The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is a nonprofit social equality organization founded in 2003 by transgender activist Mara Keisling in Washington, D.C. The organization works primarily in the areas of policy advocacy and media activism with the aim of advancing the equality of transgender people in the United States. Among other transgender-related issue areas, NCTE focuses on discrimination in employment, access to public accommodations, fair housing, identity documents, hate crimes and violence, criminal justice reform, federal research surveys and the Census, and health care access. History In 2002, then-co-chair of the Pennsylvania Gender Rights Coalition, Mara Keisling, moved to Washington, D.C., after recognizing the need for a professional activist presence in Washington for transgender people. With the support of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Keisling established the National Center for Transgender Equality in 2003. In the years since, NCTE has had numerous political victories. Early on, Keisling and NCTE led "United ENDA", a coalition of over 400 LGBTQ rights organizations lobbying for a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that had explicit protections for transgender individuals. Although the bill ultimately failed to pass, it was the first-ever transgender-inclusive legislation to be proposed to the U.S. Congress and yielded the first-ever Congressional hearing on transgender rights issues. Under the Obama administration, NCTE successfully lobbied for at least 150 federal policy changes on issues including health care access and non-discrimination in health services; federal employment protections; homeless and emergency shelter access; non-discrimination in federally-subsidized housing; and open military service for transgender service members. Also among these policy victories was the modification of State Department regulations, allowing transgender citizens to change the gender marker on their passport without necessarily having undergone genital reconstruction surgery. In late 2019, NCTE made national news when two thirds of the staff resigned in protest of the executive team. Following the resignations of employees, an unfair labor practice charge was filed by the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union against NCTE. The National Labor Relations Board issued a dismissal letter for the complaint in April 2020. Mission NCTE's mission statement reads: Prominent staff Mara Keisling Mara Keisling is the founding executive director of NCTE. She is a trans woman and began transitioning in her early 40s. In addition to her work as executive director of NCTE, Keisling is a founding board member of the Stonewall Democracy Fund. She has also served as co-chair of the Pennsylvania