A Letter from Naomi Goldberg, MAP’s Incoming Executive Director

Movement Advancement Project
4 min readMar 1, 2024

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Dear MAP Supporter,

Today marks a new chapter at MAP, and I am thrilled to share more about who we are and where we are going.

For 18 years, MAP has conducted cutting-edge messaging and policy research, built and sustained strong relationships within the LGBTQ movement, and created the tools needed by those who work for LGBTQ equity. In recent years, our work has expanded to track and analyze the landscape of American democracy, and our Open to All program continues to thrive in its national nondiscrimination campaign.

So much of our MAP’s growth is due to the incredible contributions of Ineke Mushovic, MAP’s co-founder and leader since 2010, an extraordinary visionary, colleague, and friend. Today marks a transition in MAP’s history: Ineke is closing her incredible tenure as MAP’s Executive Director, and I step into the role with gratitude to Ineke for all she’s done, for our brilliant staff and our committed board, for our funders and donors for their sustained commitment to MAP, and for our many, many collaborators over the years who have worked with us to advance opportunity for all.

I am fiercely passionate about MAP and our theory of transformation. Especially in this moment — with attacks against LGBTQ people and our very democracy at an all-time high — MAP’s work is needed more than ever. Our incisive research, our thoughtful and collaborative approach, and our focus on driving change can shift people’s thinking, change hearts and minds, and drive action.

MAP’s Theory of Transformation. We advance conversation, policy change, and collaboration by shifting people’s thinking and driving action through our rigorous research and strong partnerships

I am humbled by this opportunity to lead MAP and to do so in ways that continue the work we are best known for while also centering the communities with whom we are working.

I look forward to sharing more about where MAP is headed in the coming months, but let me start here. Thanks to the continued support from you, we are investing in our staff with new hiring and promotions. We are finding new ways to power movements for change while continuing the impactful, collaborative, and powerful work you have come to rely on: research-informed communications tools; accurate, responsive, and intersectional policy work; powerful capacity building resources and thoughtful opportunities for collaboration.

This is an exciting time to be engaged with MAP and our work that powers movements. We appreciate you staying with us as MAP moves from strength to strength as we begin this new chapter.

I am excited to share what comes next!

Naomi Goldberg
Executive Director, MAP

About Naomi

Naomi Goldberg became MAP’s new executive director on March 1. Naomi started at MAP in 2010 as a junior policy researcher, directed the policy department and then the LGBTQ program, and most recently served as MAP’s deputy director. She is a trusted expert on the topics of LGBTQ data inclusion, laws impacting LGBTQ parents, and various federal policy issues. She’s published reports on LGBTQ families, the criminal justice system, economic security, and served as a co-author on several papers with data from the longest running longitudinal study of planned lesbian families.

Born and raised in the Central Valley of California, Naomi attended Mount Holyoke College and received a Master of Public Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She completed a public policy fellowship at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, where she was mentored by Drs. Gary Gates and Lee Badgett and discovered her love of LGBTQ data.

Naomi lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with her wife and son. She volunteers as the LGBTQ Liaison to the Mayor of Ann Arbor, serves as VP for social action on the board of Temple Beth Emeth and on the board of Our Family Coalition, and is on the recreation advisory committee for her local school district. She previously chaired the alumni board at the Ford School. In her free time, Naomi can be found cooking, wandering in nature, playing tennis, and cheering on Michigan’s women’s basketball team.

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Movement Advancement Project

MAP is an independent, nonprofit think tank that provides rigorous research, insight and communications that help speed equality and opportunity for all.