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2012

Gina Crivello blogs about creating a GSA club for a high school in American Fork, UT.

Meg Hendrix blogs that she had always been a mother bear but when her 13-year-old son Jon came out she became a "mama dragon". 

 

“I have always been a mother bear. Once I found out about Jon, that didn’t seem a fierce enough title. There is a whole new level of protection that has come over me. I now call myself a Mama Dragon."

FB Messenger Icon

2013

A private Facebook Messenger thread is started by Gina Crivello in search of support for one of her GSA students. Adopting the name from Meg's blog, the group calls themselves the Mama Dragons.

 

(Members of this group include mothers Sara Cook, Nancy Meyers, Leslie Cordon, Liz Deane, Wendy Montgomery, Jill Rowe, Meg Hendrix, Yvette Zobell, Diane Oviatt, Vicki Johnson, Christy Florence,

Christy Beach, and Neca Allgood.)

December

Mama Dragons begins

2014

JANUARY

The first Facebook group starts and is titled Mama Dragon Council (MDC-Secret).  

2014 SLC pride

May-July

Mama Dragons begins meeting in small groups locally and tabling at events including the Salt Lake City Pride Festival.

FB icon 2014

2015

MAY

Mama Dragons retreat

Jill Rowe organizes the first Mama Dragons Retreat. 

SLT article May 2015

News article about Mama Dragons is published in the Salt Lake Tribune drastically increasing requests to join Mama Dragons.

FB icon 2014

Jen Blair creates an additional Facebook group named“Mama Dragon Council” (now called Mama Dragons Main Group) as knowing someone personally for admittance in the MDC secret group wasn’t maintainable. The two groups run side by side. 

DECEMBER

FB icon 2014

Mama Dragons creates subgroup for Spanish speaking Mothers called Madres Dragones.

FB icon 2014

Mama Dragons' first Facebook Regional Groups are set up in
Utah & Washington areas.

OCTOBER

2016

JULY

2016 March 9 Official Logo with Mission Fire

Mama Dragons launches official logo and the first mission statement is developed and adopted, representing courage, protection, and love. 

SEPTEMBER

Mama Dragons retreat

36 Mama Dragons gather at the annual Mama Dragons retreat in Heber, UT.

October

Mama Dragons is awarded Equality Utah, Ally of the Year.

NOVEMBER

MEMBERSHIP REACHES

1,000

MARCH

Neca Allgood is selected as the first Mama Dragons President and drafts the first organization bylaws.

2016 Equality Award Mama Dragons

Kimberly Anderson self publishes the Mama Dragon Story Project, a photo journal project that features twenty mothers who share essays of love and support to their LGBT+ children.

2016 Story Project

Julie Turnbull is elected to serve as President-Elect serving beside Neca Allgood as President of Mama Dragons.

Mama Dragons president 2
Mama Dragons president 1

MAMA DRAGONS HISTORY TIMELINE

Mama Dragons was created by Gina Crivello when she gathered a small group of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) mothers together as they navigated supporting their LGBTQ+ children in a culture that was not affirming. Since then Mama Dragons has grown to become a leader in affirming parent education and offers support to more than 11,000 members worldwide.

2017

August

Mama Dragons participates on stage at first annual LOVELOUD concert in UT, a new foundation founded by Dan Reynolds, lead singer of Imagine Dragons.

 LOVELOUD Logo

Mama Dragons shortens its mission statement to “We are a supportive group of mothers. We are shelter for one another’s children. We are champions of faith, family and LGBTQIA communities. We are sisters. We are Mama Dragons."

2018

Mama Dragons Logo – Rainbow Circle

Mama Dragons™ trademarks name and new logo.

MAY

Mama Dragons Leadership Team

FEBRUARY

Mama Dragons holds its first Leadership Summit in St George, UT.

JANUARY

Mama Dragons Leaders

JulieTurnbull serves as Mama Dragons President and Wendy VonSosen is elected as Mama Dragons President-Elect.

Mama Dragons Board of Directors clarifies Mama Dragons is not intended to be an LGBTQ+ support group or allies group, but instead it is a support group for mothers of LGBTQ+ children intended to help build affirming mother allies.

QPR

Mama Dragons QPR certified trainers begin offering Mama Dragons' members QPR suicide prevention gatekeeper trainings.

March

After weeks of work stemming from the first leadership summit, Mama Dragons reveals new mission and vision statements.

We support, educate, and empower mothers of LGBTQ children.

MISSION:

VISION:

We envision a world in which all mothers fiercely love and advocate for their LGBTQ children.

JUNE

Mama Dragons becomes an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, governed by its new mission statement. 

Paper Hugs

September

Paper Hugs program originates after Mama Dragons member Lindsay Kinman's child received cards of encouragement. She collects names of Mamas' LGBTQ+ children who could use a little lift by receiving cards/notes in the mail.

2019

Mama Dragons Oprah Magazine article

Mama Dragons
is featured in
Oprah Magazine.

MAY

JANUARY

Wendy VonSosen serves as Mama Dragons President, Lisa Dame is elected as Mama Dragons President-Elect, and Julie Turnbull serves as Mama Dragons Treasurer.

Mama Dragons CNN

June

Mama Dragons is featured in an episode of CNN's United Shades of America show.

MEMBERSHIP REACHES

3,000

OCTOBER

Wrapped in Hugs Program is developed after a Mama Dragon sees a quilting article about Shannon Downey using her Instagram community to build quilts.

Wrapped in Hugs

Mama Dragons presents QPR Suicide Prevention Training at United Nations Conference in New York City.

NYC

2020

Mama Dragons Board of Directors hires Celeste Carolin as Executive Director and ends president and president-elect positions. 

SEPTEMBER

MEMBERSHIP REACHES

4,000

December

MEMBERSHIP REACHES

5,000

Mama Dragons trademarks Parachute program, Wrapped in Hugs, and Paper Hugs programs.

TM

Mama Dragons Executive Director

2021

July

Parachute logo

Mama Dragons launches Parachute eLearning platform, for Mama Dragons members.

MEMBERSHIP REACHES

7,000

MEMBERSHIP REACHES

6,000

May

2021 August Facebook Accelerator
FB icon 2014

August

Mama Dragons is accepted into Facebook Community Accelerator Program (31 US organizations are selected out of the 2,600 applicants).

September

MEMBERSHIP REACHES

8,000

2022

March

March

Parachute banner

Mama Dragons launches & markets Parachute to the Public.

Embracelets

Mama Dragons launches Embracelets to allow folks in and out of the organization to build friendship bracelets for Mama Dragons events to be given out to participants.

JULY

OCTOBER

MEMBERSHIP REACHES

9,000

In the Den podcast

Mama Dragons launches In the Den with Mama Dragons Podcast.

LIFT

2023

January

AUGUST

NOVEMBER

Mama Dragons launches LIFT Group Therapy for parents of LGBTQ kids in crisis.

MEMBERSHIP REACHES

10,000

2024

MAY

Screenshot 2024-11-14 at 1.52.04 PM.png

The Mama Dragons podcast, In the Den, published its 100th episode and continues to provide a new episode weekly.

OCTOBER

Mama Dragons receives a gold award from Anthem Awards in New York City in the category Human Rights - Community Space. This incredible recognition celebrates the transformative power of community and the work we do to create a safe, supportive space for mothers of LGBTQ+ children.

Liz headshot.png

The Mama Dragons board hires Liz Welch as the new Executive Director.

SEPTEMBER

salt lake city.jpg

Mama Dragons holds its first annual LUV conference in Salt Lake City, Utah welcoming speakers from local and national LGBTQ+ organizations to present to over 200 attendees.

NOVEMBER

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