Pioneers Go East Collective (Pioneers Go East) empowers LGBTQ storytellers for social change working at the intersection of dance, performance, and film. Rooted in a Queer, Feminist lens, they create a platform for inclusion, justice, and visibility to generate lively exchanges between artists and audiences. Pioneers Go East promotes emerging and established interdisciplinary dance/movement-based artists and celebrates the legacy of LGBTQ+ visionaries.

Founded in 2012, Pioneers Collective has functioned as an incubator for 15 dance-theater and film works; 85+ arts education programs; the curation and production of 12 contemporary performance series/festivals; and the development and presentation of works by 550+ artists to 14,500+ audience members. Inspired by Walt Whitman’s poem Pioneers, O Pioneers!, an homage to the pioneers' search for a brighter future – the collective is comprised of thought-provoking artists from diverse backgrounds who come together to share their experiences. Remi Harris, Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Joyce Isabelle, and Philip Treviño lead the collective in collaboration with a community of like-minded writers, performers, musicians, and visual artists. Pioneers Collective's free/donation-based programming serves audiences across all five NYC boroughs and ensures access to a broad spectrum of communities. Activities include curated performance series and festival, participatory workshops on visual and performative storytelling, original productions that interweave live and digital forms, and ongoing creative developmental support through micro-residencies.

Jerome Foundation supports Pioneers Go East Collective’s NEXT! MENTORSHIP program. NEXT! is a mentorship development program focused on creative thinking and production support for early career LGBTQ artists working in performance, movement, storytelling, video, and across disciplines. NEXT! is designed for artists who take risks and whose rigorous and wide-ranging artistic investigations, including movement-based and text-based research, may incorporate other disciplines and collaborations with a focus on experimentation. Each year, NEXT! offers 3–6 artists professional development opportunities at a pivotal time in their lives and based on their needs. NEXT! nurtures artist development through exchange, monthly meetings, discussions, workshops, and presentations for a period of 12–18 months. Support may also include production, creative design, grant writing, and project budgeting. Artists additionally receive the opportunity to publicly present their work through Pioneers Go East’s existing curated series and annual festival.