Jaan Williams joined NCLR in its Washington, D.C. office in January of 2009. Jaan is a multi-issue organizer who will be working with local action teams in key communities across the United States to educate members of Congress and their staffs about the problem of gender identity and expression discrimination. He is personally dedicated to expanding diversity and inclusion in the LGBT movement and taking decisive steps to win equality for all. Jaan will work closely with a coalition of national organizations and grassroots leaders to achieve these goals.

Prior to joining NCLR, he was an Organizing & Training Fellow with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. He worked full time as an organizer on the No on Proposition 8 campaign in California on the campaign’s phone bank operation in Los Angeles County. In 2007, Jaan interned with the National Center for Transgender Equality where he reported on legislation important to transgender communities, including the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the federal hate crimes bill.

Jaan attended Bard College, where he studied Human Rights, Gender & Sexuality Studies and Religion and was a founding member of the Gender Queer Discussion Group and the Trans Action Initiative.