Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather offers tutoring and academic support for LGBTQ+ and gender expansive elementary, middle, and high school students in a welcoming and affirming space. 

In 2025, Birds of a Feather offered its 500th! individualized tutoring sessions for LGBTQ+ youth in Santa Cruz County! 

Of the 500 sessions offered since 2022, 75% were supplemented by grant funds and donations. 

Your donation goes towards creating a robust scholarship fund to make tutoring more accessible to LGBTQ+ youth in Santa Cruz. 

With your donation Birds of a Feather will continue to:

• provide attuned academic support to LGBTQ+ students from diverse backgrounds 
• collaborate with teachers to provide meaningful, real-time support for their LGBTQ+ students
• offer an LGBTQ+ affirming tutoring option for parents of LGBTQ+ youth
• be visible in the community as a queer tutor actively supporting queer youth

"I have an easier time working with someone who understands me and gets queerness."

After working with Birds of a Feather, students reported improvements in their:

• engagement in class
• homework completion
• willingness to try new strategies
• willingness to ask for help 

"It's a wonderful feeling as a parent to know that your child is being honored for who they are and encouraged to become more than they think they can be!"

 Parents reported that their children were demonstrating: 

• increased agency
• increased self-concept
• increased self-acceptance
• decreased anxiety 
• increased confidence
• increased assignment completion  

Parents also noted: 

"A has more confidence and ability to approach problems creatively."

"L feels much more secure working with a queer tutor."

"M feels met where he is in a genuine way that he trusts."

"B loves having a queer tutor."

Let's build a robust scholarship program to supplement the cost of individual tutoring sessions for next year's cohort of Birds of a Feather tutees.

• Contribute to the scholarship fund that makes sliding scale, individualized tutoring sessions more accessible for LGBTQ+ students: $10-$75
• Contribute one month of weekly sessions to boost the confidence and skills of an LGBTQ+ student: $300
• Provide an entire school year of affirming and attuned weekly sessions for an LGBTQ+ student: $3000

Birds of a Feather can win extra prize money for having the greatest number of unique donors who contribute $10 or more. Please spread the word to family and friends who may feel moved to support LGBTQ+ youth.