Annise Parker to Depart the Victory Fund
Annise Parker, the president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, has announced her intention to leave following the 2024 elections.
Annise Parker, the president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, has announced her intention to leave the organization at the end of 2024, following this year’s crucial presidential election.
Parker shared the news in an email sent to the organization’s supporters, asserting, “This is not goodbye.”
She took the opportunity to thank people for the support she had received since taking over the organization — which advocates for the election of LGBTQ people to public office — six years ago.
Parker noted that her first engagement with the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, as well as its educational arm, the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, which provides leadership training to current and future public office seekers, was 30 years ago when she was a supporter.
She eventually pursued public office in her hometown of Houston, being endorsed nine times by the Victory Fund for City Council and mayor.
After being term-limited, Parker accepted a job as the head of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, a role that she has embraced to help promote greater LGBTQ representation in government and advocate for lived equality for members of the LGBTQ community.
“My unwavering faith in the power of LGBTQ+ representation to change hearts and minds and transform politics continues unabated — as does my appreciation for the staff and board members,” Parker wrote in the email to supporters. “I am immensely proud of Victory Fund’s growth and accomplishments during my tenure and look forward to the organization’s continued success.”
Among the accomplishments she touts are the doubling of the organization’s annual budget and staff capacity, as well as growing the organization’s candidate services program.
Electorally, the organization can boast of helping increase the number of out elected officials from 450 to 1,270 over that time period, with recent cycles setting records for both number of candidates and those successfully elected to public office.
Parker also touted the organization’s Women Out to Win fellowship, the Victory Institute’s Political Appointments Program, and the global expansion of the organization’s reach as achievements on which her successor can build.
“I am confident the new President & CEO will build on this legacy,” she concluded. “We have so much to be proud of.” she concluded.
According to a release from the boards of directors of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, the plan is for there to be a two-month overlap between the time that Parker’s successor is named and when Parker finally departs the organization, to ensure as smooth a transition as possible.
“Mayor Parker is the steady, experienced leader we needed during a consequential time in American politics — and the dramatic growth in our endorsed candidates and Election Day victories are clear evidence of her undeniable success,” board chairs Wade Rakes II and Lynn Greer, said in a joint statement.
“At a time when democracy is under attack in the U.S. and around the world, our mission to build more inclusive and representative governments is the antidote, because democracies flourish when people see themselves as part of it,” Rakes and Greer added. “Mayor Parker’s leadership made Victory a consequential player in our elections and democracy and we look forward to her continued leadership in this critical year ahead.”
Read Metro Weekly’s 2020 cover interview with Parker here.
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