The Modern IGLYO Emerges
In an exciting yet rocky period, the early 2010s saw the formation of IGLYO as the organisation that exists today. Between 2011 and 2017, IGLYO’s secretariat, funding relationship with the European Commission, and the Annual Members’ Conference all developed to a point currently recognisable as the foundations for modern IGLYO.
In 2013, IGLYO hired our first Executive Coordinator to lead the organisation. Over time this role became that of Executive Director.
2014 was marked by a focus on intersectionality, norm-criticism, education and social inclusion as key themes, leading to the production of resources and capacity-building events aimed at increasing the knowledge and skill sets of our members in these areas. That year also saw a considerable growth of the IGLYO Membership, aiming to expand the impact of IGLYO and ensure we were meeting the needs of our communities.
In 2016 IGLYO held “I Have Rights”, its historic Study Session developed to explore Intersex rights. This event was the first ever Council of Europe Youth Centre event to explore the topic of intersex rights and identities, and was developed by IGLYO, with close support from the International Intersex Organisation Europe (OII Europe).
2016 also saw Rú Ávila Rodríguez join the team. Today Rú is the longest serving member of the IGLYO team, currently holding the roles of Deputy Executive Director and Policy & Research Manager. This was the year in which our advocacy work on inclusive education kicked off.
In 2017, IGLYO launched its internationally acclaimed capacity-building programme for queer youth: the Activist Academy. Held for the first time in Berlin before changing location every year, this flagship comprehensive week of training, learning and connecting, centred around queer campaigning and activism continues annually to this day, both in person and in a more recent online edition open to worldwide participants.
