Rea Carey is the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the oldest national organization working to secure equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Prior to coming to the Task Force, she was a co-founder of Gay Men and Lesbians Opposing Violence and founding executive director of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition. In 1999, The Advocate named Carey one of its “Best and Brightest” for individual contributions to the LGBT rights movement. She earned her master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Find her on Twitter @ReaCarey.