The Carr Center’s Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program is excited to announce the launch of the Global LGBTQI+ Changemakers Network, which will serve as a hub for learning, research, and collaboration on global LGBTQI+ challenges.
The global network is a community of activists and professionals dedicated to advancing LGBTQI+ rights in 142 countries around the world, with the goal to create a vibrant space where ideas, knowledge, and opportunities are shared to strengthen and support one another in this crucial work at such a critical time.
The network will offer educational opportunities, including exclusive online and in-person webinars and workshops to highlight cutting-edge research and global success stories; research collaborations that will partner participants with Harvard students, faculty, and fellow advocates on impactful research projects; and creative partnerships with affiliates of the Carr Center’s Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program. The three core parts of the network’s offerings include:
- The Global LGBTQI+ Changemakers Network: As referenced above, members of this network will receive access to a regular series of online trainings on a broad range of topics of interest to the movement. These will be available exclusively to this network, and by invitation, to a broader audience.
- Foundational Curriculum Track: Sixty participants, selected by application, will take part in a series of in-depth, interactive online courses running from February to August 2025. This program is designed to work in tandem with the other offerings in this network.
- In-Person International LGBTQI+ Activism Summit: From the advanced online curriculum cohort, 20 participants will be invited to join our International LGBTQI+ Activism Summit in Fall 2025. Learn more about the 2024 International LGBTQI+ Activism Summit that took place in Fall 2024.
The Global LGBTQI+ Changemakers Network is launched by the team at the Carr Center’s Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program, including:
- Diego Garcia Blum, Program Director;
- Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Program Faculty Chair; and
- Jean Freedberg, Founding Practitioner Affiliate
The first Changemakers Network event will take place on Thursday, January 30, 2025. This webinar, “Illiberal Playbooks: Preparing for Attacks on LGBTQI+ Rights in the U.S.,” will explore lessons learned from Hungary, Poland, and Bulgaria on the Illiberal Playbook, and how these tactics may be employed in the United States. Registration is still open for the event by clicking the link. For members of the Changemakers Network, a follow-up workshop and discussion session in the style of classes at Harvard will follow, and Changemakers will be notified how to attend.
Through the Changemakers Network, we can learn from each other, sharpen our strategies, and push forward in the fight for dignity and justice. The movement needs all of us, and none of us can do it alone.
Are you or someone you know actively engaged in the LGBTQI+ movement and interested in joining this global community? To learn how you can be part of the Global LGBTQI+ Changemakers Network, stay informed by subscribing to the Carr Center’s weekly newsletter, and complete this form to nominate yourself or someone you know.
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