River City Pride (RCP) is the area’s leading LGBTQ+ non-profit advocacy organization.
They recently announced a merger with the Southern Indiana Pride Business Alliance (SoInPBA).
SoInPBA is a networking organization to promote and advocate for a “united and visible” pride business community in Southwestern Indiana.
With this merger RiverCity Pride is absorbing the ‘Business Alliance and merging their governance bodies. It will allow RCP to formalize pride community efforts in the business sector.
Current President of RiverCity Pride Dawn Schwindel said the two organizations have a similar mission. “But (they) just focus more towards businesses and business owners. So we thought combining our efforts would be in the best interest of both organizations strategically, and that we could collaborate efforts to reach a broader audience.”
Schwindel said the next step is to communicate to members about the new structure. She said it's especially important in this political climate.
This will include some perks for members of the Business Alliance.
Schwindel agrees that this merger will help to serve LGBTQ+ businesses, and educate the business community overall about the LGBTQ+ community.
“So it's more about trying to get everyone a seat at the table, build relationships, see how we can help each other and collaborate,” she said. “So that's the goal.”
The merger was effective Sept. 1, and announced Sept. 19.
Support independent journalism today. You rely on WNIN to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Give to grow our local reporting today. Donate