Over the past few months, many of our members have expressed interest in learning more about the Voter Activation Network (VAN).The VAN is a voter database containing information on voters for the purpose of assisting your get out the vote (GOTV) efforts and other areas of your campaigns.

Are you running into challenges with your board of directors? Do you wonder how to recruit engaged and active leaders?

At this year’s Summer Meeting, we invited state leaders to take five minutes to share a big idea, talk through an innovative strategy, or offer up an exciting concept in a FEDtalk.These energetic and captivating presentations about the most innovative parts of our members’ work stood out, once again, as a major highlight of Summer Meeting.

Protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations has been a priority for the movement since the 1980s. And still, the end goal of prohibiting discrimination nationwide eludes us.

At Equality Federation, we believe the movement for equality is not done once the freedom to marry has been extended to same-sex couples nationwide. We know we have more work to do.

We’re in the midst of a unique moment in the movement for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. As marriage wins continue in the courts, and national attention shifts to work in places where LGBT people aren’t protected from discrimination — strong leadership in the states is more important than ever.To guide the movement beyond the marriage milestone, we need adaptive leaders.