Elizabeth Birch

She returned to the U.S. for college, earning her BA at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1983 (and her Ph.D. in 2004). Birch was an outstanding student at Santa Clara University School of Law, where she got her JD in 1985 and clerked for a justice of the California Supreme Court.

Birch jumped into LGBT advocacy early in her career. She was among the founders of the Santa Clara County AIDS Legal Services in 1987, helping people living with AIDS negotiate their legal and medical situations and training lawyers to continue these services. In 1989 she was named Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year for Santa Clara County, and for the state of California in 1990. During these years she served as a staff attorney in corporate law firms.

In 1989 Birch moved from general counsel for Claris, Apple Computer’s software subsidiary, to become Apple’s director of litigation (worldwide) and human resources counsel, where she applied her interest in equal access and diversity to good effect. She also chaired the board of directors for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, earning a reputation as a savvy, out corporate lawyer.

In 1995 Birch accepted the position of president and executive director for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). During her tenure HRC greatly increased its membership, visibility, and political influence. She shepherded the purchase of HRC’s headquarters building in Washington, D.C., and was instrumental in organizing the Millennium March in 2000. Birch was the first leader of a GLBT organization to address the convention of a major party, the Democratic National Convention in 2000. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights presented her with the Hubert Humphrey Award in that year, for her advocacy on behalf of the GLBT and AIDS communities.