Terese Pritschet

Terese Pritschet sees giving as a way of linking to the big picture. “…creating the kind of world that I want to live in, where people share what they have and everyone has what they need.”

Like many other donors, Terese understands that giving entails much more than just money. For years now, Terese has been a donor to Headwaters Foundation and continues to dedicate her time and money in hopes of seeing Headwaters realize its vision of social justice.

Terese’s history with Headwaters dates back to the beginnings of a non-profit organization called AMAZE, which arose out of a homophobic incident in a second grade classroom. AMAZE, which focuses on creating safe and respectful communities for all children, was looking for funding resources and became a recipient of a grant from Headwaters. Terese co-founded AMAZE and worked there until the end of 2008.

Today, Terese remains connected to Headwaters as a dedicated donor while she continues to do great work in the community. Just recently, she returned from a trip to Nepal where she taught English and Human Rights Education, volunteering for the organization Advocates for Human Rights.
Like all of us, Terese has issues that are closer to her heart than others. As a lesbian mother, she has a passion for equal rights for the LGBTQ community.

“There is an incredible amount of prejudice, violence, and hate that constantly needs to be addressed. Minds need to be opened before there is a real sense of justice,” Terese said of the LGBTQ rights movement. “There has definitely been change in recent decades. Many LGBTQ people face horrendous discrimination, but at the same time we have gay and lesbian elected officials. The real change makers are the young people.”

“My oldest daughter is 24 now. When she was born, I was worried about what she would encounter, how it would be (like) for her to grow up with lesbian parents. I had a lot of anxiety about it but it pushed me to be a much more visible presence in her life, especially at her school.”

“I think homophobia is a dying bias. I hope that is true. There’s definitely been a shift in the minds of young people that is diffusing a lot of the hate and bias that has held so much power in people’s minds for so long.”