About Us
Our History
1993: The Lesbigay SIG is unanimously approved by the NAFSA Board of Directors at a meeting held just before the Annual Conference in San Francisco. The group was established in response to a growing recognition of critical issues related to sexual identities within the field of international education. Despite limited publicity, over 60 individuals attended the inaugural meeting. During this meeting, a committee was formed, and Scott King became the first Chair. Our first official newsletter was sent later that summer.
1996: The SIG hosts a powerful exhibit of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt where over 500 people visited during the annual conference in Phoenix. This project displayed nine quilt blocks containing 72 panels, which gave tribute to individuals including NAFSAns and their loved ones lost to AIDS. A special panel, designed by JoAnn Wallace of Antioch College and featuring the NAFSA logo, was created. Conference attendees added 48 names in remembrance. A concurrent session, “Integrating the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and HIV/AIDS Prevention,” was facilitated by Skeeter Buck and Gene Yuson from the NAMES Project to discuss strategies for using the Quilt as an educational tool and featured speakers who shared personal stories. Later, the NAFSA panel was formally submitted to the national AIDS Quilt display in Washington, D.C. by Kathleen Sideli, alongside a letter listing the 48 names and a donation from the SIG to support the Quilt’s maintenance.
1997: Our website is launched, achieving our goal of providing resources for the entire international educational community: bibliographies, suggestions and material for orienting and counseling glbt international students and Americans studying abroad, resources for ESL teachers interested in providing multicultural dimension to their students, information for glbt professionals, and links to other resources and organizations.
1998: Kathy Sideli holds our first official reception at a gay bar in Dupont Circle to celebrate our 5th anniversary in Washington, D.C. Although the venue forgot the our planned private terrace reservation, 22 attendees gathered indoors instead, sharing conversation over complimentary nachos and tuna salad. The evening continued with an impromptu walk to La Fourchette, a nearby French restaurant that unexpectedly accommodated the group in a private upstairs room. What began as a logistical mishap became an early example of the resilience, camaraderie, and community spirit that would come to define Rainbow SIG.
2002: Our name is officially changed from Lesbigay SIG to Rainbow SIG at our Annual Business Meeting in San Antonio to reflect a more diverse population and fully include our transgender siblings.
2003: Created by Carvin Reinhart (Richmond, Indiana), the first ever Rainbow SIG logo is unveiled as part of the Celebration of the SIG’s 10th-anniversary celebration at the NAFSA Annual Conference in Salt Lake City.
2005: We see the ideation of a Rainbow SIG scholarship, designed to provide study abroad funding for LGBT students, during the annual conference in Seattle.
2009: The annual conference in Los Angeles coincides with the California Proposition 8 legal challenges, and Rainbow SIG members joined local rallies and demonstrations in support of marriage equality.
2012: Under the leadership of Kevin Coyne, Peter Kerrigan and Mark Lenhart, the Rainbow Scholarship is officially established with the Fund for Education Abroad with the first donation coming from Bo Keppel in memory of her husband. The first award was made for the 2012-13 Academic Year to Abraham Martin of the University of Wisconsin at Platteville, who studied in Thailand.
2013–2014: Rainbow SIG establishes an independent nonprofit entity and obtained 501(c)(3) status, formalizing our fundraising and operations beyond our role within NAFSA.
2023: We celebrate our 30th anniversary by unveiling the first iteration of an updated logo designed by Jason Schroeder, honoring our classic design while incorporating elements of the modern Pride Progress Flag. We also created a 30th Anniversary History Project video showcasing prominent voices, key highlights, and significant achievements from across our three-decade history.
2024: Under the leadership of Shawna Parker, Angela Schaffer, and Jason Schroeder, the Rainbow Scholarship is established as an endowed fund after successfully reaching our $100,000 fundraising goal. Our long-time Treasurer, Rick Russo, also established a new Florida-based business entity with 501(c)(3) status, expanding our capacity for future fundraising and impact. With this came our first ever legal Board, consisting of Michael Marcelli, Shawna Parker, Rick Russo, Jason Schroeder, and Scott Tayloe.
2025: In perhaps our biggest year yet, 2025 brought several major achievements and changes. Signatures were collected at the annual conference in San Diego for an open letter penned by Kei Mamiya and Ash Trebisacci, formally requesting that NAFSA incorporate pronouns on conference badges; later that year, NAFSA agreed to pilot a pronoun field for the 2026 annual conference in Orlando. That same year also marked a major milestone for the SIG, with one of the largest Rainbow Receptions to date, drawing an estimated 600 attendees, and an all-time fundraising record of over $60,000 achieved during the annual NAFSA fundraising cycle. Leadership also voted on a chair stream restructuring, implementing a three-year term and introducing a third co-chair for the first time, ensuring greater efficiency and continuity while preserving institutional knowledge.
Our Logo
Our original logo was created by Carvin Reinhart of Richmond, Indiana as part of the SIG's 10th-anniversary celebration at the NAFSA Annual Conference in Salt Lake City. At the time, it was felt the SIG needed a clear visual identity that could be used for a variety of purposes.
Our revamped logo was designed by Jason Schroeder, 2022-2026 Co-Chair, as part of the SIG's 30th-anniversary celebration. The new logo honors the classic design, while modernizing it and incorporating exact color matches of the newer Pride Progress Flag, elements of pink and light blue for our trans and non-binary siblings, and a black and brown outer ring for the marginalized people of color within the LGBTQIA+ community.
Our current logo mirrors the previous one almost exactly, but has updated text within the outer ring that says “Rainbow Special Interest Group,” as part of our organizational goal to expand Rainbow SIG’s reach beyond the walls of NAFSA’s conferences and better serve the field’s queer students and professionals all year long.
Annual Logos
