Kelley Robinson (born ) is an American community organizer who is the current president of the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

. She was formerly the executive director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Education

Robinson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2008. During university, she double-majored in sociology and women's and gender studies. She left college for a while and worked as a mixed martial arts fighter and bartender.

Career

Robinson started working as a political organizer for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's presidential campaign in 2008. In 2009, she worked at Planned Parenthood of the

Heartland Heartland or Heartlands may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Heartland Bank, a New Zealand-based financial institution * Heartland Inn, a chain of hotels based in Iowa, United States * Heartland Alliance, an anti-poverty organization i ...

as a regional organizer. From 2011 to 2015, she served as the associate director for youth engagement for

Planned Parenthood Federation of America The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reven ...

, until she was promoted to national organizing director in 2015. In 2019, she became the executive director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and vice president of organizing and advocacy. In this role, Robinson helped direct efforts to flip the U.S. Senate in the 2020 elections. While at Planned Parenthood, the number of supporters increased from 6.5 million to 18 million. As the executive director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Robinson was interviewed about reproductive rights, the

Hyde Amendment In U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape. Before the Hyde Amendment took effect in ...

, and Supreme Court nominees by several media outlets such as the Associated Press, CNN, ''The Guardian'', and ''The New York Times''. Robinson became the president of the

(HRC) in late 2022. She is the first queer Black woman to lead the organization. Robinson has stated that she will focus on issues such as voting rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, living wages and health care; she will focus on the voices and concerns of impoverished people. In one interview, Robinson stated that HRC was planning to work towards the passage of the

Respect for Marriage Act The Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA; ) is a landmark United States federal law passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. It repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), requires the U.S. federal gover ...

. In one of the first interviews that she gave as HRC president, to

El Pais EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...

, Robinson addressed the rise of hate acts against LGBTQ communities. In the month of December of the year 2022, Robinson testified before Congress on the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ extremism and violence.

Personal life

Robinson married her wife, Becky George, in 2020; they have one child together.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Kelley 1980s births American community activists American health activists LGBT African Americans Living people 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women University of Missouri alumni American LGBT rights activists