Eliza Byard

Eliza Byard, PhD, is a leading global expert on LGBTQ+ issues in education, and a strategist for movement building and mobilization at the local, national, and international level. She is Co-founder and Senior Advisor to the Campaign for Our Shared Future, a common-ground effort to advance equity in K-12 schools, launched in 2021. From 2008-2021 Eliza was the Executive Director of GLSEN, an organization recognized worldwide as a pioneering leader in the fight for LGBTQ+ students’ well-being and access to education. During Eliza’s tenure, GLSEN’s work spurred a significant decline in anti-LGBTQ+ harassment and violence in U.S. schools, and established a new professional norm of support for LGBTQ youth among educators, school administrators, and school staff in the United States. She has served as a trusted advisor to a broad range of institutions and organizations, including Target, Sodexo, the National Parks Service, the U.S. Department of Education, the CDC, UNESCO, the Gill Foundation, and the World Bank.