Sarah Chwe is the National Director for Individual Philanthropy for Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV.

In her role, Chwe oversees all individual and community philanthropy for the organization including National Leadership, Major Gifts, Legacy/Planned Gifts, Events Fundraising, and Regional Leadership teams. Chwe is a member of Lambda Legal’s Senior Management team and works to ensure that the organization establishes and maintains strong relationships with individual major donors and institutional funders around the country with the aim of generating the revenue and momentum necessary to advance our vital mission.

Chwe has over 15 years of professional development experience including most recently serving as Development Director at Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, overseeing all fundraising strategies and initiatives for the organization and its subsidiaries. Prior to that role, Chwe was Director of Development at Housing Works Inc., as well as Vice President of the Housing Works Bookstore & Cafe, a local-NYC organization serving over 30,000 unhoused and low-income folks living with HIV/AIDS each year. Prior to Housing Works, Chwe worked at the Metropolitan Opera managing their 45,000 members and 7,000 annual fund donors during multiple record-breaking seasons.

Chwe graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Communications, Sociology, and with a concentration in Marketing from the Wharton School. Chwe has served proudly on the boards of Housing Works and the West Village Chorale, and was an avid volunteer at the Museum of Modern Art. Chwe now lives in Queens, NY with her opera-singer husband and two lovable (but exhausting) children, and enjoys reading, singing, and weightlifting. (Headshot photo: Ryan Greenleaf)