Presenting the HVTF Keynote Address on Friday, January 21st | 10:10-10:25am EST
Kristen Browde
she/her/hers
Keynote Description: Kristen will examine the current state of advocacy efforts for the TGNCNB community and explore how we can chart a path forward to future victories.
Bio:
Kristen Browde (she/her/hers) had a long career as an Emmy award winning journalist, including a 17 year stint as a correspondent and anchor at CBS News, during which time she also attended law school, founded her own law firm, became a Trustee of a $2.5 billion dollar pension fund, had two children and moved from New York City to Chappaqua, But in April 2016, in an appearance at New York City’s largest media and political charity event, the Inner Circle Dinner, when Kristen came out as transgender, her visibility and activism shot to an entirely new level.
Kristen not only worked on the Clinton campaign and in the effort to overturn North Carolina’s infamous bathroom bill known as HB2, she also became first (and to this date, only) transgender person in New York State to run for office with the endorsement of a major political party. Kristen was endorsed by the Democrats, the Working Families Party and the Women’s Equality Party.
Kristen would be the first to tell you that she never expected to become active in publicly working for social change. During her journalism career she’d covered wars overseas, the Pentagon, the Supreme Court. During that career she won multiple Emmys and other awards, including, being a member of a team at WNBC‐TV that all the way back in 1994 won a GLAAD Media Award for covering LGBT issues, a full 22 years before she came out.
In Chappaqua, Kristen was one of the initial appointees to the Town of New Castle Ethics Board, where she was named Secretary and served on the Board until agreeing to run for office, which required her to resign. She also serves on the Chappaqua School System’s Financial Advisory Committee.
After Hillary Clinton’s stunning loss in November 2016 Kristen marched in the first Womens’ March in Washington. Upon her return to Chappaqua she became active in Up2Us, the follow on to Chappaqua Friends of Hillary as well as in the Indivisible movement. It was at the Indivisible Westchester organizing meeting in January 2017 that Democratic Party Nominating Committee members spotted her and asked her to consider running.
It didn’t take long for her to say yes. “Decisions are made by those in the room,” she says, “so it’s important that we fill those rooms, that we become the change that we need, building from the Town level up, and taking back our government. And even though I lost my race, and even though we’re fighting against unprecedented and escalating bigotry from the Trump administration, I’m not tired at all. In fact, I’m just getting warmed up. We’ve
got work to do.”
Those words have been translated into action. Kristen is now the President of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York and serves as co‐chair of the National Trans Bar Association. Kristen was appointed to the Steering Committee of the New York State Council on Women and Girls, and, after serving on his transition Team, Westchester County Executive George Latimer appointed Kristen to the County’s Women’s Advisory Board. She also serves on the Boards of Directors of Equality NY, the Trans United Fund Political Action Committee and Princess Janae Place. If that weren’t enough she’s also been elected a District Leader in the Town of New Castle Democratic Party, and has served for the past 12 years as a Trustee of the AFTRA Pension Fund, a $2.5 billion fund covering members of SAG‐AFTRA, where she is a member of the Fund’s Investment and Merger Committees.