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Brett Peters

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BRETT PETERS

LEAD, EDUCATION & PHILANTHROPY PARTNERSHIPS, TIKTOK

Class of 2022 BEQ Pride LGBTQ Leader Under 40
(He, Him) is 33

What do you believe is your responsibility to this moment in history?

I believe my responsibility to this moment in history is to give as much space for unique and diverse perspectives as possible. I know I can do my job best when the right voices are in the room, not just visibly but also in action. Oftentimes those who are overlooked are the ones who have the most innovative ideas, so it is up to me to make sure that they feel comfortable and encouraged to share and be heard.

Brett Peters is a longtime contributor and supporter of LGBTQ+ nonprofit spacse, having helped start the It Gets Better Project in 2011 and most recently leading TikTok’s global social impact campaign work. Brett leverages all types of media to help nonprofits tell their stories in a unique and authentic way. 

Throughout his career, Brett has championed nonprofits to leverage media to effect social change. It’s his work, but also his passion, fueled by an unstoppable combination of enthusiasm, creativity and media savvy. As education & philanthropy lead at TikTok, Brett works with hundreds of nonprofits and educational partners to help them find their voice and audience on the platform. 

Brett also helped establish TikTok’s LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group – PRIDE @ TikTok, where he serves as co-president. Since its launch in January 2021, Brett has helped implement key initiatives around pronoun fields (both on the platform and internally) and educational programming to create a more inclusive workplace culture and advises on organizations for TikTok to administer millions of dollars of donations, both nationally and locally. Brett developed and executed TikTok’s first global heritage month event: Pride 2021. The “Free to Be” campaign was programmed in North America, Latin America, Europe and Southeast Asia and received over 3.2 billion video views in the month of June alone. Brett leads TikTok For Good’s efforts globally to produce social impact campaigns that drive TikTok for Good’s key pillars of Education, DEI and User Wellbeing. His latest campaign, #GivingSzn, launched in November 2021, engaging markets on every continent. 

Prior to joining TikTok, Brett was part of the founding staff at the It Gets Better Project. As director of media & strategic partnerships, he oversaw the nonprofit organization’s original content, social media strategy and brand/media partnerships. Brett helped construct and execute history-making campaigns like Doritos Rainbow, content projects like the Emmy Award-winning It Gets Better MTV specials and audience development initiatives that grew It Gets Better’s social media following to over one million. Right before Brett went on to his next adventure at TikTok, he secured a partnership with P&G to produce a series about LGBTQ+ Olympians that aired during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Even though his day-to-day work has expanded beyond LGBTQ+ nonprofits, working with the community is still very important to Brett. “Supporting queer and trans people of color is where all focus should be right now,” he said.

He feels more queer people of color (QPOC) in leadership positions both within and outside of the LGBTQ+ nonprofit space is essential. He wants to reduce the number of LGBTQ+ youth who are experiencing homelessness through scaled education and an increase of resources into housing in more rural areas. From Brett’s perspective, we can do so much through the power of media and elevating the stories of those who are most marginalized. He hopes to continue to grow this work globally so that no LGBTQ+ person ever has to feel alone in this world. 

Brett holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Miami where he double majored in Motion Pictures and Sociology, with a focus in Queer Theory.

Links:

  1. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/not-just-for-dancing-teens-some-charities-see-potential-in-tiktok-fundraising?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in
  2. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/st-jude-taps-tiktok-as-social-media-becomes-a-focus-of-fundraising-efforts-4101513/
  3. https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/doritos-rainbows-support-lgbt-community/story?id=33814162
  4. https://digiday.com/media/tiktok-brings-back-fund-to-pay-25-publishers-to-create-instructive-and-informative-videos
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