Fabrice Houdart

Houdart holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics and management from Dauphine University and a Master of Business Administration from American University.^[6]

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Houdart worked at the World Bank from 2002 to 2016 as a senior country officer for the Middle East and North Africa.^[1] From 2010 to 2014, he was president of GLOBE, the Bank's LGBTQ employee resource group, where he pushed leadership to consider the impact of its lending on LGBTQ populations.^[1][7]

In October 2014, during layoffs tied to a $400 million budget cut, Houdart identified a $94,000 (equivalent to $128,000 in 2025) payment to chief financial officer Bertrand Badré, which Badré described as a board-approved "scarce skills premium."^[1][8][9] The disclosure fueled employee protests, and President Jim Yong Kim held a town hall at which Badré returned the payment.^[1]

In early 2015, the Bank investigated Houdart for allegedly leaking a draft safeguards policy.^[1] The investigation cleared him of that allegation but found he had shared a separate internal document with the Bank Information Center, a watchdog organization involved in the safeguards process.^[4] The Bank demoted him and reduced his salary; a spokesman denied retaliation and said two other employees had been similarly disciplined for unauthorized disclosures.^[4][10] Houdart's attorneys at the Government Accountability Project maintained the inquiry was retaliatory.^[1] He resigned in 2016 to join the United Nations.^[11]

From 2016 to 2020, Houdart worked at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, where he contributed to the Free & Equal campaign and co-authored the United Nations Global LGBTI Standards of Conduct for Business.^[12][13][14]

In June 2022, Houdart founded the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors.^[15][16] In 2024, he co-founded Koppa, an LGBTQ economic research initiative, with Lee Badgett and others.^{[17][better source needed]}

Houdart serves on the boards of OutRight Action International,^[18] Housing Works,^[19] and the Institute of Current World Affairs, where he founded the David Mixner LGBTQ Fellowship.^[20][21] He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors Center for Inclusive Governance Advisory Council and serves on the L'Oréal Global Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board.^[22] He is the acting secretary of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia committee and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.^[23] He also serves on the advisory council of Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE).^[24]

Houdart is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and Columbia University, where he teaches courses on sexual orientation, gender identity, and development.^[25][26] He has commented on LGBTQ issues in outlets including Bloomberg News^[27] and Nasdaq.^[28] He has also spoken at the University of Minnesota Law School.^[29]

Houdart and his then-partner Roy Daiany had twins in 2013 through surrogacy in the United States, a process that cost over $100,000 and required consulting lawyers on three continents.^[30] France prohibits surrogacy and, at the time, did not grant citizenship to children of French citizens born through the practice abroad.^[30] His use of surrogacy drew criticism from conservative French media.^[31]

Houdart is a descendant of jeweler and politician Louis Aucoc (1850–1932), who briefly owned the Hope Diamond,^[32][33] and of Académie Goncourt member René Benjamin (1885–1948).^[34]