Brian Sims

The Power of Adversity with Brian Sims
​Brian Sims—civil rights advocate, former Pennsylvania state legislator, and current CEO of Agenda PAC—to discuss how adversity shapes extraordinary leadership. Brian traces his roots as the son of two Army Officers, recalling a childhood shaped by frequent moves and a powerful mother figure who taught him the value of service, resilience, and challenging inequity. As he shares his coming-out journey, Brian highlights how his closeted years—though not always traumatic—helped him cultivate empathy, a skill he later carried into both sports and politics.

 

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Highlights

• ​(5:20) Military Upbringing & Women in Power
• (10:55) Coming Out & Finding Community
  
• (18:34) The Power of Empathy & Advocacy
  
• (26:48) The Heaviest Part of the Job
• (51:06) Hope for the Future​

Guest Biography
Brian Sims is a distinguished American civil rights advocate and public policy expert from Philadelphia. A 5-term member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Sims became the first out LGBTQ+ member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly when he was elected in 2011. He currently serves as the CEO of Agenda PAC which identifies and targets the most beatable anti-equality elected officials across the United States. He has extensive experience lecturing nationally and internationally about the policy and legal imperatives of diversity and the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement.

Brian is also the former Staff Counsel for Policy and Planning at the Philadelphia Bar Association and serves on a number of non-profit public interest Boards. He more recently served as the Managing Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Out Leadership, where he worked to advance LGBTQ+ rights within the corporate sector.

He holds a bachelor of science degree from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, a juris doctor degree in International and Comparative law from the Michigan State University College of Law, completed a Bohnett Fellowship at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and was an LGBTQ Executive Leadership Fellow at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Brian has received numerous awards and recognitions throughout his career for his advocacy and leadership and has appears regularly across TV, radio, and online programming. 

Show Notes
Season 3, Episode 1

Credits
Guest: Brian Sims
​Host: Liz Cavallaro
Host: Bree Fram
Audio: Frieda Garcia