Betsy Pursell
Vice President of Public Education and Outreach
Betsy Pursell is the Vice President for Public Education and Outreach at the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocacy organization, where she oversees the work of the HRC Foundation. Before joining HRC in 2006, Betsy was the Executive Director at a Washington, DC based youth violence prevention program where she oversaw the development and implementation of a national program that reached over 4,000 students in more than 20 states. A career educator and administrator prior to a career shift to the non-profit sector, Betsy served as the principal at a private high school in Bethesda, MD for ten years and was a teacher, coach and director of admissions at a Boston area private school before moving to DC. She brings an extensive background in program and curriculum development, knowledge of the issues affecting GLBTQ youth and experience in creating safe and accepting school communities. She has researched and written an article on the factors influencing school choice for GLBT parents; authored a study on the impact of multi-cultural programs on school climate; and has studied the life stages of nonprofit organizations from an organizational development perspective. Her doctoral work studies the start up and continuation challenges of urban charter schools.
Betsy is vice chair of the board of directors of SMYAL, DC’s only GLBTQ youth advocacy organization and serves on the finance and stewardship committees at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in DC. She is active in local politics and served as an advisor for state sponsored college scholarships for Maryland Delegate Heather Mizeur. Betsy holds a BA in International Relations and Political Science from Colgate University, an EdM in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University and has done doctoral work in Organizational Leadership and Development at Teachers’ College, Columbia University. Betsy lives in Silver Spring, MD with her partner and their twin daughters.