Jay Brown currently serves as HRC’s Director of Research and Public Education, where he has helped shape the organization’s approach to generating research and educational campaigns aimed at enhancing the lives of LGBT people. Working with a team of staff and closely with the Senior Vice President for Programs, Research and Training, Brown plans and develops surveys, reports, public education campaigns and other resources focusing on a range of issues affecting LGBT people.

In his new role, Brown will work closely with Senior Vice President of Communications and Marketing Olivia Alair Dalton.

“Jay is an incredibly talented communicator who has also led an impressive career as an advocate,” said Dalton. “He has spent a decade working to ensure equality for LGBT people at every intersection of their identities and lives. There is no one better equipped to lead our talented communications team and ensure we are ready to meet the challenges ahead in the fight for full equality.”

“I couldn’t be more excited to join the communications team at such a pivotal time in the movement for LGBT equality,” said Brown. “We still have so many stories left to tell about who we are, and the obstacles that still stand in front of so many LGBT people, in the United States and around the world.”

Brown has an accomplished history with the organization. Before returning in 2013, Brown worked at HRC from 2000 to 2006 where he managed communication strategies around the defeat of the Federal Marriage Amendment, advancing understanding of transgender people, and building support for hate crimes prevention legislation and the repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” among many other issues. He has also served in senior communication and marketing roles at Carnegie Mellon University and Reading Is Fundamental.

Brown will formally begin his new role on April 25. Follow Jay Brown on Twitter at @JayBrownHRC.

Halloran has been at HRC since 2014, elevating the profile of the HRC Foundation’s work on behalf of LGBT people in workplaces, schools, hospitals and faith communities across the country. She is a distinguished and longtime journalist for newspaper, magazine and online media outlets, including NPR, U.S. News and World Report and Tribune Media Company.

“Liz has been a leading strategist on our communications team for the last two years,” added Dalton. “In this new role, she will continue to advance our work on behalf of LGBT people across the nation and around the globe.”

HRC also announced the addition of a new writer to the Communications Department. Melissa Cruz, who became interested in pursuing a career in advocacy after interning for HRC in 2013, returned to HRC last week as a full-time writer. A recent graduate of Georgia State University, Cruz has freelanced for outlets including USA Today and Bustle.

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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