Fred Sainz

Fred Sainz is the Human Rights Campaign’s Vice President for Communications & Marketing. Since joining the organization in 2010, Sainz has turned HRC into a media powerhouse—on television, in print, and across social media. In 2013, he was named Public Relations Professional of the Year by PR News for doing “as much as any single person can to promote a fundamental shift in the mores of our nation.” Over the course of his tenure, Sainz and his team have led historic communications and marketing efforts associated with three U.S. Supreme Court cases; federal legislation ranging from the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to the historic passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the Senate; hundreds of federal policy and regulatory changes; a presidential campaign, three election cycles and dozens of candidate endorsements; hundreds of pieces of state legislation; and thousands of “momentum moments” used strategically to propel the LGBT movement and HRC forward. In 2013, as the Windsor and Perry cases reached the Supreme Court, HRC and Sainz spearheaded an unprecedented national public awareness campaign that brought pro-marriage equality voices to editorial pages, television advertisements and Internet platforms all across the country. And as oral arguments began, Sainz’s team launched a red-tinted version of HRC’s iconic equal-sign logo that would soon be adopted as a profile picture by more than 10 million Facebook users—including countless businesses, politicians and celebrities. At the time it was the most viral campaign in the history of social media, and the red equal sign was named “Symbol of the Year” by Stanford University. Throughout this year, Sainz and his team have launched an unprecedented public affairs blitz against more than 100 pieces of anti-LGBT legislation across the country. After Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed a so-called “religious freedom” bill into law, HRC was at the forefront of the backlash. From national op-eds to an unprecedented sign-on letter of more than 100 tech sector executives calling for nationwide non-discrimination protections, HRC’s efforts around this harmful legislation created one of the most memorable media moments for equality in recent years. Sainz's previous work has put him at the intersection of government and philanthropy—serving as spokesman for one of the nation’s largest municipal governments as well as one of the most powerful LGBT philanthropic advocacy organizations. He got his start in the White House at age 20, and remains the second-youngest person ever to work in the West Wing.