August 18, 2025

Grantee Partner Spotlight: Arianna’s Center

by Arianna Innuritegui-Lint

Ms. Foundation is proud to support our grantee partners, who are at the forefront of organizing and creating solutions that improve people’s lives and bring us closer to achieving a true democracy. The insight and perspective they provide is invaluable. The Q&A below was generated by Arianna’s Center CEO Arianna Innuritegui-Lint. 

Arianna’s Center aims to engage, empower, and lift up the highly stigmatized transgender community of South Florida and Puerto Rico, placing a special emphasis on the most marginalized groups, such as the trans Latinx community, undocumented immigrants, people living with HIV/AIDS, and those who have experienced incarceration. Arianna’s Center is an Activist Care & Collaboration Fund grantee partner.

What brought you to this work?

My personal journey as a Peruvian transgender woman living with HIV has deeply shaped my commitment to this work. After immigrating to the United States, navigating stigma, legal barriers, and healthcare disparities, I found strength in advocacy. Through online stories and public platforms that have highlighted my life—including a feature in People en Español—I’ve shared my experiences to uplift others. Founding Arianna’s Center allowed me to turn those personal hardships into a pathway for structural change in prevention, care, and leadership for transgender people, particularly immigrants and Latinas like myself. We saw firsthand how systemic health, housing, employment, and safety barriers devastated our communities. Arianna’s Center is committed to ensuring that trans people survive and thrive.

How do you connect/collaborate in your community? Who are your key partners?

Intentional collaboration is essential. Arianna’s Center connects with grassroots groups across the South and Puerto Rico, ensuring community members lead and shape our programs. Thanks to Ms. Foundation’s support, we have expanded culturally tailored programs like our monthly support group for Latino people living with HIV and chronic conditions. We also co-lead the Deep South Positive Coalition, a collective of trans-led and community-rooted organizations like Lewis Project, Community Estrella, Trans Housing Coalition, Transcend Memphis, Awakening Love, and House of Tulip, advancing healthcare access, leadership development, and systemic reform. We collaborate from the ground up with peer leaders, grassroots organizers, health clinics, and advocacy coalitions across Florida and Puerto Rico. Our key partners include local HIV prevention programs and LGBTQ+ organizations that share our values of dignity and equity. Our work is built on trust—we show up consistently and authentically, listening first and acting in partnership with the community.

What are you learning or what are you teaching?

We are learning how resilient and resourceful our community is—even in the face of intensified anti-trans legislation and systemic neglect. We continue teaching health equity frameworks that center Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U), trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and culturally competent services. Our TransJoy program, focused on wellness, community care, and legal advocacy for immigrant trans Latinas, embodies this intersectional, healing-centered approach.

Tell us about a recent victory or something you’re proud of.

Despite the increasingly difficult climate, we remain visible and resilient. Being featured on the cover of People en Español’s Salud edition is both a personal milestone and a powerful public affirmation of our community’s presence and leadership. Additionally, establishing the Deep South Positive Coalition Manifesto was a significant win—a formal roadmap for dismantling HIV stigma and healthcare inequity through trans-led, culturally competent strategies across the South.

What can philanthropy do better and/or how can individuals be helpful allies?

Philanthropy must fund intentionally, centering TGNC-led organizations and immigrant trans women of color, especially in the South. Investment in unrestricted, long-term, and trust-based grants is critical. Allies can amplify our work, challenge anti-trans rhetoric, and use their platforms to advocate for policy changes. As the Manifesto outlines, equitable funding, the decriminalization of sex work, and healthcare access — including hormone therapy and PrEP — are urgent priorities philanthropy and allies can champion alongside us.

What gives you hope?

Our community’s unwavering spirit. Every time a trans person walks into our center for the first time, receives affirming healthcare, or secures their immigration documents, hope is renewed. Programs like TransJoy, tailored for immigrant Latinas, remind us that joy, health, and dignity are not privileges—they are rights we’ll continue to fight for.