20th Anniversary Spotlight
History of MAP: Leading Through Collaboration
“The movement has to recognize that national organizations cannot do what they set out to do unless they have strong relationships with state and local groups. And I think MAP has done a really good job of always staying connected to the ground and always staying responsive to what is happening locally.
I always lift up MAP as an example of a national organization that really walks the talk when it comes to collaboration.”
— Nadine Smith, Equality Florida
For twenty years, MAP has worked to power progressive movements by providing rigorous research, insight, and communications that help speed equality and opportunity for all.
Central to our work is the belief that we are stronger when we work together. This core principle of collaboration is evidenced within our growing collection of policy research and messaging communications. Since our founding in 2006, MAP has been a leader in assembling coalitions and building partnerships within progressive movements, engaging hundreds of organizations to work together for change.
This third installment of our spotlight anniversary series identifies important examples of collaboration and partnership across MAP’s history. Then and now, our commitment to collaboration remains integral to our vision of a more equitable, and more inclusive America.
Collaboration was, in fact, the very basis of MAP’s founding. In 2006, after months of partnership, research, and analysis, Ineke Mushovic, Linda Bush, and Rodger McFarlane drafted an initial proposal for what would become the Movement Advancement Project. Highlighting the fact that the LGBTQ movement was underfunded and under-resourced, the mission of the small, independent think tank would be to strategically align resources in the movement to the areas of greatest impact with the goal of speeding equality for all.
As MAP came to fruition, our slate of work was informed by collaboration. In 2007, MAP successfully assembled 39 executives from 37 organizations for its second LGBT Movement CFO Conference. The following year, MAP released the first-ever LGBT Community Center Survey Report in partnership with CenterLink. The biennial report series, which includes input from community center senior management, LGBTQ funders, and national partners, would later become a signature product of MAP’s Equality program.
“I think that one of the things that MAP excels at is being a place where almost everything we do, every report is collaborative. We run programs that benefit the movement writ large. And I think the movement would be stronger if more organizations were like MAP.”
– Christopher Maggiano, MAP’s Board Chair
Over the next decade, MAP released several groundbreaking reports in partnership with national progressive organizations. In 2011, for example, MAP’s All Children Matter report brought together a coalition of LGBTQ leaders, policy experts, and child advocates, and in 2013, MAP’s A Broken Bargain series — which examined how LGBT workers face discrimination, get fewer benefits, and pay more taxes — included the Center for American Progress (CAP), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Freedom to Work, National Center for Transgender Equality, National Partnership for Women & Families, Out & Equal Workplace Advocates and SEIU, plus a foreword by Small Business Majority.
By 2014, MAP’s reports and analysis were consistently mentioned in a number of publications and that fall, MAP launched the Paying an Unfair Price series. The series, which painted a stark picture of the added financial burdens faced by LGBT Americans because of anti-LGBT laws at the national, state and local levels, was co-authored by the Center for American Progress (CAP), in partnership with the Center for Community Change, the Center for Popular Democracy, the National Association of Social Workers, and the National Education Association.
Then, in February 2016, MAP launched the Unjust series in collaboration with LGBTQ activist Urvashi Vaid and multiple partner organizations. This series, documented how stigma and discrimination, biased enforcement, and discriminatory policing results in LGBTQ people being disproportionately more likely to interact with law enforcement and to have their lives criminalized. Later that year, MAP produced an educational television ad which aired on Fox News during the Republican National Convention. The ad was funded by Fairness USA, in partnership with Freedom for All Americans Education Fund, National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), Equality Ohio Education Fund and with support from the Equality Federation Institute, HRC Foundation, and NCLR.
Alongside growing its network of report partners, MAP also launched the Open to All Campaign in 2017. The campaign, in response to the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case, focused on building understanding about the importance of our nation’s nondiscrimination laws. The national campaign was supported by more than 75 organizations, including the ACLU, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Anti-Defamation League, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), GLAAD, and many more.
The next year, MAP broadened its reputation of collaboration by partnering with the Center for Secure and Modern Elections on its first democracy-related content: a video overview of how automated verification and registration makes voter registration more convenient, secure, accurate, and efficient. Also in 2018, MAP expanded beyond the nonprofit sector to collaborate with the real estate website Zillow to develop a new tool using Equality Maps data. This feature allowed homebuyers to get a better feel for a home and its neighborhood by showing what legal protections exist for LGBTQ people in the surrounding area.
“MAP powers movements with tools and resources. Our ability to do that — and to see our unique, high quality, and pragmatic work have an impact on the world — is rooted in our deep commitment to collaboration. Organizations trust our people, they use our resources to make the world a better place, and they come to us with their needs because they know we’re ready, ego-less partners in the work.”
— Naomi Goldberg, MAP’s Executive Director
MAP’s recent body of work has included a number of LGBTQ-related policy spotlights, analysis of voting and election policies, calls for data inclusion, and — across all of this — collaborations with new partners.
In 2022, MAP worked with the Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR), releasing a first-of-its-kind look at the financial health and needs of LGBTQ-owned small businesses. Then, in 2023, MAP also began coordinating a bill tracking group for LGBTQ+ movement organizations, with regular attendance from Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), The Trevor Project, The Trans Formations Project, Center for American Progress (CAP), Lambda Legal, ACLU, and others. 2024 was marked by first-time collaborations in our Democracy Program, including a partner report with the Civics Center on youth voting and multiple co-written blog posts with VoteRiders.
Last fall, MAP’s Equality Program released a major partner report with Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), Advocates for Youth, Equality Federation, GLSEN, PFLAG National, and The Trevor Project, which offered a holistic picture of the lived experiences of LGBTQ young people. Finally, just this month, MAP released a new report detailing best practices for sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data governance, co-authored by Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy and the Center for Democracy & Technology.
Year after year, MAP stays committed to our theory of change by expanding our network through new partnerships and opportunities for collaboration. As a result, our policy and communications expertise empowers our partner organizations and advocates with the tools they need to work together for change.
▸▸ Learn more
- Read about our 20-year history by visiting our anniversary page.
- Explore MAP’s policy and issue analysis by program here.
