European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA)Global

Zoom Cares provides the European Pride Organizers Association (EPOA) with in-kind Zoom licenses to facilitate the nonprofit’s ability to gather together local and national organizations in more than 40 countries. Read more about EPOA and the impact of Zoom’s technology below.

About European Organizers Association (EPOA) 

EPOA is a network of European lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) Pride organizations. Though EPOA promotes LGBTI+ Pride on a pan-European level, the organization’s reach is global, with a wide geographic span. EPOA members include more than 100 Prides.  

The organization strives to empower and support local and national organizations in their efforts of planning and promoting Pride as a celebration and vital human rights movement. To do this, EPOA works to facilitate networking and skill-sharing among members through trainings, seminars, webinars, and conferences. EPOA efforts include advocacy for the Pride movement at a national and international level, including at the European Parliament. 

“Pride is the world’s biggest human rights movement, and it is an honor to be part of it. Every Pride event changes lives, and Pride organizations never stop. EPOA’s recent financial support for colleagues in Ukraine has been evidence of this. Bringing Pride organizations together is what makes us stronger and better equipped when our community is facing hatred and intolerance.”

Steve Taylor, EPOA Board Member 

As 2022 marks 30 years since the first EuroPride initiative, EPOA has been using Zoom to connect with previous organization volunteers, including the very first EuroPride team from 1992. Although EPOA’s work has evolved over the years, EuroPride remains one of its most important and best known activities. EPOA is an entirely volunteer-run organization, guided by eight board members.

EPOA & Zoom Cares Drive Impact

During the COVID-19 pandemic, EPOA was forced to shift away from its usual thousands of in-person events, and instead pivot to hosting these events virtually. With support from Zoom, this challenge to organize supporters and volunteers online was made easier. For example, in March 2020, as it became clear many Pride events would be canceled across the globe, EPOA created a huge, online Pride event. 

With just three months to plan, EPOA launched Global Pride 2020, which reached more than 57 million viewers all over the world. The event included content from Prides all over the world, including speeches from leaders and artists including President Biden, Elton John, Pabllo Vittar, and Todrick Hall. To deliver success from this initiative, more than 100 volunteers across the world spent hours connecting on Zoom to organize, plan, and execute this first-of-its-kind event.