Kara Suffredini brings more than a decade of leadership in the LGBTQ movement to her role as the Executive Director of MassEquality. Since taking the helm in 2010, Suffredini has overseen a number of historic victories, including securing Senator Scott Brown’s game-changing vote in favor of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, winning statewide transgender nondiscrimination protections, and securing creation of the nation’s first statewide commission on youth homelessness. Under her direction, MassEquality was named a Nonprofit Excellence Award Finalist by the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network in 2012 and ranked 4th of 103 high-impact local LGBTQ nonprofits nationally by Philanthropedia in 2013.

Before joining MassEquality, Suffredini launched the Department of Public Policy at Family Equality Council and served as the State Legislative Director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and the Boston College Law School, Suffredini was named one of the “Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40” by the National LGBT Bar Association in 2010 and one of the nation’s “40 Under 40” progressive political entrepreneurs by the New Leaders Council in 2011. She is a former President of the National LGBT Bar Association and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Equality Federation, the national alliance of statewide LGBT equality organizations working to build a
strong and sustainable state-based equality movement, and on the Board of Corporators of Eastern Bank.