a lot of work with beginnings. Pioneer work, as it’s called. That’s an American term, I guess. But it means you find, you connect for the first time, which always comes with a tremendous boost of energy.

I work with inherited money, took me quite a while to get to a place where I say that confidently. Because I’m just a human being who gets touched by what goes on around, and I consider money just a tool.

I feel in giving to Astraea it is a direct way to give to the movement, not only in terms of where the money goes, but also in terms of how that money is being distributed. There’s fresh influx of ideas and human resources from the movement into how the work happens at Astraea, so it stays up-to-date. It’s a living thing, and you’re part of a process. I consider myself part of the same movement that I’m funding, which means I get to think, too, and I get to have impact there. Which means I get to meet people personally.

I chose Astraea particularly as a lesbian-led organization to do what was then gay/lesbian funding because who is on the margins sees the larger picture. People who are in the larger picture don’t necessarily see the margin. We have to learn the language of the mainstream, so you get more if you have people from the marginal position actually running it.

We called.  We have good reason. We know why we do what we want to do. Don’t forget your own radical edge, right? What makes you mad? It’s a very good source of energy. There’s many issues, and this is one where you can actually affect some change, and the whole thing still holds true: If we don’t do it, who will?

Ise Bosch

An interview with long-time Astraea donor Ise Bosch.

Tell us about your relationship to Astraea.
I’ve been a donor to Astraea since 1996. That’s 20 years now! We started with an international fund for Astraea. One day I heard from [Executive Director Emerita] Katherine Acey, who said, “We’re starting to fundraise for the International Fund.” To me, that was arrival. It was, “Yes, this can work out. I do want a long-term [philanthropic] partner. Astraea can do that.”

Another memorable moment I’ve had with them was at a conference in Dallas, Texas. It was an anniversary for Astraea. There were many women there. A donor organized for people to make commitments to give money to Astraea at the event. On the final day there was a queue through the entire hall of women lining up making spoken commitments to Astraea on the microphone. And the Astraea staff just died. They were sitting there on stage! There was just so much emotion.

Why is Astraea the organization for you?
The internal support is so strong. This organization will continue to grow well. I’m someone who understands the difficulties [foundations have] with growing and the relief when major institutional grants come through. When major foundations in the US say, “Yes, we back Astraea! We gave them a major grant,” we include them in our major portfolio. That’s also important, because when one comes, others will follow. This building of major donor contributions brought Astraea up to the level that it is working at now.

What advice, as someone who’s a donor, would you give to others?
Astraea is good in many respects. One of them is because it’s a public foundation. It’s not run by one person or a small group of very rich people who say where things go. There’s care in giving to Astraea. It is a direct way to give to the movement, not only in terms of where the money goes, but also in terms of how that money is being distributed. There’s a fresh influx of ideas and human resources from the movement into the work at Astraea, so it stays up-to-date. Astraea’s developed from one of the first women’s foundations to a lesbian foundation to an LGBTQI fund. It’s a living thing and you’re part of a process. At the same time, there are options to give more specifically to the one project that you want to support or to a group of projects that you want to support.

What does it mean to to be a resource activist? Are there challenges?
In the States, they call what I do being a donor activist. This makes it clear that I work on two sides of a bridge: I work with the money that I inherited, while others work with the money they’ve made, or somebody else’s money that they get to manage. And I consider myself part of the same movement that I’m funding, which means I get to think, too. I get to have impact there.

Any closing thoughts?
Don’t forget your own radical edge! What makes you mad? It’s a very good source of energy. When I speak with friends who have also inherited, and who say, “I can’t find my issue,” I think, “Hey, we are one step ahead here.” The issue is clear. There’s many issues and this is one where we can actually affect some change. And the old sentiment still holds true: If we don’t do it, who will?

Want to learn more about Bosch? Watch a video interview with her here or her speech at our 40th Anniversary Gala here!

Organisation Intersex International Germany (OII Germany)

OII Germany was founded in 2008 to work on ending non-consensual, medically unnecessary and cosmetic interventions forced on intersex children and adults, and to ensure human rights for intersex persons, such as bodily integrity and self-determination.

OII Deutschland was founded in 2008 and is now starting to build a more sustainable structure with its first part–time hirings. They were strongly involved in advocating for the new German government draft legal ban of intersex surgeries, even though the result is underwhelming, due to the influence of patient/parents–oriented groups and medical gate–keepers. Beyond this advocacy work, they also engage in awareness–raising through trainings, such as workshops for teachers on intersex pupils, or workshops for pedagogues and professionals. They also participated in a conference from the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to inform representatives of German welfare organisations about intersex human rights, as well as a work with the Robert Koch Institut to publish an article on the health of LGBTI people. They are also working with the Institute of Foreign Affairs.

Organisation Intersex International Europe (OII Europe)

OII Europe was founded in 2012, during the Second International Intersex Forum in Stockholm, to ensure the further adoption of Human Rights for intersex people all over Europe.

OII Europe was founded in 2012, during the Second International Intersex Forum in Stockholm, to ensure the further adoption of Human Rights for intersex people all over Europe. They are building a sustainable organization with an increase in staff hours, which allowed them to organize the 3rd European Intersex Community Event & Conference in September 2019 in Zagreb, with 68 participants -the largest human rights based gathering of intersex people globally to this date. The event was also an opportunity for a 2-day study visit to Ljubljana, Slovenia, where OII Europe Steering Board Members and Staff met with law and policy makers, students and NGOs and gave TV interviews. This visit was a big step towards increasing the visibility of intersex issues in the Balkan region. In 2019 they also published an illustrated testimonial book #MyIntersexStory –Personal accounts by intersex people living in Europe. In 2020 they started a project on Intersex Refugees and Asylum Seekers. They are using social media and infographics to communicate on surveys and findings, and they continue their work of translating their brochures into many European languages. During covid-19 they organize a number of online community events to help keeping up the morale of the European intersex community -such as weekly virtual campfire, where with talks, games, and movies; or daily check-ins on the main community chat and other forms of outreach.

Check out our 2016 Intersex Awareness Day video, featuring OII Europe Co-Chair Miriam van der Have:

Intersex Archive Project

The Intersex Human Rights Fund supports organizations, projects and timely campaigns led by intersex activists working to ensure the human rights, bodily autonomy, physical integrity and self-determination of intersex people. Given the dearth of funding to intersex issues globally, intersex groups/projects based anywhere in the world are eligible to apply.