Bringing vast experience in research and leadership in sexual orientation and gender identity law and policy, Christy Mallory has been named the executive director of the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. Mallory, who has been leading the Williams Institute in an interim capacity since January 2025, is just the third executive director in the quarter-century history of the institute, which is among the most august, renowned, and impactful programs at UCLA Law.

Since its founding in 2001, the Williams Institute has been at the forefront of research on behalf of LGBTQ people. Its scholarship has been at the heart of countless legal developments in the space, notably including the U.S. Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage in 2015.

Mallory has played a significant role in that history while dedicating her legal career to the Williams Institute. In 2008, she graduated from UCLA Law and joined the institute as a law fellow. Over the past 18 years, she has also served as state and local policy director and legal director, working as a central force in shaping the institute’s research agenda, building its staff and alumni community, developing relationships with donors and movement partners, and ensuring that its work reaches the policymakers, courts, and communities who need it most.

At the Williams Institute, Mallory has written or co-authored more than 200 publications. Her research has been cited by judges and policymakers at every level of government, from the White House to the Supreme Court to Congress. She drafted executive orders for the Biden transition team, supported President Obama’s landmark executive order protecting federal contractor employees from discrimination, and produced research on discrimination against LGBTQ people that helped shape the Equality Act. In 2023, Justice Sotomayor directly cited her research on public accommodations discrimination in her dissent in 303 Creative v. Elenis.

“This organization and our staff, partners, and supporters mean everything to me,” Mallory says. “I don’t take the trust placed in me lightly. We are facing serious threats — to LGBTQ rights, to research, and to the communities we serve — and I am ready for us to meet this moment.”

As executive director, Mallory will lead the Williams Institute’s large and experienced team of empirical and legal researchers and work closely with Cary Franklin, who holds the McDonald/Wright Chair of Law and is the institute’s faculty director. Franklin emphasizes the special effort that Mallory has made to build a pipeline of lawyers and others in the field. “Christy has been instrumental in cultivating the next generation of LGBTQ legal advocates,” she says. “She created our in-house summer law fellowship and externship programs, taught a 1L course on LGBTQ law and policy, and has mentored more than 75 fellows and visiting scholars. She has inspired so many people in the field — including me — and I am very excited to work with her and see all that she will achieve in the coming years.”

Brad Sears is the institute’s founding executive director, and he has collaborated with Mallory for nearly two decades. “Christy has devoted her career to advancing the Williams Institute’s mission,” Sears says. “Her experience, wisdom, and passion are just what is needed to meet the challenges of this moment and to lay the groundwork for a brighter, freer future for all LGBTQ people. She is unmatched in her expertise on LGBTQ law and policy and her deep and authentic concern for every individual in our communities. With her colleagues at the institute, she will ensure that the institute remains a critical resource for training tomorrow’s leaders, educating key decision-makers and the public, and advancing research to inform LGBTQ law and policy.”

Dean Michael Waterstone announced Mallory’s appointment in a message to the UCLA Law community. “We all know Christy well, deeply value her partnership, and admire her wisdom and dedication [to the Williams Institute], including service as legal director and involvement in communications, fundraising, administration, research, and collaboration with the institute's broad network of outside supporters. This year, she has taken on the huge task of celebrating the institute’s 25th anniversary with characteristic enthusiasm and excellence,” he wrote.

“I can’t wait to see where she and the Williams Institute team go from here, as they embark on their second quarter century of leadership.”