Founder & Former CEO | Encircle
“I always wanted my career and life to focus on family issues and the impact they have on the individual and society at large,” says Stephenie Larsen, the founder and former CEO of Encircle, a Utah-based nonprofit offering essential mental health services, resources and tools for LGBTQ+ youth, young adults and families.
After graduating from Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, Larsen moved to Washington, D.C. and worked on Capitol Hill on a committee for children, youth and families. There, she defended abused and neglected inner-city children and worked as a lobbyist.
At the time, “I believed being gay was a sin, and if we ever had same-sex marriage, it would destroy the moral fibers of our country,” Larsen says. “Then I met my husband and his uncle, John Williams.”
Williams was both gay and the most Christlike person Larsen had ever met, she says. Knowing him led her to re-examine her beliefs surrounding the LGBTQ+ community.
“I started thinking about how we treat people who are gay in our communities. How do these kids grow up feeling about themselves?” Larsen says. “I later learned that they carry an immense amount of shame and self-hate. They believe they’re wrong in society’s eyes, in their family’s eyes and in God’s eyes.”
For 17 years, Larsen stayed home to raise her children. In 2016, however, she became alarmed by the incredibly high suicide rates of LGBTQ+ youth in Utah and wanted to do something to help. She reached out to John Williams and asked for ideas on what the community needed and what she could do. His answer put her on the path to founding Encircle: “Create a place that feels and looks like home for kids who don’t feel safe at home.”
After only seven years, Encircle has four houses and one under construction. The homes are places for LGBTQ+ youth to feel loved and supported, and the team is dedicated to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all.
“The youth who meet at Encircle are kind, loving, courageous, artistic, brilliant—and, sadly, at risk,” Larsen says. “If we love and support them in their homes and communities, they will grow up to be leaders, and we will all be the better for it.”
Encircle has quickly grown through Larsen’s tireless efforts to fundraise and secure grants. She says finding funding was the most challenging part of the job, but her skills have raised millions of dollars to support the cause and led to partnerships with major backers such as Tim Cook, CEO of Apple; Dan Reynolds, the lead singer of Imagine Dragons; and Ryan Smith, founder of Qualtrics and the new owner of the Utah Jazz.
Larsen uses Encircle’s message, “No Sides, Only Love,” to open the arms of all Utahns to the LGBTQ+ community. Utah should be the best place to grow up LGBTQ+, she says, continuing, “We do community so well. With just a little shift in the way we see things, we can be the best community to love these kids.”
Connect with Stephenie Larsen on LinkedIn.