“Mary Beth’s extraordinary leadership, management experience, and vision will be invaluable to the growth and future successes of our Foundation’s tremendously important work,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “I’m thrilled that she’s joining the team, and I know that with MB at the helm, the Foundation’s programs will expand their reach, and continue to have a profound impact on the lives of LGBT people at home, at work, and in every community.”

“I am very excited to be joining the HRC team at this incredible moment for our community,” said Mary Beth Maxwell. “Although unimaginable progress has been made, we still have so much to do to ensure that all LGBT people are fully equal under the law and can pursue opportunity, raise their families, and live their lives free of fear.”

Maxwell currently serves in the Obama Administration as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).  She has held various other senior roles at DOL since joining the Administration in 2009, including Deputy Chief of Staff for the Department, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Labor, and Acting Deputy Administrator for the Wage and Hour Division.  She has been a key figure in shaping the Administration’s policy agenda for working families, including raising the minimum wage, expanding paid leave, ensuring labor standards for home care workers, and advocating for collective bargaining rights and workers’ voice in the workplace. She played a lead role in the Administration’s many accomplishments for LGBT workers, including President Obama’s Executive Order ensuring non-discrimination for LGBT employees of federal contractors, FMLA coverage for LGBT families, and ensuring transgender equality and inclusion in DOL programs and policies.

"Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of knowing some of the great leaders in our nation’s ongoing fight for equality,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez.“Over the last two years, I have seen firsthand why Mary Beth Maxwell’s name belongs in their ranks. From worker and labor rights to gender equality and leveling the playing field for America’s LGBT community, MB’s strength, determination, and passion for social justice are quite simply a force to be reckoned with. While I will miss her signature laugh, I know she’ll continue causing the kind of ‘good trouble’ that changes the world.”

Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Maxwell was the Founding Executive Director of American Rights at Work, a leading voice for modernizing and reforming our nation’s labor laws. She has also served in various other senior-level positions at Jobs with Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and the United States Student Association.  She lives in Washington, DC with her 14-year-old son.

The HRC Foundation and its programs have proven to be an invaluable force in driving real change in the lives of LGBT people. Some of the Foundation’s major initiatives include: the Corporate Equality Index, an annual survey and report benchmarking best practices in LGBT diversity and inclusion among the nation’s largest corporations and law firms; the Welcoming Schools program, which works with educators and publishes guides to help create LGBT-inclusive and supportive elementary schools; theHealthcare Equality Index, which reports on LGBT equity and inclusion in healthcare facilities across the country, and trains their staff to provide welcoming, knowledgeable care to LGBT patients; HRC Global, an ever-growing effort that seeks to strengthen the global equality movement through public education, advocacy, fellowships, partnerships, and research; and Time To Thrive, a nationally-acclaimed annual conference for educators and youth-serving professionals. The HRC Foundation also works with partners to create a range of resources addressing critical needs in the LGBT community, including: Schools In Transition: A Guide for Supporting Transgender Students in K-12 Schools; A National Crisis: Anti-Transgender Violence; What Do I Do? A Handbook to Understanding HIV and Health; and Growing Up LGBT in America.

Maxwell will officially join the Human Rights Campaign on October 13th.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. HRC envisions a world where LGBT people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

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