Mirror Memoirs

What Mirror Memoirs does

Mirror Memoirs is a national nonprofit storytelling and organizing project founded in January 2016 and headquartered in Los Angeles, serving LGBTQI+ people of color who survived child sexual abuse, with a particular focus on Black and Indigenous gender non-conforming children and survivors. The organization engages survivors through a portfolio of survivor-led programs including an audio archive of 60+ stories recorded across 15 states (plus 13 additional K-12 sports survivor stories added in 2021-2022), the theater production 'Transmutation: A Ceremony,' cohort-based leadership institutes (a nine-month facilitator institute and shorter accomplice institutes), monthly virtual Member Support Meetings, healing circles, an Abolition Book Club, a Somatic Accountability Practice Cohort, and a Member Support Fund that distributed $105,000 across 210 micro-grants to BIPOC Two Spirit, transgender, non-binary, and intersex members from 2021-2022.

The organization's underlying technology consists of qualitative research methods (one-on-one interviews coded using Atlas TI academic research software), multimedia storytelling through theater, photo collages, illustrations, and music, and community organizing frameworks rooted in abolitionist principles. The audio archive includes detailed demographic breakdowns (42% Black, 37% Latinx, 10% Indigenous, 31% Asian or Pacific Islander) and serves as a primary-source dataset for narrative change and policy advocacy. The Board is entirely composed of transgender, intersex, non-binary, and/or queer people of color who survived child sexual abuse, with 75% of seats reserved for Two Spirit, transgender, intersex, or non-binary survivors.

Mirror Memoirs operates as a project of Community Partners (a Los Angeles nonprofit providing fiscal sponsorship since February 2019) and uses a multi-stream revenue model comprising individual donations via Network for Good, foundation grants (NoVo Foundation, RALIANCE, Dartmouth College), fiscal sponsorship infrastructure, and fee-for-service speaking and training engagements (150+ keynotes, trainings, and webinars delivered to universities, nonprofits, government agencies, and conferences). Membership and core programs are provided free to qualifying survivors; paid opportunities exist for qualified facilitators and speakers, with 50+ base members paid for their work as keynote speakers, trainers, facilitators, policy advocates, researchers, or organizational development practitioners.

Name

Mirror Memoirs

Legal name

Mirror Memoirs

Website

https://mirrormemoirs.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mirror Memoirs is a national nonprofit storytelling and organizing project serving LGBTQI+ people of color who survived child sexual abuse. Founded in 2016, it operates survivor-led programs including an audio archive, theater productions, leadership institutes, healing circles, and micro-grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Survivor Advocacy and Community Organizing Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Libraries and Archives (519210), Libraries and Archives (51921)

akta.pro primary industry

LGBTQ+ Rights & Advocacy Organizations (BPAGAFAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF)

Keywords

• Survivor-led organizing
• Community healing programs
• Audio archive storytelling
• Abolitionist policy advocacy
• Nonprofit survivor support

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Donations accepted through Network for Good platform, supporting the organization's programming and Member Support Fund.
2. Foundation Grants: Funding from foundations including NoVo Foundation (Just Beginnings Collaborative Fellowship), Dartmouth College, and others to support specific programs.
3. Fiscal Sponsorship: Fiscal sponsorship through Community Partners, a nonprofit in Los Angeles supporting over 150 emerging projects since February 2019.
4. Speaking and Training Fees: Paid keynote speaking and training opportunities delivered to universities, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies throughout the country. Over 150 keynotes, trainings, and webinars delivered since launch.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Mirror Memoirs is a national storytelling and organizing project that engages LGBTQI+ people of color who survived child sexual abuse through an audio archive of survivor stories, healing circles, political education programming, monthly member support meetings, leadership institutes, and a theater production called "Transmutation: A Ceremony." The organization operates as a nonprofit, providing free membership to qualifying survivors and paid keynote speaking and training services to universities, nonprofits, and government agencies.

Product overview

Mirror Memoirs is a national storytelling and organizing project, not a technology platform but a community-based advocacy organization. Its core offerings center on survivor-led programs: the Audio Archive of Survivor Stories (60+ interviews across 15 states), the theater production 'Transmutation: A Ceremony,' Leadership Institutes (including a nine-month facilitator training and shorter accomplice programs), monthly Member Support Meetings, Healing Circles, Political Education Programming, an Abolition Book Club, a Somatic Accountability Practice Cohort, a Member Support Fund providing micro-grants, and National/Regional Convenings. These programs work together to create a community of belonging for survivors while advancing policy advocacy and cultural change toward ending rape culture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Transmutation: A Ceremony: A theater performance featuring Black and Afro-Latinx transgender, non-binary, and intersex femme survivors of child sexual abuse sharing their true stories of survival and visions of healing.

Products and services

• Audio Archive of Survivor Stories Recorded and coded audio archive of stories from LGBTQI+ people of color who survived child sexual abuse, analyzed using Atlas TI qualitative research software to support narrative change and policy advocacy. Targeted at survivors, researchers, and policy advocates.
• Transmutation: A Ceremony Theater production featuring Black and Afro-Latinx transgender, non-binary, and intersex femme survivors of child sexual abuse sharing their true stories of survival through performance art, written and directed by Luna Merbruja, Amita Swadhin, and Jaden Fields. Delivered to live audiences and via virtual screenings.
• Leadership Institutes Cohort-based training programs including a nine-month institute for Core Members to become facilitators of emerging Mirror Memoirs chapters and a three-to-six-month institute for Accomplice Members and organizations to learn Mirror Memoirs' approach to ending child sexual abuse.
• Member Support Meetings Monthly virtual meetings (held second Saturday of every month, 11:00 am-1:00 pm PST) for General Members to deepen relationships, engage in healing justice practices, workshops, and book readings. Free for qualifying survivor members.
• Healing Circles Peer support gatherings for survivors in the core demographic to engage in collective storytelling and community building around processing childhood trauma. Free for qualifying survivor members.
• Political Education Programming Cohort-based training institutes and one-time panels and workshops covering transformative justice, disability justice, and strategies to end child sexual abuse without relying on prisons or police.
• Abolition Book Club Quarterly book club discussions exploring texts about responses to child sexual abuse and intimate violence that do not rely on prisons or police, aligned with abolitionist principles. Open to Members and Accomplices.
• Somatic Accountability Practice Cohort Virtual practice cohort designed to strengthen members' abilities to navigate conflict through loving accountability and collective care, under guidance of community member Daria Garina, founder of Accountability Mapping.
• National and Regional Convenings In-person gatherings for LGBTQI+ people of color who survived child sexual abuse, incorporating somatic healing practices, story sharing, listening sessions, and workshops. Five convenings held with over 200 survivors attending.
• Paid Keynote Speaking and Training Services Fee-for-service keynote speeches, trainings, and workshops delivered to universities, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and conferences on ending child sexual abuse through non-carceral, abolitionist approaches. Includes major conferences such as the National Sexual Assault Conference, National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence, and #MeTooLGBTQ.

Quantifiable outcome

• 210 micro-grants ($105,000) awarded to BIPOC TGNC and intersex members
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• California LGBT Arts AlliancemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2021Partnered to film work-in-progress theater performance 'Transmutation: A Ceremony' in November 2021 at Aratani Theater in Los Angeles. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the production was filmed in advance rather than performed live.
• RALIANCEmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partnership from 2021-2022 to expand the audio archive by recording 13 additional stories from transgender, non-binary, or intersex survivors who competed in K-12 sports. Stories will be released as a toolkit in 2025 to counter narratives around gender-affirming healthcare bans.
• Dartmouth CollegemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2018Partnered with Dartmouth College and Northwest Network in September 2018 to assemble a team of seven transgender, non-binary, and intersex Mirror Memoirs members to begin coding the initial audio archive into data using Atlas TI software.
• Northwest NetworkmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2018Partnered with Dartmouth College and Northwest Network in September 2018 to code the initial audio archive into data using Atlas TI software. All researchers were paid for their work.
• Community PartnerscoreOthersFiscal sponsor since February 2019. Community Partners is a nonprofit in Los Angeles that supports over 150 emerging projects. Provides administrative infrastructure, financial management, and organizational support.
• CA Transgender, Gender Non-conforming and Intersex Policy AlliancemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember organization advocating for policy changes including AB2218 (Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund) and #InvestInTransLives coalition for equitable investment in transgender-led social change organizations.
• Ping Chong & CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrior partnership (2009-2012) where Mirror Memoirs Founding Co-Director Amita Swadhin was a cast member and co-creator of Secret Survivors off-Broadway production featuring adult survivors of child sexual abuse.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• StoryCorps: A national nonprofit preserving personal histories through recorded interviews, with a public archive of over 600,000 stories. Comparable to Mirror Memoirs' audio archive methodology, though broader in scope and serving a general rather than trauma-survivor audience.
• Transgender Law Center: The largest national trans-led organization advancing legal and policy change for transgender people. While broader than Mirror Memoirs, it overlaps in transgender POC leadership, policy advocacy, and direct response to anti-trans legislation—similar to Mirror Memoirs' RALIANCE work on K-12 sports.
• National Center for Transgender Equality: A major national advocacy organization for transgender equality focused on policy change and public education. Compares to Mirror Memoirs as a trans-led advocacy organization, though it operates at significantly larger scale with different political framing.

Others

• NoVo Foundation: A private foundation that has funded Mirror Memoirs through the Just Beginnings Collaborative. While not a peer in the competitive sense, it is a core ecosystem partner and funder; understanding its priorities is critical context for Mirror Memoirs' funding landscape.

Direct peers

• INCITE!: A national network of radical feminists of color organizing to end state violence and violence within communities. Comparable to Mirror Memoirs in its abolitionist orientation, focus on gender-nonconforming people of color, and use of narrative-change and organizing to address violence against marginalized communities.
• Forward Together: A multi-racial, multi-generational organization of queer and trans people of color building a unified movement for collective liberation. Comparable to Mirror Memoirs in its QTIBIPOC-led organizational model, narrative-change strategy, and survivor-centric organizing approach.
• Sylvia Rivera Law Project: A legal aid organization led by and for low-income trans, gender-nonconforming, and intersex people of color. Shares Mirror Memoirs' centering of TGNC and queer people of color, focus on survivor-led governance, and integration of direct service with policy advocacy.
• TGI Justice Project: A group of transgender, gender variant, and intersex people working to challenge the punishment paradigm. Comparable to Mirror Memoirs in its TGNC-of-color focus, abolitionist framework, and survivor-led organizational model.
• Black Women's Blueprint: A Black feminist organization centering Black women and girls' experiences of sexual violence. Shares Mirror Memoirs' use of storytelling and testimony as organizing tools, community-led healing circles, and centering of marginalized survivors of sexual violence.
• Survived and Punished: A survivor-led abolitionist organization that organizes against criminalization of survivors, particularly women and LGBTQ+ people of color. Directly comparable to Mirror Memoirs in its abolitionist framework, survivor-led governance, and intersectional approach to ending sexual violence without relying on police or prisons.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mirrormemoirs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Mirror Memoirs