Gender Equality Law Center

The Gender Equality Law Center (GELC) is a Brooklyn based non-profit law and advocacy center. GELC is committed to advancing laws and policies that promote gender equality in all spheres of public and private life. We seek to break down barriers that limit economic and social opportunities for individuals on the basis of gender, gender identity, gender expression and/or sexual orientation. We advance our mission through a combination of strategic litigation, legislative reform work, legal training and mentoring and public education and outreach, with our legislative work being a response to a clear and pressing need for legal reforms. Substantive issues we have worked on over the past two years include pay equity, paid family leave, fighting for anti-discrimination protections in the workplace for victims of intimate partner violence, advancing the rights of pregnant workers to obtain reasonable when pregnant, and combating all forms of gender discrimination targeted at the LGBTQ community. Most of our anti-discrimination work involves workplace justice, but we increasingly are taking on discrimination cases in schools and universities and in housing. We offer free legal services to low and moderate-income individuals. Our team is led by New York City native and veteran civil rights attorney, Allegra Fishel, who was recently awarded the Shirley Chisholm Women of Excellence award for her career service advocating for civil rights in New York City. As an organization, we bring with us over 30 years of experience in civil rights litigation and policy reform.