Our programs

ELF’s Diversity Circles of Expertise

(Powered by the European Liberal Forum)

This pioneering project in politics is a cross-institutional initiative aiming to increase the diversity in political liberal organisations to change the culture of liberal parties by creating a network of experts to work on creating more diverse and inclusive environments in liberal organisations. The project combines a long-term learning course at MyAcademy and three in-person workshops for the operational leadership of liberal organisations to shape their internal culture into one that empowers diversity.

Online liberal empowerment campaign

(Powered by VVD Internationaal and D66 Internationaal)

This online campaign consists of creating and disseminating content to promote the liberal front work in fighting for LGBTQI+ rights and being champions of diversity in representation. Our campaign highlights the work of liberal political leaders committed towards more diversity in representation and awareness content on the challenges the LGBTQI+ faces showcasing the liberal solution to overcome these obstacles.

The campaign relies on working with either elected or appointed officials, ambassadors and party officers or activists calling for more LGBTQI+ representation in politics. The platform also works with ambassadors who identify themselves as allies of the LGBTQI+ community and call other representative figures to advocate for equality and emancipation of the LGBTQI+ community openly. The content produced by the Rainbow Platform does not bind the political figures to any organisation besides their own.

Talent Diversity Incubators

(Powered by The European Dialogue of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom)

This program combines a series of round table discussions with the selected operational staff and candidate recruitment teams from different political parties to meet with experts and practitioners about inclusive recruitment, internal party culture management, and dealing with identity politics within liberal organisations.

The project also invites former participants to form a network of talent managers that incubates diversity and inclusion as regular practice when fostering political talent on the local level.

The impact of the incubators is to have a more diverse range of representation in politics. This includes members of LGBTQI+, national minorities, Roma, and disabled communities. Ultimately, with more diversity in representation, the liberal cause can gather more support from these communities, which feel disenfranchised from liberalism.

Liberal Diversity Commissions

To reinforce the political work of the Rainbow Platform and its partners, the commissions are a series of political discussions to reach common liberal conclusions and produce consensus statements about issues affecting politically underrepresented minorities. Between the 26th and 27th, in the framework of the ALDE Congress in Stockholm, the commissions will discuss the following topics:

  • Liberal positions to address the increasing hate crimes against the LGBTQI+ community.

  • The role of Europe in fighting anti-LGBTQI+ legislation worldwide (emphasis on Uganda and the US).

  • The role of Europe showing solidarity with civic movements standing for individual freedoms (focus on Iran).

The discussions are documented, and a press release will be presented showing the political conclusions of the commissions.

Rainbow Platform’s Network of Action

(Powered by ALDE party)

The project consists of creating and maintaining a database of elected European liberal officials’ allies of the LGBTQI+ cause, talent managers in parties, and party members of the LGBTQI+ community/allies, and maintaining them informed and calling them for united action when any policy development affects the LGBTQI+ community or when any is happening affecting the community requires a common response.

This project provides a European cross-knowledge on what advances liberals are making to advance LGBTQI+ rights further. Ultimately, the database will serve as a platform for exiting and aspiring elected officials to keep fighting for the LGBTQI+ community in their different political engagements, thus influencing national parties to fight for more diversity from within their organisations.

Sign up HERE!

(Powered by The European Dialogue of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom)

This important program capitalises on the different pride parades and events in Europe to organise small forum discussions on the importance of diversity in representation with local liberal representatives for an audience of political activists and civil society actors within the framework of the pride festivals. The forums bring together liberal political actors, activists and members of civil society to discuss the power of representation in politics and what can be done to maximise representation in politics.

The program showcases liberals as champions of political representation and ignites public debate on critical representation issues. The primary debate to ignite with these events is within the liberal parties hoisting. Even in societies with LGBTQI+ political representatives, a disproportional number of groups within the community are underrepresented, including queer women and trans people.

Read more HERE.