Chad Griffin

Chad Griffin is the president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization.

After getting his start on the Clinton White House communications team at age 19 and graduating from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Griffin spent the early part of his career in California, working at the intersection of Hollywood and politics to take on entrenched interests and shape key national debates. Griffin led successful statewide campaigns that secured billions for stem cell research and hundreds of million annually for early childhood education. But as the battle over Proposition 8 raged in 2008, Griffin found the cause of a lifetime in the fight for LGBT equality.

After Prop 8 passed, Griffin wasn’t content waiting around for the political winds to change. He helped found the American Foundation for Equal Rights, recruited the bipartisan legal dream team of Ted Olson and David Boies, and challenged the discriminatory law in federal court—racking up momentous legal victories for the equality movement.

Since helping to launch the Prop 8 case, Griffin has been named one of The Advocate’s people of the year, and has regularly featured on Out magazine’s Out 100 and Power 50 lists of influential LGBT Americans. Recently, the Washington Post named Griffin one of the most influential out Washingtonians.

Since joining HRC as president in 2012, Griffin has steered the organization into an exciting new era in the fight for equality. From spearheading record-breaking investment in the 2012 elections that enabled unprecedented victories from coast to coast, to historic advocacy around the Supreme Court’s rulings striking down Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act in June of 2013, Griffin has brought renewed passion and energy to a fight that is inspiring Americans—LGBT and straight—all around the country.

He is deeply passionate about extending HRC’s work to millions more than ever before, especially to young people in states like Arkansas, where Griffin was born and raised.