Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonah Murray.
Hi Jonah, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Finn’s Place is a community center in Fort Worth, Texas, that provides a safe space for trans and gender-diverse people to gather, grow, and flourish. Finn’s Place was established in 2022 thanks to the physical space and fiscal sponsorship provided by Galileo Christian Church, a Disciples of Christ church that is dedicated to doing justice for LGBTQ+ people. Galileo sparked the initial idea for Finn’s Place and gathered a group of church and non-church individuals to conceptualize and launch a trans community center based on the spirit of a young trans boy named Finn.
Finn was a young transgender teenager who attended Galileo Church with his family. His coming out journey taught the Galileo community about believing people when they tell you who they are, and he became a beloved member of the church. Finn died unexpectedly in 2018, but his spirit continues to live in the hearts of church members and is now carried on through Finn’s Place. One of his wisest teachings, “Beeee yourself!” inspired our bee logo, and we endeavor to uphold his legacy of spreading love, education, and trans joy.
The moment Finn’s Place first opened our doors in April 2022, the community came flooding in. It was clear we were filling a need in the community for a safe gathering place. The past 2 years have been an incredible experience of building relationships with community members, partners, and other LGBTQ-focused organizations. The plan has always been for Finn’s Place to be able to spread our bee wings and operate independently from Galileo, and thanks to the relationships we’ve built and the outpouring of support from our community, we are proud to say we are now establishing our own 501(c)3 status.
Finn’s Place is excited to continue working toward our vision of uniting the wider Fort Worth/Tarrant County area as a community that fosters trans joy. We define “trans joy” as when a trans person feels safe in their body, their identity is respected, and they have access to a supportive community. Trans joy should be everywhere a trans person is. In pursuit of this, we aim to create connections and provide education in the community so that when people leave Finn’s Place, they are leaving their community center but not their sense of community.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nonprofit work is not easy, but it is extremely rewarding. Since 2022, we have had 9 dedicated Board Members and countless volunteers who laid the groundwork to help our organization succeed both in its structure and in serving the community.
I have had the honor and privilege of serving as Board President in these first 2 years, and I’ve learned exactly how much work it takes behind the scenes to start, maintain, and grow a nonprofit organization. I’ve often compared the work we do as a Board to building an airplane while you’re flying it! As Board President, some of my top priorities include safety, purpose, and organizational longevity.
As a trans community center in Fort Worth, Texas, in our current political climate, safety is my number one priority. Anti-trans violence is increasing each year, and it is a real and present threat we must actively work against. As a community center, it is our job to ensure people feel and are safe in our space, and we take this responsibility extremely seriously. We constantly work to improve security infrastructure in our space, and we have safety policies and procedures in place to protect those we serve.
One of the primary responsibilities of any Board President is to keep the organization on track and stay true to its purpose and vision. For me, doing this work at Finn’s Place is about providing something I needed as a trans kid growing up in Fort Worth – a welcoming community where it’s safe to explore and express my personhood. Even as a young adult, I have found lifelong friendships and healing through my work here.
Organizational longevity has also been a top priority for the Board these past 2 years. It’s been this Board’s responsibility to ensure Finn’s Place is able to withstand growth and can continue to operate and expand beyond our individual tenure as Board Members. I am excited to say I believe we have achieved this, and I invite readers to stay tuned to Finn’s Place social media as we introduce 3 new Board members near the end of January 2024! As a few of our original Board members will be transitioning out of board service into more traditional volunteer roles, we are excited to welcome our new members, who will bring more community representation and fresh perspectives to the decision-making table at Finn’s Place.
I am also excited to say one of these new Board members will be stepping into the role of Board President while I step back into the role of Treasurer. I am committed to ensuring there is a smooth transition of leadership, and I can’t wait to introduce this amazing person to the Finn’s Place community!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Finn’s Place is my passion project, but I work full-time as a Project Manager and the Fort Worth branch manager for JBJ Management, a public affairs consulting firm based in Dallas. I provide client support through our government relations, public engagement, nonprofit initiatives, and equity compliance teams, and I lead all business development activities in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. I love my job because I get to work with a wide variety of clients, helping them build essential relationships in the community that help grow their business or organization while creating positive local impact. My experience and the support I receive from my coworkers at JBJ is what gave me the confidence and skills to become a community leader and help guide Finn’s Place to where we are today.
Through my work with JBJ and Finn’s Place, I have become a highly active member of the community in business, nonprofit, and political spaces. I’ve discovered my passion for civic engagement and building new pathways to create a more equitable society.
As a transmasculine person, early on in my transition, I realized I was beginning to be treated differently in society – I realized that I was benefitting from white male privilege. I endeavor every day to use this power in the spaces I inhabit for advocacy and to lift up the trans and LGBTQ+ community with me. The most marginalized voices in our community must be heard and acted upon for there to be any meaningful progress.
Working at JBJ and with Finn’s Place has brought new opportunities for me to advocate and be engaged in local change-making spaces. Part of the reason I am stepping back from the position of Board President is because in January 2024, I will begin serving on the City of Fort Worth’s Human Relations Commission. As the first openly transgender member of this commission, I am dedicated to bringing a queer perspective to civic engagement and helping ensure the City engages in meaningful, ongoing dialogue with the LGBTQ+ community of Fort Worth.
Another passion project I am proud of is the Queer Professionals Network, a grassroots networking group I co-founded with Alli Carpenter, Bar Manager at Hotel Dryce. Alli wanted to create a safe space at the Lobby Bar at Hotel Dryce for the LGBTQ+ community, and after we brainstormed together, the idea for a queer networking group emerged. We planned and held the first event in June 2023, and now, at the end of 2023, we have well over 100 LGBTQ+ business owners, professionals, and allies on our communications list. We host monthly after-hours networking events at the Lobby Bar, and we plan to continue them in 2024.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Oh wow, my favorite childhood memory is a hard question. Like many neurodivergent and transgender kids, I faced a lot of bullying and internal anxiety growing up, but I treasure the memories of people who made me feel safe and loved, and I am grateful that there are many of them. I loved running around and playing outside with my friends in the neighborhood I grew up in because it made me feel like just “one of the boys.” My childhood best friend and I loved to pretend we were wizards in a certain magical universe, and he once carved me a wand from a tree branch. I still have it in a box in my closet, a nostalgic reminder of all the things that were pure, innocent, and good in my childhood. It reminds me and motivates me to be a source of good and safety for others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.finnsplacetx.org
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/finnsplacetx
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/finnsplacetx
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/finnsplacetx/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FinnsPlacetx
Image Credits
Proud Family Portraits
Finn’s Place
