50-30 Panel: The Cost of Exclusion

Kim was the Executive Director of ARC International for 17 years, retiring in 2020. ARC International is an NGO geared to advancing human rights for LGBTI persons across the globe. They have played a key role in the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics, as well as providing support to NGO’s working in countries around the world to ensure that the records of all UN States on LGBTI issues are subjected to international scrutiny. She has been invited as a global expert to contribute research and advice to the political, expert, and agency bodies within the United Nations. 

She has received the Pride Community Service Award in her province, secured the first Registered Domestic Partnership in Canada, and was a successful litigant in one of the Canadian court challenges to secure equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

M. V. Lee Badgett, PhD, is a pioneering researcher of the global cost of homophobia and transphobia, economic empowerment of LGBTI+ people, and LGBTI+ economic inequality. She’s the Chief Economist and co-founder of Koppa: The LGBTI+ Economic Power Lab. In addition, Badgett is Professor Emeritx of Economics and former director of the School of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is a Williams Distinguished Scholar at UCLA’s Williams Institute, where she was a co-founder and the first research director. She has worked with the World Bank, Open For Business, UNDP, USAID, IDB, ADB, the U.S. State Department, OECD, global businesses, and many LGBTI+ organizations. Her latest book is The Economic Case for LGBT Equality: Why Fair and Equal Treatment Benefits Us All (Beacon Press, 2020). Badgett received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California-Berkeley, and has a BA in economics from the University of Chicago. 

Mitzie Hunter is a dynamic, community-grounded leader and President and CEO of the Canadian Women’s Foundation. Her 30 years of leadership spans the nonprofit sector, private sector, and government. Mitzie has a trailblazing track record and many successes championing infrastructure and community improvements. She was the first Black woman to serve as Ontario’s Minister of Education. She also served as Ontario’s Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development and Associate Minister of Finance.  

Mitzie is a respected advocate for diverse women, girls, and Two Spirit, trans, and nonbinary people across Canada. She is known for her expertise in an array of issues, from women’s leadership to inclusive economies to sustainable neighbourhood and city building.  

Mitzie is a founding visionary of the Prosperity Project. She served as Chief Administrative Officer of Toronto Community Housing Corporation, CEO of CivicAction, Vice President of External Relations and Corporate Secretary at Goodwill Industries, and President of SMART Toronto, a technology hub. She is a Senior Fellow with the C.D. Howe Institute and a Canadian Urban Leader at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities. Mitzie has also served in several board leadership positions in nonprofit, private sector and public service bodies, including Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, Fidelity Investments Canada, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, United Way Greater Toronto and TVO. In 2023, Mitzie ran for mayor in the City of Toronto by-election.  

Fabrice Houdart is a human rights and corporate social responsibility specialist with 20 years of experience at the World Bank and the United Nations. In 2022, he founded the Association of LGBTQ + Corporate Directors, and in 2023, he co-founded Koppa, a nonprofit focused on LGBTQ+ economic empowerment.  At the UN, in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, he worked on UN Free & Equal, a campaign for LGBTQ+ inclusion. He co-authored the UN Corporate Standards of Conduct for Business, the largest LGBTI corporate social responsibility initiative supported by over 500 companies.  He volunteers on the Boards of non-profit organizations, including Outright International, Housing Works, the Institute of Current World Affairs (Chair), CUNY TV Foundation (Treasurer), and the LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors Canada Association. He is the Treasurer of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia Committee. He is also an Advisor to the Board of Open for Business, a UK non-profit focused on making the business and economic case for LGBTQ+ inclusion. His weekly Substack is circulated to 20K subscribers. He holds a BA from Dauphine University in Paris and an MBA from American University in DC. Fabrice also taught development at Columbia University and Georgetown University.  He lives in NYC and is a single father to twin eleven-year-old Eitan and Maxime.