Co-Created for Change, Rooted in Community, Powered by Data
Data LIFT is the result of a partnership between Koppa Lab and UniBAM. Since 2020, we’ve worked together to reimagine how data is collected, shared, and used — not as a static report, but as a tool for powerful transformation that centers LGBTQ+ lives
About Us
Data LIFT in Belize is a co-creation between Koppa: The LGBTI+ Economic Power Lab (Koppa Lab) and the United Belize Advocacy Movement (UniBAM). Our collaboration started in 2020 working on primary data collection and research to estimate the cost of LGBTQ+ exclusion throughout the English-speaking Caribbean – see the report here
In 2022, teaming up with key partners, we launched the region’s first data-driven roundtables—bringing together 210+ leaders from government, law, academia, economic development, and civil society to turn data into action for LGBTQ+ inclusion and rights; see here those roundtables. In 2024, we launched Data LIFT in Belize to address the urgent need for data and to use it for effective policy change
Koppa Lab
Koppa Lab’s mission is to unleash global LGBTI+ economic power through knowledge, financing and connection. By working with economic institutions, governments, companies and civil society organizations, its changing systems to create a more equitable future. Economic empowerment is a global priority for LGBTI+ people, and Koppa Lab is set to develop a world in which all people can celebrate this strength
UniBAM
UniBAM is the oldest and only LGBTQ+ policy and advocacy non-governmental organization in Belize. Its history of work has been grounded in economic, social and cultural rights issues impacting LGBTQ+ Belizeans, informed by its civil rights advocacy of close to two decades. UniBAM is now advancing LGBTQ+ economic inclusion and has developed national and transnational partnerships that includes national statistics offices, economic institutions and global development agencies
PHILIP R. CREHAN
Phil is one of the Founding Partners and Directors of Koppa Lab. He has been at the forefront of expanding the economic development sector to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ people. He’s worked extensively in Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia with the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other development organizations. He has also partnered with Sweden’s International Development Agency, the Organization of American States, and numerous governments and multinational companies. Phil has served as a Principal Investigator on primary research across 12 countries in addition to helping lead dozens of other research efforts around the world. He’s been separately awarded by the World Bank’s president, vice president, and senior directors, and has published numerous times
Leadership
CALEB OROZCO
Caleb is the Executive Director of Belize’s oldest LGBTQ+ policy and advocacy organization, UniBAM. He has worked in the human development sector for 25 years, specifically on strategic litigation, reform, and data collection on LGBTQ+ people. In Belize, he has coordinated and developed a systematic legal review for LGBTQ+ people; produced national reports on law enforcement practices that undermine justice; assessed the direct and indirect impact of state practices on violence against women; successfully drove the legal fight for LGBTQ+ decriminalization; supported the implementation and management of a national, population size study for men who have sex with men and HIV health outcomes; and is now spearheading a LGBTQ+ led agenda on economic development in Belize and the wider Caribbean region