The Leadership LAB

At the Leadership LAB, a program of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, our mission is to build big teams and empower them to defeat anti-LGBT prejudice, as well as other forms of stigma, both locally in Los Angeles and on the ground across the nation - wherever communities are facing attacks at the ballot box. 

Since 2009 our staff and over 1,500 volunteers have canvassed (talked to voters door to door) regularly in Los Angeles County and around the country in neighborhoods where most people remain unsupportive of LGBT rights. Together we have developed new ways to to engage voters in emotional, personal conversations that have the power to reduce transphobia and homophobia and secure newfound support (see video of one of our conversations here).

In our local, LA-based program we organize a large team to develop innovative voter contact strategies that increase support for LGBT rights and reduce prejudice against LGBT people. In the process, we work to build in volunteers the leadership skills they will need when our community comes under political attack. 

Nationwide we partner with campaigns and organizations when they face such challenges. Offering both long term support and intensive help in the heat of election season, we work side-by-side with campaign leaders and organizers to help turn the tide.