Who We Are

The “Tolerance, Equality, and Awareness Movement” (“TEAM”) is a 501(c)(3) federally tax-exempt human rights organization with a charitable purpose that is charitable and educational in furtherance of a 21st century human rights agenda.

We focus all of TEAM’s activities on the foundation of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, which defined 30 human rights that people have simply because they are human. We use a variety of business, educational, and media outlets in furtherance of the Corporation’s Charitable Purpose.

Mission

Our mission is simple: human rights for every man, woman, and child, as part of a 21st century human rights agenda.

Vision

Our vision is that a 21st century human rights agenda begins with the creation of environments of diversity, inclusion, and acceptance.

Values

TEAM’s values are Activism, Collaboration, Education, Inclusion, and TEAMwork (ACE-IT).

Why?

TEAM was created out of discriminatory experiences that its founder, Chris Surfus, experienced in West Michigan.  These experiences were on a business and education level.  A local coffeehouse’s employees discriminated against Surfus and his friend that met at the business establishment to discuss a group project for a discriminatory school that Surfus attended.  Employees of the coffeehouse talked negatively about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and racial minorities.  Employees went into the manager’s office to talk about LGBT people and African American people, and this was overheard by several customers.  The coffeehouse had a history of creating a hostile environment for LGBT people.  Furthermore, Surfus’ friend was addressed in a derogatory manner.  The employee treated Surfus’ friend as if she didn’t have money to make a purchase, solely on the color of her skin.

Surfus did not keep quiet about this incident.  Surfus decided to use Facebook as a way to expose the business for its discriminatory practices, and the Facebook Note received over 100 comments in 24 hours from his friends.  Soon after, the business owner unprofessionally represented herself via Facebook, and validated Surfus’ claims of discrimination through usage of stereotypes of effeminate gay men.  Several customers were also friends with Surfus, and proceeded to discredit the owner on their own pages.  Surfus was then banned from the coffeehouse.

Soon after, a group of people came together to form what would become The Tolerance, Equality, and Awareness Movement (TEAM).  This group was an unregistered nonprofit organization and formed officially on December 18, 2009.  The organization incorporated through the State of Michigan on March 31, 2010…and the rest is history.

In addition, the group formed while Surfus was a student at Cornerstone University, which is known for its anti-LGBT stance and “don’t ask, don’t tell”-like policies.  Surfus had to be cautious of his rising role as a leader in the LGBT community to ensure that it would not impact his situation at Cornerstone.  Surfus eventually graduated from Cornerstone with academic honors, and attends Grand Valley State University as a dual-scholarship recipient in the Master’s of Public Administration Program.

Most Importantly: The group of people that started TEAM with Surfus did so for the purpose of making West Michigan a more tolerant and diverse community to live, conduct business, and prosper in.  TEAM was originally going to limit itself to just social justice issues around LGBT Equality and Racial Equity.  However, Surfus decided that that would be unacceptable and inconsistent with his passionate views on poverty, human trafficking, universal healthcare, and educational accessibility for all socioeconomic statuses.

The Result: A fully inclusive human rights organization that serves absolutely everyone.  This concept is incredibly ambitious, but it has made TEAM into a growing force around collaborative and cross-cultural efforts.  TEAM does restrict itself to just ONE TOPIC.  That’s what’s unique about us.  We cover absolutely everything pertaining to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

So, how could we manage to have the time for all of this?  We make it known that we provide educational content on all human rights issues.  While we do this, we focus our projects and programs on one or two issues, intertwined, with the goal of collaboration and capacity-building.  

When we say capacity-building, what do we mean?  We mean an investment in an individual to create impact for a whole community.  We believe that there is immense power in the individual.  That individual has access to greater opportunities.  Within a generation, that individual starts a family, empowered by the capacity-building.  By believing in that individual and creating hope, that individual lives a better life and has a higher standard of living.  That is passed on to the next generation.  Say one person is able to fulfill his or her dreams in life because of a TEAM program.  That person has 3 children, and now those children have the ability to go to college.  Those 3 children then have the ability to live a better life.  The result of that is a multiplier.  A program with real, substantial change.  This can transform an entire generation.

So the focus of TEAM is…?

The focus of TEAM is human rights and addressing those human rights within the communities we serve.  We strive to address human rights issues by using a strategic approach.  Capacity-building is one part of it.  However, we have noticed that different groups are trying to reach full equality and everyone has a different path.  Furthermore, there are some populations that have different definitions of equality.  For instance, we have noticed that LGBT people and the African American community collaborate far less than they should.  Both marginalized groups are not equal to this day.  Both groups are fighting for a level playing field with Caucasian, heterosexual men.

We believe through our strategic approach that

“A Different World Is Possible.”

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Nonprofit Information- Organizing Documents

Articles of Incorporation and Annual State Reports

CLICK HERE

Charitable Solicitation License

CLICK HERE and enter Attorney General Filing Number #45834

Tax-Exemption Status Letter (Approved under Section 501(c)(3) on September 7, 2011)

To download our 501(c)(3) Tax Exemption Letter as a printer-friendly PDF, please CLICK HERE. Please install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.