The Calamus Foundation

I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the rivers of America, and along the shores of the great lakes, and all over the prairies,

I will make inseparable cities with their arms about each other's necks, By the love of comrades, By the manly love of comrades.

For You O Democracy, Leaves of Grass Walt Whitman

Mathew Hart is the Founder and Principle of The Lafayette Practice which specializes in advising on philanthropic strategy and management, for grassroots nonprofits to international foundations. Formerly the National Director of Public Engagement for Solutions for Progress, ‘Matty’ has  deep roots in the LGBT community of Philadelphia, but now calls Paris, France his home. He has been instrumental in  developing strategies for the Calamus Foundation, having  served on the Board for almost 10 years.

Loring McAlpin divides his time between documentary film projects (Tegwan’s Nest, Herman’s House, How to Survive a Plague) and work with the Calamus Foundation. His involvement with AIDS activism through ACT UP and the collective Gran Fury provided the lens through which much of the Calamus Foundation’s giving has been focused.

Milap Patel Milap Patel is a program officer for the Open Society Fellowship program, where he primarily focuses on the recruitment and selection of Fellows and the integration of fellows’ work into the intellectual life of the broader Open Society network. More broadly, Milap is an international development and human rights practitioner with over 7 years experience researching, analyzing, and driving efforts to address key global challenges.