Diego Garcia Blum is the Program Director for the Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. His work is dedicated to advocating for the safety and acceptance of LGBTQI+ individuals globally, particularly in regions where they face significant risks. It is a calling born out of his own story of overcoming oppression as a gay man and witnessing the heartbreaking assault on LGBTQ people in repressive areas of the world. At Harvard, Garcia Blum's efforts have centered on driving social change through policy, impactful research, political engagement, storytelling, community organizing, coalition-building, and developing training programs for advocates.
Prior to his current role, Diego worked under Governor Deval Patrick researching LGBTQI+ issues and creating educational programs as the Social Change Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership. Since 2020, he has taught "Queer Nation: LGBTQ Protest, Politics, and Policy in the United States" alongside Dr. Timothy Patrick McCarthy at Harvard. Garcia Blum previously served on the National Board of Governors of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQI+ advocacy group in the U.S., where he also volunteered as a community organizer in Washington D.C.
Before dedicating his work to politics and LGBTQI+ rights, Diego was an accomplished nuclear engineer with almost a decade of experience developing zero-carbon energy technologies. Diego holds a Master in Public Policy from the Kennedy School at Harvard University, where he served as Student Body President and as a Presidential Service Fellow. He also holds bachelor degrees in nuclear engineering and political science from the University of Florida.