Non-Profit Jackpot
Metro TeenAIDS leader honored with Meyer Foundation award
While the nonprofit world may understandably be excited about the Myer Foundation Exponent Awards, which annually recognize five leaders in the sector with $100,000 apiece, LGBT D.C. should take particular interest in one of this year’s recipients: Adam Tenner, the gay executive director of D.C.’s Metro TeenAIDS.
”I’m kind of a ‘keep my head down,’ kind of ‘do my work’ sort of guy, so I feel very honored to be acknowledged by the community for doing good work,” Tenner says.
The Meyer Foundation is a private, independent organization that supports local organizations addressing community needs in Washington. Metro TeenAIDS is one such organization, dedicated to preventing the spread of HIV among young people in D.C.
”On some levels, given all the news about what’s been happening to young gay kids … the Exponent award feels additionally powerful given that I remember those feelings of being in school and being different and the hope that things get better. To be acknowledged as an out gay man with a partner and a child feels extraordinary.”
According to the Meyer Foundation’s website, the Exponent Award was created in 2006 in an effort to recognize leaders of nonprofit organizations who have ”potential for future growth and development” and who may be in ”danger of burnout.”
”We are looking at a number of things,” Tenner says when asked how the organization plans to spend the funds, for which Metro TeenAIDS applied.
”Our programs have grown significantly and the quality of those programs is very high, but we have consistently operated with a minimal infrastructure. So it’s always been that I’ve taken on more work.
”We’re now in a place where we’ve grown enough that one of things that we’ll probably be looking to spend the money on is how to build our infrastructure.”
For more information on Metro TeenAIDS, visit metroteenaids.org.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
