IGLYO - Towards 40 Years
In 2018, IGLYO began to move its focus to ensuring LGBTQI Inclusive Education becomes the norm across the Council of Europe region.
That year saw the launch of the first edition of the IGLYO LGBTQI Inclusive Education Report, Index, Map, and Website, providing an in-depth account of the current situation on LGBTQI Inclusive Education in each Council of Europe Member State, as well as Belarus and Kosovo. A school climate survey was conducted in 2020, and a second edition showing the lack of progress was launched in 2022. The third one will be published in 2025.
Like most organisations, 2020 hit IGLYO hard, leading to a huge impact on our ability to work effectively for our community. Over the pandemic years we saw a number of employees and board members resign and leave the organisation due to the impacts of this stressful period, including the departure of IGLYO’s first Executive Director.
By the end of 2021, IGLYO was left with two Board Members, Toryn Glavin and Savira Pervaiz, a number of vacancies within the team and an interim Executive Director. In February 2022, the Board Members completed the recruitment of Bella FitzPatrick as IGLYO’s new Executive Director, the first woman to hold this role.
At the 2023 AMC in Podgorica, Montenegro, members voted to create the new Anti-Racism Panel as a paid official body of the organisation, replacing the old Anti-Racism Task Force which had struggled to implement its work over the previous 4 years in its original form.
As of 2024, IGLYO has bounced back from the pandemic stronger than ever, with a record number of 24 new Members applying to join the network in a year. With a team of 11 staff, a Board of 9 young people, 4 Anti-Racism Panel members and over 115 members in 40 nations, we feel proud to have inherited such a rich history and legacy and can’t wait to see what comes next.
Here’s to the next 40 years of IGLYO!