Mara Keisling


speaker Mara Keisling

Every school district has trans kids, and workplaces now have trans people, so folks have to face it now. And that causes conflicts sometimes, but it’s because we’re standing up. We’re being visible.

Mara Keisling is the Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), the nation's leading social justice advocacy organization for transgender people. Since founding NCTE in 2003, she has led organizational coalition efforts that have won significant advances in transgender equality including the inclusion of gender identity in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the first-ever Congressional hearing on transgender issues, and countless federal administrative and state-level wins. As one of the nation's leading voices for transgender equality, Mara is regularly quoted in national and local print media and has appeared on major television networks, including CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. She was part of the first all-transgender television interview on Melissa Harris-Perry's show in 2012.