Director of Procurement & Spend Strategy

The Trevor Project lost funding. CEO Jaymes Black kept fighting for LGBTQ+ kids. After a performance of Every Brilliant Thing on Broadway in April, the Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black joined Daniel Radcliffe, the show's star, onstage for a moderated conversation about LGBTQ+ mental health. At the end of the evening, as most showgoers hurried to the stage door, one woman from the audience made a beeline for Black. Her child is transgender, she explained through tears, and she's been doing everything she can to support them amid a swell of national anti-LGBTQ+ policies. But listening to Black - who became the first Black and nonbinary person to lead the Trevor Project in 2024 - speak about how their nonprofit works to protect queer youth gave her some hope. The Trevor Project operates a free, 24/7 suicide prevention and crisis intervention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S. and Mexico. Studies have repeatedly shown that LGBTQ+ young people are at greater risk of suicide than their peers: a 2024 CDC report found that 72% of transgender students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, almost double the rate of their cisgender peers, and the Trevor Project's 2025 national survey found that 36% of LGBTQ+ young people ages 13 to 24 seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Under Black's leadership, clinically-trained crisis counselors at the Trevor Project answer hundreds of thousands of hotline calls and messages a year. In July 2022, the U.S. replaced a 10-digit suicide prevention hotline with the easier-to-remember 988 National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Two months later, the Trevor Project also began providing dedicated support to LGBTQ+ callers through 988. A study published in 2026 found that after the creation of the three-digit hotline, the rate of suicides among young people decreased in states with a higher number of answered 988 calls. But in July 2025, the Trump Administration terminated the specific service that allowed callers to "press 3" for specialized LGBTQ+-affirming care. Because the Trevor Project fielded nearly half of those calls, it lost $25 million in annual federal funding and laid off more than 200 employees. (Earlier this month, the administration said it was working to restore specialized suicide prevention services for LGBTQ+ youth through 988 by year's end.) In response, knowing what was at stake for queer youth in need of a lifeline, Black launched an emergency fundraiser that brought in over $20 million. This, plus a surprise $45 million donation from MacKenzie Scott in January, helped stabilize the organization, they say. Still, the loss of widely accessible queer-specific mental health resources via 988 worries Black; more than 1.3 million "press 3" calls had been answered while the service was available. To make up for this loss in reach, Black is working to find new ways to position the Trevor Project as a key component of public health infrastructure. In 2025, the nonprofit partnered with the state of California to improve LGBTQ+-centered training for the state's 988 operators, and to ensure that the phone number for the organization's 24/7 hotline is printed on all public middle, high school, and college and university student IDs. Like many of the kids who contact the Trevor Project, Black, 51, felt alone when they were younger. "I grew up as a queer, Black person in Texas," they say. "I did not have a support system. I did not have a safety net." After being outed by classmates, they dropped out of high school at 17. Decades later, they went on to finish their education - earning a bachelor's degree at 36 and a master's degree in their 40s - and felt "pulled" to the nonprofit sector after years of working in the corporate world. "One of the interesting things about being [at the Trevor Project] is that I get to be who I didn't have as a young person," they say. "The fact that I'm here today, I owe something back to the youth." The current U.S. political climate poses many challenges to Black's work, but they remain resolute in the Trevor Project's mission. "Our vision is to create a world where LGBTQ+ young people see a bright future for themselves." And when they think about the loving parent who approached them that night in the theater, they're sure: "We can do this. We just have to keep going." If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental-health crisis or contemplating suicide, call or text 988. In emergencies, call 911, or seek care from a local hospital or mental health provider.

MAC makes $1M gift to The Trevor Project. As LGBTQ advocacy groups confront mounting political and funding pressures, The Trevor Project is drawing renewed support from both corporate and philanthropic backers. MAC Cosmetics, the Estée Lauder - owned beauty brand, has announced a $1 million grant to the organization, which focuses on ending suicide among LGBTQ+ youth. The gift marks MAC's third year partnering with The Trevor Project and comes as the organization works to stabilize its funding after a sharp setback last year. In 2025, The Trevor Project lost roughly $25 million when the Trump administration ended federal support for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline's LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services program, administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, according to Deborah Barge, the Trevor Project's chief advancement officer. "That impacted our services, so we're really grateful that supporters and donors have stepped in in such a major way, as we launched our emergency crisis campaign to serve young people through our own hotline," Barge said. The MAC grant follows a separate $45 million gift made several weeks ago by billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, part of a broader effort to help the organization continue its crisis-prevention work amid rising demand for services. Beyond funding, the MAC partnership also includes "Makeup Services for All," a training program developed with The Trevor Project to educate MAC artists on gender-inclusive communication and makeup techniques for gender-diverse customers. "There are 1.8 million young people in the U.S. who seriously consider suicide each year in the LGBTQ+ community, and we estimate that a young person is attempting suicide every 45 seconds," Barge said. "We know how badly our mission is needed." The collaboration aligns with MAC's long-running Viva Glam platform, which has historically tied product sales to social-impact causes. Separately, The Trevor Project has released a new episode of its "Sharing Spaces" docuseries, featuring a moderated discussion with six survivors of homosexual conversion therapy. While more than 20 states have enacted laws to protect LGBTQ+ young people from conversion therapy practices, the Supreme Court is currently considering a challenge to Colorado's state ban in Chiles v. Salazar, a case that advocates say could have broad implications for youth mental health protections nationwide.

Trevor Project receives $45M donation from MacKenzie Scott. WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KESQ) - The Trevor Project, a West Hollywood nonprofit known for its hotline for LGBTQ+ youth, has received a $45 million donation from philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott after the Trump administration cut its funding, it was announced today. The organization's national suicide-prevention hotline has been accessible by dialing 988 since 2022. The following year, an option was added to the hotline to provide specialized counseling to LGBTQ+ youth, who could press the number 3 on their phones to access the service. The service had been provided locally by The Trevor Project. In July, however, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration eliminated funding for the "Press 3" option for LGBTQ+ youth. Shortly afterward, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors directed its Department of Mental Health to develop a pilot program restoring services tailored for LGBTQ+ youth to the suicide-prevention hotline. On Monday, The Trevor Project announced that Scott had made the donation at the end of 2025 in support of the organization's long-term efforts for LGBTQ+ youth. Jaymes Black, chief executive of The Trevor Project, said in a blog post that Scott's gift - the single largest one-time donation in the organization's 27-year history - comes at "a pivotal moment for our organization and the LGBTQ+ young people we serve." Black said the gift "is a powerful step toward building on our sustainable capacity - but our organization will continue to face one of the largest public health crises of our time: LGBTQ+ youth suicide." Research shows that LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers, Black said. "The Trevor Project's latest study found that, sadly, the mental health crisis among LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S. is getting worse, showing increasing rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality for these young people over time." Black said the organization received a $6 million gift from Scott in 2020. "We are committed to investing this funding with great care," Black said. "Over the coming months, we will roadmap a strategic and thoughtful investment plan focused on strengthening our core crisis services, improving long-term sustainability, and accelerating our progress toward a world where every LGBTQ+ young person knows they are loved and supported." Scott, 55, was married to Jeff Bezos, the co-founder of Amazon, from 1993 to 2019. In 2006, Scott won an American Book Award for her debut novel, "The Testing of Luther Albright." Her second novel, "Traps," was published in 2013.