April 2008 e-Newsletter

In this issue:

• First Ever Forum of Openly LGBT Executives Challenges Corporate Closet in Today's Workplace Culture
• Ten Years Worth Celebrating!
• Kansas City Joins Out & Equal Regional Affiliates
• Summit Deadlines Approach; Registration Set to Launch
• Workshop Proposals
• Outie Nominations
• Kick-Off Reception
• Summit Sponsorships
• Workplace Equality in the News
• Employment Opportunities
• Support Us
• UCLA Offers LGBT Education Opportunity

First Ever Forum of Openly LGBT Executives Challenges Corporate Closet in Today's Workplace Culture

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people remain under-represented in top corporate executive positions based on the small number of openly LGBT C-suite executives at Fortune 500 companies.

The first annual Out & Equal Executive Forum, brought together 24 high-ranking corporate executives from diverse industries in San Francisco on March 26-28, where they discussed this challenge and the potential to increase LGBT representation at the top levels of leading companies.

Participants discussed the unique challenges of being openly LGBT in management positions, the barriers to more equitable representation, the competing demands of business interests and personal interests and ways to build a network and support one another despite coming from different industrial or service sectors of the marketplace. Over the course of the program, the executives dedicated themselves to being more visible as LGBT people and role models for other executives or potential executives who may fear that coming out will cost them opportunities for success.

"This is the first step toward our goal of all executives being free to live and work authentically," said Out & Equal Executive Director Selisse Berry. "Our hope is that we have created a space and a network that will ripple outward from this event, allowing more and more LGBT executives to be open about who they are, as well as the hundreds of thousands of employees worldwide who look to them as an example of how to be successful while being true to oneself."

"Being with other openly LGBT executives was a rare and unique opportunity," said Donna Griffin, Managing Director at Chubb.

"Seeing other executives who are facing the same challenges, and have the same kinds of intimidation, the same kinds of excitement, and the same kinds of opportunity was very exciting for me," said Ken McNeely, President of AT&T California. "It was very rewarding to see my peer group around the country and very encouraging."

"It felt as if something special has begun," said Melinda Haag, an Executive with Crowe Chizek and Company, LLC. "We have all committed--to each other and to the people who are not here and those people who may come after us--to keep this going."

The event was held at Hotel Vitale and featured keynote speakers Rayona Sharpnack, founder of the Institute for Women's Leadership; Chip Conley, founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality; Maggie Stumpp, Chief Investment Officer of Prudential; Kenneth McNeely, President of AT&T California; and Donna Griffin, Managing Director at Chubb. Christie Hardwick served as moderator.

A group of 24 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender corporate executives gathered in San Francisco for the first-of-its-kind Out & Equal Executive Forum, March 26-28, 2008. Photo: ©Nancy Warner.

Executives who participated include:

• Ed Baklor, Senior Vice President, Adventures by Disney (Burbank, CA)
• Selisse Berry, Executive Director, Out & Equal Workplace Advocates (San Francisco, CA)
• Scott Beth, Vice President of Procurement and Order Management, Intuit (Mountain View, CA)
• Tara Bunch, Vice President Global Consumer Support and Service, Hewlett-Packard Company (Fort Collins, CO)
• Jim Freeman, Vice President, IBM Global Services, IBM (San Francisco, CA)
• Michael Garrison, Director of Marketing, Global Services, Dell Inc. (Austin, TX)
• Donna Griffin, Managing Director, Chubb (Warren, NJ)
• Melinda Haag, Executive, Crowe Chizek and Company, LLC (Chicago, IL)
• Jane Harper, Director, Collaborative Innovation, IBM (Half Moon Bay, CA)
• Julie A. Hogan, Vice President, Xerox Services, Pacific Region, Xerox Corporation (Pleasanton, CA)
• Michael Jungen, Director/ Ticketing & Gift Card Services, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts (Celebration, FL)
• George A Kalogridis, Chief Operating Officer, Disneyland Resort Paris (Paris, France)
• Judy Lively, MD, Physician-in-Chief, Diablo Service Area, The Permanente Medical Group (Sebastopol, CA)
• Uxio Malvido, EMEAC Diversity and Work Environment Leader, Merck & Co (Madrid, Spain)
• Pat Martel, City Manager, City of Daly City (Daly City, CA)
• Cynthia Martin, retired Vice President Blue Shield of California and Eastman Kodak (Berkeley, CA)
• Kenneth McNeely, President, AT&T California, AT&T (San Francisco, CA)
• Tom Moore, Partner, Ernst & Young LLP (San Francisco, CA)
• Steve Sears, Vice President Marketing, Stacy's Pita Chip Co. (Randolph, MA)
• Rayona Sharpnack, Founder, Institute for Women's Leadership (Redwood City, CA)
• Kayla Shell, Legal Director, Dell Inc. (Round Rock, TX)
• Michael Welch, Partner & Chief Financial Officer, Stephan Pyles Concepts (Dallas, TX)
• Gary Wright, Distinguished Engineer, IBM (Tacoma, WA)

Ten Years Worth Celebrating!

This June, plan to make a trip to San Francisco to help us celebrate our tenth anniversary as an organization.

On Thursday, June 12, we will hold the First Annual Out & Equal Dinner & Gala at the Hotel Nikko in downtown San Francisco. In addition to celebrating 10 years as the only national organization devoted exclusively to improving workplaces for LGBT people, we will also be recognizing two important figures from Out & Equal's history: Walter Schubert and Rev. Dr. Janie Spahr.

"There have been so many people over the years who have contributed to the success and growth of Out & Equal, and we honor them all, but Janie and Walter stand out for being groundbreaking role models and heroes for the movement," said executive director Selisse Berry.

Walter Schubert, a third generation member of the New York Stock Exchange, is the founder and CEO of The Schubert Group LLC, a global management consulting firm. He is also the founder of The Gay Financial Network (www.gfn.com), the Internet's first fully integrated financial information and services web-site for the LGBT community. As the first openly gay member of the New York Stock Exchange, a founding member of the board of directors for the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), treasurer of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesians and Gays (PFLAG), and as a long-time supporter of Out & Equal, Walter is a pioneer in corporate workplace equality work.

Janie Spahr is another kind of workplace equality pioneer. Ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1974, she has challenged heterosexism within the clergy since coming out in 1979. She was the founding executive director of the Spectrum Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns in Marin County. Spectrum, along with 3 other groups including the United Way of the Bay Area, was instrumental in starting the Building Bridges program which grew into Out & Equal. Janie was also the founding minister director of That All May Freely Serve until she retired last year.

In addition to honoring these two remarkable people, whose contributions helped Out & Equal become what it is today, the First Annual Out & Equal Dinner and Gala will include a silent auction and fabulous entertainment. Comedienne Vickie Shaw will serve as emcee and attendees will be delighted with performances by Not Quite Opera, Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, and Orquesta La Moderna Tradición.

Robert Hanson, president, Levi Strauss Americas & U.S. Levi's Brand and Jane Harper, director, Collaborative Innovation at IBM, will serve as the event co-chairs.

Learn more and purchase tickets online. Sponsorship and table hosting opportunities are still available.

Kansas City Joins Out & Equal Regional Affiliates

Out & Equal announced this month that Kansas City becomes the 12th Out & Equal Regional Affiliate. Local organizers have worked hard to build momentum for the group and have demonstrated a strong commitment to Out & Equal's diversity goals. Kansas City, a.k.a. the Heart of America, is home to many top employers including long-time supporters of LGBT workplace equality.

Out & Equal Workplace Advocates' regional affiliates produce local educational and networking events in order to share best practices and discussions about important LGBT workplace issues. These events provide an effective way for Out & Equal to serve the needs of individual employees, leaders of employee resource groups and human resources professionals beyond the annual Workplace Summit.

If you're interested in bringing Out & Equal to your community, visit our website for information about how to start a Regional Affiliate.

Summit Deadlines Approach; Registration Set to Launch

As we move into Summer, opportunities to participate in the 2008 Out & Equal Workplace Summit are fast approaching. While the Summit itself is being held in Austin September 10-13, you don't want to wait in making your plans.

The deadline for submitting workshop proposals is Friday, May 9. Similarly, the deadline for making Out & Equal Workplace Award nominations is also Friday, May 9. If you would like some insight into the best practices for submitting award nominations, you might want to sign up for this week's Town Call: "Celebrate your Achievements: What it takes to win a 2008 'Outie' Award!" scheduled for this Thursday, April 24.

If you're already in the Austin area, or planning to be in Austin on Thursday, May 1, RSVP to attend the 2008 Summit Kick-Off Reception at the Austin Convention Center. From 6 to 8:30 p.m., we will officially open 2008 Summit registration and celebrate the beginning of Summit Season with musical guest Sara Hickman.

If you're looking to take you involvement to a new level, there are still opportunities to join the planning committees. Assistance is especially needed on the volunteer committee. The volunteer committee helps identify and secure people to work at the conference. Please contact Steve Humerickhouse, summit and event director, at shumerickhouse@outandequal.org or 415-694-6518 if you have questions or would like to help.

Don't forget to bookmark our Summit website and check back often, because registration and individual hotel reservations go live in early May.

We are now accepting applications for sponsorship for the 2008 Summit, scheduled for September 10-13 in Austin, Texas.

Fifty-two companies have already said that supporting workplace equality is still a top priority for them in 2008, despite general predictions of an economic downturn. Is your company one of them? At Out & Equal, we are committed to helping sponsors understand and appreciate the advantages of sponsorship. Corporate sponsorships begin at $15,000 and there are many opportunities for higher levels of visibility and involvement. For details, please visit our Sponsorship Opportunities (http://www.outandequal.org/summit/2008/SponsorshipOpportunities.asp) page.

And a heartfelt thank you to the sponsors who have already signed on for another year in the movement toward workplace equality for all. Click here (http://www.outandequal.org/summit/2008/sponsors/default.asp) to find out if your company (or your competitor) is on the list!

Workplace Equality in the News

Here's a short round-up of new stories about LGBT workplace equality we've noticed in the last month

• Earlier this month, Detroit and Kansas City both enacted new laws banning anti-transgender discrimination. In a 8-to-1 vote, Detroit, the nation's 11th largest city voted to add gender identity to the city's nondiscrimination law. The Kansas City, MO City Council passed their bill unanimously. "Perhaps it was an oversight that gender identity was not included in the original legislation. If so, it was a mistake that we must now right," said Mayor Mark Funkhouser.
• A Houston-based transwoman has won the first round of a discrimination lawsuit in which a company refused to hire her by claiming that she had misrepresented herself on the application. In a case which may set precedent, a judge has ruled that Izza Lopez has "a legally viable claim of discrimination" and refused to dismiss the case, saying it will move forward to mediation and possibly a jury.
• Canadian judges may soon decide if sexual practices, such as BDSM, deserve protection under the law, based on sexual orientation nondiscrimination precedent.
• Our sister organization in Britain, Stonewall, has release the results of the first statistically significant survey of LGBT people in the UK. Among the findings, they discovered that nearly half of gay and lesbian people said they were likely to buy products from businesses that use images of gay people to sell their goods and two-thirds are more likely to buy products from a company that shows a positive commitment to recruiting gay people. The report, Serves You Right, supported by Accenture, also details many other ways in which LGBT people fear discrimination in housing, education, access to civil service, etc.
• A Colorado politician added an emotional element to a debate over nondiscrimination law when he offered a "stunt amendment" to ban discrimination against short people. Sen. Greg Brophy withdrew the amendment after arguing that there is no need for a bill that would expand the prohibition of sexual orientation-based discrimination because he has not seen evidence that gays and lesbians are discriminated against when seeking a job or a home. "It must be nice," said Jennifer Veiga, a Denver Democrat sponsoring Senate Bill 200, "as a white male to sit back and mock the real discrimination that occurs in our society, especially on the basis of sexual orientation." Colorado already passed legislation outlawing sexual-orientation discrimination in employment; this proposed bill would expand protections to areas such as housing, public accommodation, consumer credit, labor unions and education.
• Robert Ryan and Ralph Martinelli learned the hard way that differences in state laws about domestic partnership can cost a lot when moving from state to state, even when staying with the same company. After the couple moved from New Jersey to Idaho, Martinelli's employer dropped Ryan from their health care policy, pointing out that the couple couldn't register as domestic partners under Idaho law. "It's ridiculous," Ryan said. "It'd be like a married couple being forced to get remarried every time they moved."

Employment Opportunities

Out & Equal is continuing to expand and currently has one open position based in our San Francisco headquarters. Women, people of color, and transgender individuals are strongly encouraged to apply.

Technology Director
The Technology Director will be a member of the senior management team and will work with the team to help set organizational priorities and implement processes that will improve our programs. This is a newly-created position, and the successful candidate will lead the organization's technology and innovation into the next generation of learning. S/he will work closely with our directors and staff to ensure the organization's short-term Web 2.0 and long-term Web 3.0 strategy and vision.

For an up-to-date and complete list of open positions, please see our Employment Opportunities page.

For ten years, Out & Equal has been a leader in challenging workplaces to welcome all people regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, expression, or characteristics. To support our work, Out & Equal relies on the generosity of donors like you. Contributions to Out & Equal Workplace Advocates are tax-deductible as provided for under federal law. As you make decisions about how to improve your life and your community, please think of Out & Equal and remember our mission to achieve workplace equality for all.

Making a donation is quick and easy, and now you have the option of designating your funds specifically to our Summit Scholarship program. The Summit Scholarship program assists people from small companies, nonprofit organizations, and nontraditional workplaces in offsetting costs of attending the Summit. If you would like your donation to be used to help other people attend the 2008 Out & Equal Workplace Summit, simply write "Summit Scholarship Donation" in the comments field on our donation page.

UCLA Offers LGBT Education Opportunity

UCLA's LGBT Leadership Institute, held June 9 - 13, 2008, challenges you to take a profoundly personal approach to your professional development. Led by research-producing faculty, and in the company of other high-achieving managers and executives, you'll explore leadership strategies and management issues through the prism of LGBT experiences. The Institute also delivers frameworks with which to integrate personal and career goals to maximize your value to the organization. To reserve your place, please apply today. Contact (310) 825-2001, execed@anderson.ucla.edu, or sign up online.

UCLA Leadership Institutes are open to all qualified managers and executives seeking to optimize their leadership skills through the unique perspectives offered by the Institute.