Hello beautiful and kind people!

Welcome to Pride Month 2025.

This year, I’m not writing to celebrate rainbow capitalism or retweet corporate allyship. I’m writing because the stakes are high, the system is cracking, and our moment is now.

We’ve spent decades learning to play nice—trading authenticity for access, softness for safety. We polished ourselves into palatable versions of queer success. We got the jobs, the marriages, the cover stories.

And yet—here we are again:
Under siege.

Undervalued.

Underestimated.

Somewhere along the way, we stopped dreaming big and started shrinking to fit.

We outsourced our liberation to political parties, nonprofits, and brands.

And when those systems failed us—as they always do—we were left scattered and stunned, wondering how we became guests in a house we helped build.

Let’s be clear:

Assimilation is not a strategy.
Tolerance is not enough.
And survival is not the ceiling.

It’s time to remember who we are—and what we’re capable of.

🌍 Imagine a global LGBTQ+ infrastructure—designed by us, for us.
🛡️ One that protects, mobilizes, and funds our people across borders.
📢 One with ambassadors, economic tools, and digital sanctuaries.
🤝 Not charity. Not permission. Power. Agency. Self-determination.

Other communities have done it.
Why not us?

The Sámi people have cross-border parliaments.
Catholics answer to a Vatican state.
The Ismaili diaspora operates globally under unified, strategic leadership.

Meanwhile, we—the queer community—one of the most creative, resourceful, and globally connected groups on Earth—have been playing small.

Quietly, politely, inside systems that were never built to hold us, let alone center us.

No more.

2025 is the year we stop begging to belong.
It’s the year we start building what we actually need.

And that starts with Radical Kindness.

Kindness not as branding—but as bold, strategic leadership.
Kindness that confronts harm, protects the vulnerable, and builds belonging with intention.

Kindness as action, not accessory.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
Radical Kindness is not soft. It’s how we survive without becoming what we’re fighting.

And it’s time we pair it with economic power, technological fluency, and global solidarity.

So this Pride, I’m not here to only celebrate how far we’ve come.
I’m here to ask: Where the hell are we going—and who’s driving?

My challenge to you:

→ What would it look like for you to lead with authenticity and not apology?
→ What if you invested in our future the same way you invest in your career?
→ What if we stopped waiting for someone else to save us—and realized we are the infrastructure?

This is our intermission moment.
The old rules are dissolving.
Let’s write the new ones—loudly, proudly, together.

With clarity, courage, and some fire,
Jim

🌈 Join me all month on LinkedIn for Stories of Pride and Our Community
We’ll be exploring Radical Kindness, Authentic Leadership, and Queer Sovereignty in action.

🎙️ Want to bring this movement to your workplace or community?
Coaching, speaking, and strategy sessions are open for Summer/Fall.
[📩 Let’s connect → hijimfielding.com]

📬 Share this newsletter with someone ready to lead boldly.
Visibility is not enough anymore. We need strategy. We need each other.

🎧 Announcing: Jim Fielding & Friends — A Podcast About Real Leadership, Real Conversations, and Radical Kindness

After decades in corporate boardrooms, behind global brands, and now in the coaching space, I’ve come to believe this:

The world doesn’t need more noise. It needs more truth. More heart. More humanity in leadership.

That’s why I’m launching something deeply personal—and long overdue.

Coming this Pride Month, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Jim Fielding & Friends, a new podcast built around one simple idea:
👉 We lead better when we lead together.

Every episode is a chance to sit down with someone I admire—executives, artists, entrepreneurs, advocates, and culture shapers—to have honest conversations about what it means to lead with courage, kindness, and authenticity in today’s complex world.

Not soundbites. Not slogans. Just real talk from people who are doing the work.

AND………Let’s talk about the Theme Music!!

Billy Mann, Shawn Stockman and their Chosen Family group have graciously loaned my the song “ Chosen Family” from their forthcoming album to anchor the podcast. Both the music and lyrics are SOOOO moving and tell the exact story I wanted this endeavor to bring to our Community.

Download their music and album wherever you enjoy amazing MUSIC and STORYTELLING!

📣 Join Me

Sneak Peek drops on May 28th!! Get the behind the scenes tour.

The first “Official” episode drops June 4, 2025. If you’ve ever wanted to be a fly on the wall for real, unfiltered conversations with people who are redefining leadership—you’re in the right place.

I had the pleasure of hosting then South Bend Mayor Pete and his husband, Chasten, at the Los Angeles dinner for GLSEN in 2017. I knew then he was special - intelligent, curious, charming, and genuinely interested in listening to people and their viewpoints. I have grown to admire him more over the years, as I have watched him grow in an authentic, compassion, and focused Civil Servant. He represents with Pride, Transparency, and so much EQ. We are lucky to have him in our Community.

Pete Buttigieg is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2021 to 2025. Prior to his time in the Biden administration, he was the 32nd Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, from 2012 to 2020, earning him the nickname "Mayor Pete". He also ran for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2020.

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This Is Not Normal. This Is a Warning.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a stunning and shameful decision: to expel all international students at Harvard.

Let me be clear: this is not an isolated policy move. This is part of a much broader, deeply coordinated assault on higher education, civil rights, and the very foundation of American democracy.

As a proud product and supporter of U.S. higher education—someone who’s spoken on campuses nationwide, served on boards, and funded scholarships—I am furious. But more than that, I’m alarmed.

International students are not visitors.
They are integral to our communities, our classrooms, our research labs, and our futures.
They bring brilliance, innovation, culture, and billions of dollars to our institutions.
They stay, they contribute, they lead.

This decision isn't about national security. It’s about political control.
It’s about silencing voices, stoking xenophobia, and gutting the global credibility of American institutions.

Let’s connect the dots.

From banning DEI programs to slashing public university budgets, from demonizing student protests to now threatening the status of international scholars—this administration is telling us exactly what kind of future they’re trying to build.

And it’s not one that values education. Or freedom. Or global leadership.

If you care about democracy, you must care about what’s happening to higher education.
And if you’re in higher ed, this is the time to speak louder, stand together, and resist.

I won’t stay silent.
Not as an educator, not as a philanthropist, not as a gay man who’s seen what happens when governments target the “other.”
Not on my watch.

Read the full story here: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5315681-harvard-university-sues-trump/

And then—share this. Talk about it. Ring the bell.
Because this is not just about Harvard.
This is about all of us.

—Jim

To our community:

I know this was not my most uplifting and positive energy issue, but it is what I am feeling and we need each other now more than ever.

I am so grateful for my life.

My soon to be Husband and our families.

My friends and chosen family around the world.

My health, my brainpower, and my energy.

Doing work that I am passionate about and is focused on supporting and amplifying other peoples’ stories.

I am so PROUD that I am able to live my most authentic self.

Yet, I am more anxious and apprehensive than I have been in years. I know we are stronger when we work together and support each other.

Thank you for listening, caring, and supporting.

Pride Filled Hugs,

Jim