Mara Keisling

Mara Keisling (born September 29, 1959 in Scranton, Pennsylvania) is a transgender rights activist and founding executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, based in Washington, DC. She is a graduate of Penn State University and did graduate work in American Government at Harvard University.

National Center for Transgender Equality
Mara was the founding executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. It was the first professionally-staffed transgender-specific organization working at the national level in the United States.

Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Mara and NCTE were among the leaders of UnitedENDA, a coalition of over four hundred LGBT organizations, including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force opposing the move led by the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT advocacy organization in the United States to gut the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to a draft that excluded protections for gender identity, effectively leaving out transgendered individuals and, potentially, other gender non-conforming people regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation.

Present Politics
Mara works towards the goal of transgender equality through lobbying, public education, and building coalitions with other progressive organizations and causes.