Costumers of Color, Inc. Annual Report
We are an educational nonprofit working to create multicultural communities of belonging – where people of color can thrive – in historical costuming and living history.
Our mission is to create scholarship opportunities, historical costuming events, and educational group travel activities where People of Color (POC) feel welcomed, included, and accepted.
Our vision is for welcoming, safe multicultural spaces in historical costuming and living history. The community of artists, sewists, researchers, and historians we are building benefit from our dedication to valuing individuals with varied perspectives and experiences. Together we fight the erasure of communities of color from the historical record and the exclusion of people of color from arts & humanities pursuits. Costumers of Color, Inc. benefits the public by expanding the knowledge and opportunities available for historical study and portrayal of past cultures..
“The healing that costumers of color need does not happen in isolation, it happens in community.”
– Gigi Coulson, Founder
STRATEGIC PLAN
Our strategic goals are how we plan to achieve our mission and meet the purpose outlined in our Articles of Incorporation. The goals listed below were developed after assessing the challenges that exist for POC costumers. The board of directors will periodically reassess our goals by asking: what part of the exclusion problem we should work on, where to focus our efforts, how will we measure success, and what skills/abilities we need collectively to create the impact we have set out to achieve.
- Goal 1: Education (Art/ History/ Design)
- Initiative 1A – Annual Scholarship Awards
- Awarded Hattie Edwards Scholarship in June 2024 to one student
- Added second scholarship program in 2025.
- Awarded Hattie Edwards Scholarship and Samuel Smith Scholarship to two students in June 2025
- Initiative 1A – Annual Scholarship Awards
- Goal 2: Educational Travel Opportunities
- Initiative 2A – Annual Group Travel
- Completed in February 2024
- over 50% POC in first two travel groups (8/11 POC)
- Completed in February 2025 and June 2025
- February (6/11 POC)
- June (3/5 POC)
- Planned for February 2026
- Completed in February 2024
- Initiative 2B – Annual Retreat
- Planned for Summer 2026
- Initiative 2A – Annual Group Travel
- Goal 3: Historical Costuming & Educational Activities
- Initiative 3A – Annual Educational Event
- Completed in February 2023 (Silk Routes Symposium)
- 22 classes, 3 panels, 7000+ views on YouTube
- Completed in October 2024 (Chevalier Event)
- Successful with 29% POC attendance (40/140 POC)
- Completed in October 2025 (Georgian Global Salon)
- Successful with 35% POC attendance (28/80 POC)
- Planned for October 2026 (18th-Century Symposium and Salon)
- Completed in February 2023 (Silk Routes Symposium)
- Initiative 3A – Annual Educational Event
PARTNERSHIPS & FUNDING
Secured 2025 grant funding from Walmart, Inc and The Seedtime Fund. Built community-based partnerships with the Whidbey Island Music Festival, McMennamin’s History Pub, Washington Regency Society, and Seattle Bach Festival.
These achievements demonstrate a growing demand for inclusive, equity-focused historical costuming spaces—and our proven ability to deliver meaningful, high-impact programming that centers POC voices and experiences.
DONORS
We would like to thank all our donors for their generous support.
Donors of 2023-2025: Bernadette Banner, Cathy Hay, Marci Morimoto, Ann Edelstein, Michelle Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Ultis, Claudia Vogt, Melissa Thaler, Karen Greene, Jennifer Van Haaften, Rachel Lorenz, Julie McMahon, Karen Dechman, LBCC Historical, Virgil’s Fine Goods, Nene Kalu Schaffert, Matthew Link, Tiffany Gayle of Stitchin’ Addiction, Karen Dechman, Christina Donastorg, Kathleen Stidham, All Wang, Tami Tritz, Wei Ling Deckinga, Ingrid Voorhies, Annie H Kim, Emily Drazenovic, Miyoki Conley, Rick Navarro, Aonghus Ill-Ullr, Kerry Beckett, Barbara Smith, Nicole Reed, Pallas Bane, Denys, Zoe McDonnell, Marci Morimoto, Belly Souk, and Meghan Bishop. (See full list of donors on our Donors webpage)
In 2024 we received two grants, one from the Seedtime Fund, Inc. and one from the Walmart Spark for Good Grant program.
Thanks also to our directors for volunteering their time and energy to Costumers in Color, Inc.
Our fundraising goals for 2025 are:
- $2000 for scholarship
Donate to support our growing community by clicking below:
Donations to Costumers of Color are deductible for U.S. income tax purposes When you donate, you become a pivotal part of our story.
Costumers of Color 