Charlotte Clymer Keynote Speaker

Charlotte Clymer is a writer, communications consultant, transgender activist, and military veteran.

She writes “Charlotte’s Web Thoughts,” a popular Substack newsletter about politics, religion, and culture. It has been named a finalist for Outstanding Blog at the 2023 and 2024 GLAAD Media Awards, featured at the 2022 SXSW Conference & Festival, and will be anthologized in a forthcoming textbook for young writers by W. W. Norton & Co

She was named to the 13^th class of political fellows at the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service in the Fall of 2021 and previously served as the Director of Communications & Strategy at Catholics for Choice, a reproductive rights advocacy organization.

Prior to that, she was the Press Secretary for Rapid Response at the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest civil rights organization dedicated to advancing LGBTQ equality. Her day-to-day work involved running the organization’s messaging in response to the White House and federal policy.

Her political and social commentary has been quoted by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and numerous other outlets. Her writing has been published in USA Today, The Washington Post, NBC News, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, GQ, The Independent, and other publications. She has also been a guest commentator on MSNBC, CNN, BBC, CBS Sunday Morning, and various public radio programs.

In 2021, she became the first openly-transgender woman appointed to the Board of Directors for LPAC, the nation’s largest organization dedicated to advancing queer women in politics.

In 2022, she was nominated by Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser—and unanimously confirmed by the City Council—to serve on the D.C. Human Rights Commission, the first openly-transgender person to do so. She previously served on the Commission for Persons with Disabilities as a Mayoral Appointee.

She also serves on the Board of Directors for Running Start, an organization that trains and empowers young women and nonbinary youth to get involved in politics. Additionally, she volunteers on the advisory councils for Modern Military Families of America, an advocacy org for LGBTQ service members and their families, and the Lone Star Parity Project, which works to increase the representation of women elected officials in Texas.

She was selected for the Truman National Security Project’s Class of 2019 and has served as the co-lead of the D.C. Chapter and the Executive Committee for membership applications.

She was honored as “Best Transgender Advocate” in 2018 and “Most Committed Activist” in 2019 in the Best of Gay D.C. Awards by readers of The Washington Blade. She was named to Fortune Magazine’s 2020 40 under 40 list in the “Politics & Government” category and the 2019 40 under 40 Queer Women of D.C. by the Mayor’s Office and The Washington Blade. In 2022, she received Equality North Carolina’s Visibility Award.

In her free time, she works as a film and television critic for Metro Weekly, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ print magazines.

She is a proud graduate of Georgetown University and resides in Washington, D.C.