Our Mission

LGBTQ leaders panel at the 2017 conference

LGBTQ+ Victory Institute works to achieve and sustain equality through leadership development, trainings, research and convenings. We work around the globe to increase the number, expand the diversity, and ensure the success of out LGBTQ+ elected and appointed officials at all levels of government.

LGBTQ+ Victory Institute was launched as Victory Foundation in 1993 to begin training current and future LGBTQ+ candidates and campaign workers to ensure a successful career in public service. LGBTQ+ Victory Institute expanded its programming to include the Presidential Appointments Initiative – which works to place openly LGBTQ+ appointees in pro-equality presidential administrations – and the International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference, an annual conference that attracts hundreds of openly LGBTQ+ elected and appointed officials.

In 2013, LGBTQ+ Victory Institute expanded its footprint to serve LGBTQ+ communities in developing countries, partnering with the U.S. Agency for International Development in a groundbreaking program to deliver programming in Colombia, Peru and the Balkans. In recent years, the program has expanded to the Dominican Republic, Honduras, India and South Africa.