Dear John,

2024 is coming to a close, and what a year it has been!

Together, we have experienced incredible milestones and worked toward growing the LGBTQ+ leadership pipeline so that our voices, and our community, will always be represented by out LGBTQ+ leaders who are ready to respond to new challenges and shifting conversations. Because you have continued to prioritize LGBTQ+ representation, and amplified our mission and message, we have been able to accomplish more than we ever thought possible this year:

• More than 800 people registered for our International Leadership Conference (a new record!)
• 254 leaders completed an LGBTQ+ Victory Institute training program to prepare them for public leadership roles.
• LGBTQ+ Victory Institute’s Global programming reached to 10 countries, engaging 168 leadership training program participants.
• 36 current and future LGBTQ+ leaders participated in our internship and fellowship programs, providing them with critical professional development opportunities.

And because of the incredible commitment of partners like you, there are 1,276 out LGBTQ+ elected officials currently serving across the United States. As we look toward 2025, and what may feel like a future filled with uncertainty for us, our allies, and many advocates who have joined us in the fight for full equality, I want to remind you of what I am sure of:

With your help, the critical work of Victory Institute to prepare tomorrow’s LGBTQ+ leader’s will continue. It MUST continue.

• Our biannual LGBTIQ+ Political Leaders of the Americas and the Caribbean Conference will convene out LGBTQ+ leaders from all over the world next September 24-27th.
• We will invest in visibility and recruitment with eight Leadership Summits and nearly double our trainings next year with 11 opportunities to attend around the country.
• Plans are underway for World Pride 2025 in Washington, D.C., and the Institute has already launched the new LGTBQ+ Excellence Project: A temporary database of LGBTQ+ political appointees looking for career opportunities that will be made available to a growing network of organizations, associations, and governments.

As my tenure as President & CEO of LGBTQ+ Victory Institute winds down (don't worry - I'm not going anywhere until the next President & CEO is named), and our programs continue to grow and thrive under the excellent leadership of our Executive Director, Elliot Imse, I want to say THANK YOU.

For your friendship.

Your partnership.

And your leadership in this movement.

I count the past seven years of my journey with you among the most worthwhile efforts of my life and career. And rest assured, I am not going far.

But I do have one more call to action for you, as President & CEO. Will you make a year-end, tax-deductible gift that ensures the sustainability and growth of the Institute?

Whether it is $5 or $250 — I know that we can end 2024 by saying an emphatic “Yes!” to supporting the pipeline of young LGBTQ+ leaders who are ready to accept the baton and carry this movement across the finish line.

Onward,

Mayor Annise Parker
President & CEO, LGBTQ+ Victory Institute