SANTA FE, N.M. — August 25, 2026 — The Human Rights Alliance (HRA) has been named the recipient of the 2026 Santa Fe Community Foundation Piñon Award for Courageous Innovation, one of Northern New Mexico’s most respected honors recognizing outstanding nonprofit organizations and their contributions to the region.
The award recognizes HRA’s remarkable evolution from a primarily volunteer-led organization known for producing Santa Fe Pride into a year-round community organization developing new approaches to some of the most persistent challenges facing LGBTQ+ people in Northern New Mexico.
“This recognition belongs to our entire community,” said Kevin Bowen, Executive Director of the Human Rights Alliance. “HRA has changed because our community told us what it needed. We listened. What began as a commitment to visibility and Pride has grown into a much broader commitment to ensuring LGBTQ+ people have places to belong, people to turn to, and opportunities to live healthy and fulfilling lives.”
Founded in 1993, HRA has served Northern New Mexico’s LGBTQ+ community for more than three decades. Over the past several years, the organization has undergone a significant transformation, expanding beyond its traditional advocacy and Pride activities to address mental health, social isolation, access to affirming healthcare, youth well-being, workforce development, community safety and connection.
That transformation accelerated with the opening of HRA’s first community center in 2025, creating a year-round home for LGBTQ+ programs, services and community gatherings.
Today, HRA provides LGBTQ+-affirming mental health and wellness programming for youth, adults, seniors, transgender and gender-diverse individuals, and other members of the community. Between July 2024 and early 2026, approximately 480 unduplicated individuals participated in HRA’s structured mental health and wellness programming.
HRA is also developing Project THRIVE, a comprehensive initiative for LGBTQ+ youth that integrates mental wellness, healing arts, outdoor experiences, belonging and community, and leadership development. The organization is simultaneously creating pathways that connect youth development with workforce preparation and future employment opportunities.
This expansion comes at a consequential time for LGBTQ+ communities. Amid a national political and social climate in which LGBTQ+ people—particularly transgender individuals and young people—are experiencing heightened uncertainty and challenges to their rights and well-being, HRA has strengthened its role as both a direct-service organization and an advocate for LGBTQ+ New Mexicans.
HRA works to ensure that LGBTQ+ voices are represented in conversations and decisions affecting their lives while building the local infrastructure necessary for people to remain connected, supported, and resilient.
For HRA, innovation has not meant creating programs simply for the sake of doing something new. It has meant identifying gaps, listening to the community, and being willing to fundamentally change as an organization to meet emerging needs.
“Courageous innovation sometimes means being willing to ask whether what worked yesterday is enough for tomorrow,” Bowen said. “For HRA, the answer was that our community needed more from us. We made the decision to become more—not by abandoning our history, but by building upon it.”
HRA’s reach extends well beyond its direct-service programming. Its annual Santa Fe Pride celebration draws more than 15,000 people, while its programs, community activities, referrals, and events connect thousands of people each year with resources, support, and one another.
The Santa Fe Community Foundation has presented the Piñon Awards for four decades to recognize nonprofit organizations making extraordinary contributions to Northern New Mexico. The Courageous Innovation Award recognizes organizations demonstrating bold approaches to developing new solutions to persistent community challenges.
For HRA, receiving the award is both recognition of how far the organization has come and encouragement for the work still ahead.
“We are incredibly proud of this award, but we also see it as a responsibility,” Bowen said. “There are still LGBTQ+ people throughout Northern New Mexico who feel isolated, who cannot find affirming services, or who wonder whether there is a community where they belong. Our work is to make sure the answer is yes.”
About the Human Rights Alliance
Founded in 1993, the Human Rights Alliance (HRA) advances equity, opportunity, and well-being for LGBTQ+ individuals and families throughout Northern New Mexico. Through mental health and wellness programming, youth development, healthcare navigation, advocacy, workforce initiatives, community building, and Santa Fe Pride, HRA works toward a Northern New Mexico where LGBTQ+ people are empowered, visible, safe, connected, and treated with dignity and respect.
For more information about the Human Rights Alliance, visit www.hrasantafe.org.