Steph Perkins is the senior director of programs, responsible for developing and executing strategy, guiding a team of program officers who implement the foundation’s priorities, and leveraging external relationships to support and strengthen the foundation’s work. He joined the Gill Foundation in 2020 as a program officer, elevating to senior program officer in early 2023 before assuming his current role.

Steph comes to the Gill Foundation from PROMO, Missouri’s statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, where he began as a field organizer and was later selected as the executive director in 2015.

In Steph’s tenure as executive director, PROMO defeated more than 50 anti-LGBTQ statewide bills and constitutional amendments through bipartisan action; passed policies that ensure transgender Missourians can access accurate identification documents that are critical for securing employment, housing, and other essential services; and developed innovative, on-the-ground programming to increase the public’s knowledge and understanding of transgender and non-binary identities, especially in rural areas. Additionally, through a unique partnership with the Missouri Foundation for Health, Steph and his team grew an LGBTQ cultural competency program that trained more than 10,000 staff of healthcare providers, social service organizations, and nonprofit organizations, resulting in more than 100 institutional policy changes.

Originally from Kansas, Steph has been passionately engaged in the fight for LGBTQ equality at the local, state, and national level for more than a decade. He has served on the Public Policy Council for the St. Louis Regional Chamber of Commerce and the boards of directors for Freedom for All Americans and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Steph graduated from Missouri State University with a degree in sociology and religious studies. He now lives in Denver with his dog, Bagel.