Family Equality is thrilled to welcome Kiera Evans to our Development Department!

Kiera Evans is the Development Associate for Family Equality. In this role, Kiera is a member of the Development team and supports the organization’s fundraising and donor engagement efforts through data tracking, reporting, and analysis. She conducts prospect research and screening to connect donors with our work, helps ensure a thoughtful and seamless donor experience, and supports staff in effectively utilizing development systems and tools.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Arcadia University. Kiera’s experience spans nonprofit fundraising, program coordination, and community engagement. She has led multi-channel fundraising campaigns, cultivated donor and corporate relationships, and managed data and reporting systems to improve efficiency and impact. Across her roles with organizations including Blood Cancer United, Share Food Program, AIDS Fund, Inspire2Vote, and Clean Water Action, she has supported revenue growth, coordinated large-scale programs, and strengthened stakeholder engagement.

Podcasts: Handsome, The Bald and the Beautiful, and Optimist Economy.

Books: The Girl with No Name by Marina Chapman, The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow, and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I like to read, paint, cook, and travel with my partner!

I grew up in a small, rural, conservative town in Idaho. There were no older queer people I knew that I could look to. I had no examples and no roadmap, and I couldn’t picture what my future might hold. When I graduated in 2015, I truly didn’t believe marriage equality would pass.

That same summer, the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges. What I didn’t know then, but do now, is that this moment was the result of years of relentless work by advocates, including those at Family Equality, who were fighting for people like me long before I could imagine what was possible.

Today, as my partner and I begin to plan our own family, I’m living in a reality I once couldn’t see for myself. The options we have exist because of that work.

Now, I want to be part of it. I want to help build a world where queer kids don’t grow up without a vision for their lives. I want them to see what’s possible from the start and to know that building a family is not only attainable, but that they have a whole community around them to support them.

To me, family equality means that queer people can imagine their futures as clearly and confidently as their cisgender, straight peers. It means having the same freedom to define what family looks like, and the same support to build it. It means living in a world where our families are recognized, valued, and embraced without hesitation. Where the word “family” belongs to all of us, equally.

Lately, “A Community of Spirit” by Rumi has been a model and inspiration for me. I especially like these lines:

“There is a community of the spirit.
Join it, and feel the delight,
of walking in the noisy street
and being the noise.
Drink all your passion,
and be a disgrace.
Close both eyes
to see with the other eye.
Open your hands,
If you want to be held.”