Williams Institute

Brad Sears. R. Bradley (Brad) Sears is the founding director and current Executive Director of the Williams Institute, and an Adjunct Professor at UCLA School of Law. When the Williams Institute started in 2001, Sears was the only staff member and the Institute had a budget of $100,000 and endowment of $2.5 million. Sears helped to create and develop the Williams Institute’s… See full bio.

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Story: The Institute was founded in 2001 through a generous grant by businessman, academic, and philanthropist Charles R. “Chuck” Williams. Mr. Williams’ inaugural donation of $2.5 million to create the Williams Institute was the largest donation ever given to any academic institution in support of a gay and lesbian academic program in any discipline. Over the past decade, he has given over $13 million to fund the Institute.

In 2011, the Institute celebrated its 10th Anniversary. Over the last decade, the Institute grew from a small, part-time staff to a staff of 20, including scholars of diverse disciplines and backgrounds. Experts at the Williams Institute have authored dozens of public policy studies and law review articles, filed amicus briefs in key court cases, provided expert testimony at legislative hearings, been widely cited in the national media, and trained thousands of lawyers, judges and members of the public.

Evidence of Impact Summary:

The Williams Institute is a think tank that provides data and analysis for LGBT issues. Their work offers vital insight across the sector. Their work is influential in policy change, media, and nonprofit advocacy and service delivery. Their research is credible and reliable.
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Organization Strengths Summary:

The Williams Institute is run with integrity and clarity of mission, both of which help the organization thrive. Their work is of high quality and their deep level of expertise makes their scholarly research very useful. The organization's leadership are passionate about the movement as well as strong scholars. Williams Institute also makes all of their research available online to ensure wide access.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

Experts note that Williams Institute could improve on marketing so that more individuals and organizations can be aware of their work. They could also improve on the organization’s financial position. Williams Institute should also do more to expand their work such as finding more and different opportunities to share their research.
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R. Bradley (Brad) Sears is the founding director and current Executive Director of the Williams Institute, and an Adjunct Professor at UCLA School of Law. When the Williams Institute started in 2001, Sears was the only staff member and the Institute had a budget of $100,000 and endowment of $2.5 million. Sears helped to create and develop the Williams Institute’s core programs and strategies. Today, the Institute has 20 faculty and staff members, a budget of nearly $3 million, and an endowment of over $20 million. Sears has published a number of research studies and articles, primarily on discrimination against LGBT people in the workplace and HIV discrimination in health care.

At UCLA School of Law, he teaches courses on sexual orientation law, disability law, and U.S. legal and judicial systems. Sears has given hundreds of academic and community presentations on HIV/AIDS and LGBT legal issues. He has testified before Congress and a number of state legislatures, authored amicus briefs in key court cases, helped to draft state and federal legislation, and been cited by a number of media, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, and CNN.

Sears graduated summa cum laude from Yale University and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. During law school, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. After law school, he clerked for the Hon J. Spencer Letts of the Central District of California; founded the HIV Legal Checkup Project, a legal services program dedicated to empowering people living with HIV, and served as the Discrimination & Confidentiality Attorney for the HIV/AIDS Legal Services Alliance of Los Angeles (HALSA). Sears has served on the board of directors or advisory boards for Being Alive Los Angeles, HALSA, USC’s AIDS Education Training Center, the Center for Health Justice, and UCLA’s LGBT Studies program. Sears has received Being Alive Los Angeles’ Volunteer of the Year Award and, in 2009, was recognized on Advocate’s Magazine’s “40 Under 40” list. In 2010, under his leadership, the Williams Institute received the “Treasures of Los Angeles” award from the Los Angeles Central City Association.

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