About Creating Change

Creating Change is our premier annual event. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind organizing and skills-building event for the LGBTQ community and our allies.

History of Creating Change

Creating Change was started in 1988, one year after the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The message of the 1987 March was clear: go home and get to work. It was because of this message that the Task Force soon found itself deluged with requests for resources, advice and assistance.

In order to deal with all these requests, we started a national organizing and training conference that organizers and activists could gather and teach each other – and build a stronger movement. The name of that conference was Creating Change.

The first conference was held in November 1988 in Washington, DC, and had Virginia Apuzzo, John D’Emilio and Rev. Renee McCoy as speakers. 300 people attended that year.

Creating Change Today

Today, Creating Change has grown to over 3,500 attendees from all over the country, and from all walks of life. And it’s getting bigger every year.

The five-day program includes hundreds of workshops and training sessions, plus tons of networking opportunities and ways to meet people who also work in our movement.

Our speakers have included Julian Bond, Dolores Huerta, Ben Jealous, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Labor Secretary Shaun Donovan, Bishop Yvette Flunder, Jose Antonio Vargas, and the inimitable Laverne Cox.

In 2024, Creating Change will be held at the Hilton Riverside in New Orleans from Wednesday, January 17 to Sunday, January 21.