Connecting Corporate With Community To Empower Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Communities

Written by: Jumol Royes, Director of Communications and Community Engagement at Elevate Media Group and IN Magazine

Helping brands and businesses authentically connect and engage with 2SLGBTQI+ audiences while also promoting and supporting the work of 2SLGBTQI+ community organizations is how Elevate Media Group delivers on its mission to celebrate Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ communities not just during Pride Month, but 365 days a year.

The 2SLGBTQI+-focused marketing agency and publisher of IN Magazine – Canada’s leading 2SLGBTQI+ digital publication, website and community platform – is adding to its national network of 2SLGBTQI+ community partners and renewing its commitment to providing them with free content and promotional services to help amplify their campaigns, programs and initiatives.

INspired x Community is IN Magazine’s innovative community partnerships program open to 2SLGBTQI+ non-profit organizations and service providers across the country. The program is supported by revenues generated from Elevate Media Group’s work creating 2SLGBTQI+ marketing campaigns for Canadian businesses and brands.

“We create authentic partnerships with 2SLGBTQI+ community organizations so we can inform our readers about the important work being done by our community partners and inspire them to take action,” says Tyra Blizzard, IN Magazine’s new manager of community partners. “60 community partners have enrolled in the program to date, and we’re on track to reach 100 partners before the end of the year.”

Community partners currently enrolled in the program include Inside Out, a registered charity that challenges attitudes and changes lives through the promotion, production and exhibition of films made by and about 2SLGBTQI+ people; LGBT YouthLine, an Ontario-wide helpline for 2SLGBTQI+ youth; the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP), an organization that responds to the threat of HIV and AIDS in Toronto’s African, Caribbean and Black communities; and the Queer & Trans Health Collective, a grassroots health organization run by and for queer and trans community members.

On the corporate side of the business, Elevate Media Group counts ViiV Healthcare, Merck and its Gardasil 9 HPV vaccine, Puma, Stratford Festival, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) among its returning clients. New clients GraceMed and Brampton On Stage are also on board.

Benjamin Chafe, the agency’s newly promoted vice-president of development, believes that supporting community through corporate partnerships is key to creating authentic contribution and meaningful relationships.

“The two initiatives are inextricably linked; by connecting corporate with community, we empower Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ communities from coast to coast to coast,” says Chafe.

Elevate Media Group’s ethos is empowering communities and inspiring individuals to become the best possible versions of themselves.

“We’re committed to creating movements that are grounded in purpose and help elevate global communities. We have some exciting new projects on the horizon that will enhance this mission,” adds the agency’s publisher and president, Patricia Salib.

About Elevate Media Group and IN Magazine: Elevate Media Group is a full-service creative agency that helps brands and the communities they serve through authentic marketing grounded in purpose, with a focus on 2SLGBTQI+ communities. IN Magazine is Canada’s leading 2SLGBTQI+ digital publication, website and community platform celebrating Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ communities.