Adam-Michael Royston is the founder of Queer Livelihoods Project, a left-of-center funding group that supports LGBT artists and designers. ¹

Career

Adam-Michael Royston founded the Queer Livelihoods Project (QLP), an international private fund dedicated to advancing economic opportunities for LGBT artists and designers, with particular focus on individuals from developing countries.  ¹

From 2021 through 2023, Royston worked as the vice president of LYRIC, ² a youth empowerment organization serving LGBT communities. ³  In 2022, LYRIC received $2 million in federal funding to support renovations to its Youth Center. ⁴  That same year, Royston was unsuccessful in his bid to join the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District advisory board in San Francisco. ⁵

Royston joined the board of Network of Engaged International Donors as a director in 2024. ⁶  In the following year, he founded Loom + Ten, a San Francisco-based art gallery dedicated to showcasing the work of queer artists from around the world. ⁷

Royston sat on the board of the What If Foundation, a social-service organization providing food and educational assistance to children in Haiti. ⁸  In 2021, he assumed the role of chairman of the foundation. ⁹

Philanthropic Activities

In September 2025, Adam-Michael Royson and representatives from left-of-center grantmaking organizations, including the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, the Arcus Foundation and the International Trans Fund, joined Global Action for Trans Equality in Mexico to explore strategies for diversify fundraising efforts for LGBT organizations. ¹⁰

Royston also was a panelist at a funder-only convening hosted by the Global Philanthropy Project in Brazil, where participants discussed strategies to advance LGBT and environmental policy initiatives. ¹¹

The event was held in collaboration with left-of-center organizations, such as the Center for Cultural Power, the Nebula Fund, and the Ford Foundation. ¹²

1. “Our Work.” QUEERLIVELIHOODS. Accessed November 11, 2025. https://www.thequeerlivelihoodsproject.org/about-3
2. “Adam-Michael Royston .” LinkedIn . Accessed November 11, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-michael-royston/
3. “Lyric Center for LGBTQQ+ Youth.” LYRIC Center for LGBTQQ+ Youth. Accessed November 11, 2025. https://lyric.org/
4. Press Release. “Pelosi Announces San Francisco Will Receive $30 Million for Community Projects from Government Funding Package.” Speaker Emerita Pelosi, December 29, 2022. https://speakeremeritapelosi.house.gov/newsroom/122922-0.
5. Burkett, Eric. “Castro LGBTQ Cultural District Elects 4 New Board Members.” Bay Area reporter, October 19, 2022. https://www.ebar.com.
6. “Network of Engaged International Do NORS Global Inc, Full Filing .” ProPublica, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/842081722/202502269349301125/full
7. Bracco, Steve. “Loom + Ten Global Queer Art Gallery Headed for SF’s Castro.” Hoodline, April 3, 2025. https://hoodline.com/2025/04/loom-ten-global-queer-art-gallery-headed-for-sf-s-castro/.
8. “About .” What if foundation. Accessed December 30, 2025. https://whatiffoundation.org/.
9. “What If Foundation.” Cause IQ. Accessed December 30, 2025. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/what-if-foundation,912121669/.
10. “Gate – Global Action for Trans Equality.” LinkedIn , 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gateorg_trans-transgender-leadership-activity-7373667401730629633-avzf/
11. “Adam-Michael Royston.” LinkedIn , November 12, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7394435164803801088/.
12. “Art & Culture in Action: A Funder Learning Day Centering Narrative Strategy in Climate and Gender Justice.” Global Philanthropy Project. Accessed December 30, 2025. https://globalphilanthropyproject.org/gpp-events/cultureinaction/.