New York
Fabrice Houdart
For twenty years, I have helped bring LGBTQ+ people into the rooms where economic decisions are made: corporate boards, capital markets and the international forums that set the rules.
- Founder & Executive Director, PRISM, the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors
- Co-founder, Koppa, the LGBTI+ Economic Power Lab
- Publisher, a weekly Substack on LGBTQ+ equality with more than 20,000 subscribers
What I’m working on
Three projects, one aim: LGBTQ+ economic power
PRISM
The first association of LGBTQ+ corporate directors in the United States, working alongside sister associations in Canada and Australia. PRISM keeps the largest database of serving and aspiring LGBTQ+ directors, tracks representation in the Fortune 500 and brings boards and candidates together at its annual Summit.
Koppa
The LGBTI+ Economic Power Lab works to unlock LGBTI+ economic power worldwide through knowledge, finance and connection. Koppa convenes the Global LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Finance Forum and, with UN partners, the Ring the Bell for LGBTIQ+ Equality ceremonies at stock exchanges around the world.
The Substack
A free weekly briefing on what matters for LGBTQ+ equality: global politics, courts, business and the boardroom, informed by two decades inside the World Bank, the United Nations and corporate governance.
Recent milestones
What we’ve built since 2023
2026
- PRISM’s new identity. The Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors relaunched as PRISM.
- Ring the Bell for LGBTIQ+ Equality, second edition, from the New York Stock Exchange to LSEG, Euronext, TSX, ASX, B3 and SET.
- Coming up: the PRISM Summit on 26 October and Koppa’s second Global LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Finance Forum on 29–30 October.
2025
- Koppa’s first Global LGBTIQ+ Inclusive Finance Forum at Deutsche Bank in New York.
- Ring the Bell for LGBTIQ+ Equality launched with UN partners: 16 ceremonies in 15 countries.
- NACD Directorship 100 honoree.
2024
- Georgetown University: taught “Queering International Development.”
- 2024 LGBTQ+ Board Monitor published.
2023
- Nasdaq closing bell for the first Summit of the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors.
- Research with HEC Liège: LGBTQ+ directors hold about 1.3% of Nasdaq board seats.
- Columbia SIPA: taught LGBTQ+ inclusion in development.
From the Substack
Read the latest issues
- This week: Brazil's mixed verdict, Taipei raids a gay bar, America's third-country deportations, Hegseth's "no weirdos," out directors lose boardroom seats, La Bola Negra, and much more…
- This week: Erdoğan at the UN, Dutch teenagers cool on gay classmates, Pope Leo in France, Ana Brnabić: first lesbian head of state, volleyball player comes out, Artificial […]
- Treating backlash as fate gives us an excuse not to face a triple crisis of imagination, solidarity, and leadership. Our mission remains legitimate, but we must change.
- This week: UNGA shennanigans, Türk’s warning, Turkey’s crackdown widens, Hungary unwinds Orbán, Fiji’s HIV emergency, NYU Langone and UPMC fold, Grindr vs. MISTR at CGI …
Selected writing
Essays and op-eds
- Sep 2026Development banks had finally got behind LGBTQ+ programs. Now what?Devex
- 2026The changing geopolitics of LGBTQ+ liberationICWA Compass, Institute of Current World Affairs
- Jun 2026The Learned Helplessness of Corporate Pride: How AI Tools Can Finally Hold Companies AccountableInc.
- Jun 2026Pride in a new world orderWashington Blade
Before PRISM and Koppa
Twenty years inside institutions
The World Bank
Country work across the Maghreb, Central Asia, the Middle East and Central Africa, ending as Senior Country Officer for the Maghreb. Led the Bank’s early work linking LGBTI inclusion and development, including research on the economic cost of homophobia.
UN Human Rights
Co-authored the UN Standards of Conduct for Business on tackling discrimination against LGBTI people and won public support for them from more than 270 of the world’s largest companies.
OutPerform and LGBTQ+ Footprint
Co-created OutPerform LGBT Invest, an early LGBTQ+ impact investing initiative, and LGBTQ+ Footprint, which lets people offset spending linked to anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives by funding civil society groups.
Advisory
FH Consulting
Through FH Consulting, I advise companies, boards and investors on corporate responsibility, human rights, governance and LGBTQ+ talent, drawing on two decades at the World Bank and the United Nations.
Boards and affiliations
Where I serve
- L’Oréal Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory BoardExternal member since 2021, alongside CEO Nicolas Hieronimus
- Institute of Current World AffairsChair of the Board
- CUNY TV FoundationBoard member and Treasurer
- Liminal Lens InvestmentsBoard member
- Housing WorksBoard member
- IDAHOBIT CommitteeTreasurer
- Open for BusinessSenior Advisor to the Board
- NACD Center for Inclusive GovernanceMember
Speaking, boards and advisory work
I speak and advise on board composition, corporate responsibility, LGBTQ+ economic inclusion and the global politics of LGBTQ+ rights. I’m also open to new board roles.
