Today marks the official launch of the Sports Equality Foundation, an organization focused on empowering LGBT athletes, coaches and sports executives with the necessary tools to aide in their coming out.

The organization is not, in fact, new, but a pivot in name and intention for the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, which worked for five years in the anti-bullying sector of LGBT equality.

"We have heard from countless athletes and coaches that there is a powerful need for stronger support around the coming-out process in sports, and that coming out is what drives change," Patrick Davis, co-chair of the foundation board, said in an official statement. The foundation will fuel that process, and give those who may suffer from bullying role models to look up to. It's a natural evolution to solving the problem."

The focus of the grant-making foundation will focus on four core areas:

1) providing LGBT people needed resources as they prepare to come out.

2) coming out publicly or privately through the sharing of their truth.

3) becoming a role model for other LGBT people.

4) leading cultural progress.

The advisory board includes retired MLB player Billy Bean, retired NBA center Jason Collins (the first out player in professional sports), transgender ESPN journalist Christina Kahrl, college football’s first out player Conner Mertens, Pennsylvania state lawmaker Brian Sims, media pundit Howard Bragman and OutSports co-founder Cyd Zeigler, among others.

To learn more, visit the organization's website here.