Wes Sanders Han-Burgess

Wes (he/him) is the Development & Communications Director at Georgia Equality, where he has worked for more than 14 years. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Mercer University.

A Georgia native, Wes began his career in LGBTQ advocacy as an intern at Georgia Equality while completing his graduate degree, joining the staff full-time in May 2013. Over the course of his tenure, he has served in roles spanning field organizing, development, and communications, rising to his current position in 2019. During that same period, he also served as Director of Operations at Georgia Shares, a statewide charitable giving program.

Wes has been part of the Georgia Equality team through some real milestones, helping fight back nearly a decade of so-called “religious freedom” legislation that would have licensed discrimination against LGBTQ people, culminating in Governor Deal’s veto in 2016. He was also part of the team during the national wins of marriage equality and the federal employment protections that followed. More recently, Georgia Equality has successfully defeated every anti-LGBTQ bill introduced in the 2024 and 2026 legislative sessions. Over his tenure, the organization’s fundraising capacity has grown significantly across Georgia Equality, the Equality Foundation of Georgia, and the Georgia Equality PAC.

Outside of work, Wes can usually be found in his kitchen or garden in Falmouth, MA where he lives with his husband and daughter.