Trailblazers of the LGBT equality movement confirmed to speak at 2011 Executive Forum

Boris Dittrich of Human Rights Watch and U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner, Roberta Achtenberg both scheduled to address executives

Each year, the Executive Forum provides a unique opportunity for top lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) business leaders to gather into a supportive yet challenging dialogue to address the most pressing matters currently facing the LGBT professional community.

Out & Equal is proud to announce the confirmation of Boris Dittrich, Advocacy Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program of Human Rights Watch and Roberta Achtenberg, recently appointed Commissioner of the United States Commission on Civil Rights as two speakers for the 2011 Executive Forum.

Boris Dittrich first introduced same-sex marriage to the world by working as a member of of the Dutch Parliament to legalize same-sex civil unions in his home country, The Netherlands in 2001. Dittrich also co-organized the Yogyakarta Principles, a document that establishes sexual orientation and gender identity and expression within the human rights framework.

Roberta Achtenberg became the first openly lesbian or gay public official in the United States whose appointment to a federal position was confirmed by the United States Senate. Throughout her career, Achtenberg has remained a strong advocate for human rights as both a co-founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and a legal educator. Achtenberg was appointed to her new position in the Commission on Civil Rights by President Obama in late January of this year.

In addition, executive participants will also hear from expert panelists and their colleagues on a range of issues. LGBT executives -- or individuals on the path toward an executive position -- would benefit from being a part of the Out & Equal Executive Forum. Please consider applying today. If you know one or more individuals who you believe should attend, please nominate them. For more information, please check our website or call Deputy Director Kevin Jones at (415) 694-6536.

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2011 Leadership Celebration

Since its inception in 2008, the Out & Equal Leadership Celebration is a unique opportunity for out and successful lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) business leaders to celebrate—and to be celebrated. Past honorees of the Leadership Celebration have included businesses and individuals alike, including both Levi Strauss Co and the NAACP’s Julian Bond. In our efforts to provide safe and equal workplaces for the LGBT community, the annual Leadership Celebration is an opportunity for high-level LGBT professionals to gather as a community.

This year, the 2011 Leadership Celebration will be held at the St Regis Hotel in San Francisco on March 30th following the 2011 Executive Forum. The evening will provide opportunities for Out & Equal constituents to network amongst their professional peers and to engage with progressive businesses.

Registration is currently open for the 2011 Leadership Celebration, please view our website for more details.

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Out & Equal welcomes new staff

Out & Equal is thrilled to welcome distinguished members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to our team.

Just in time for the 2011 Executive Forum and Leadership Celebration, Glenn Alexander joined Out & Equal as the Director of Events and Content Delivery. With more than 20 years of event management expertise, Glenn is poised to design a unforgettable 2011 Summit experience.

Starting in mid-March, Justin Tanis will be joining as our new Director of Communications. Justin comes to Out & Equal from the National Center for Transgender Equality in Washington D.C., and recently co-authored the report, “Injustice at Every Turn” on transgender discrimination in the United States.

Out & Equal’s Development team is excited to welcome, Leslie Lewis, as Senior Development & Operations Associate. Leslie brings a wealth of experience supporting both development and communications at Bay Area non-profits.

And, recently hired as the Executive Assistant to Selisse Berry, is Eric Ross. Eric’s background in IT and marketing makes him the ideal candidate to support our Founding Executive Director.

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Out & Equal's OWN Michelle Smith to be featured on Oprah's network--tonight!

On February 22nd at 10:00 PM, Oprah Winfrey's network "OWN" will highlight the life of Michelle Smith, a member of Out & Equal's Transgender Advisory Committee in an episode of "Our American Lives." The episode, titled "Our Transgender Lives" is hosted by reporter Lisa Ling, and includes interviews with five transgender Americans and their families across the country.

Michelle Smith works as an Engineer in Boeing’s Advanced Military Aircraft Division of Integrated Defense Systems. Michelle is committed to promoting equality in the workplace and has held many leadership positions at Boeing's LGBT affinity group in addition to serving as a Boeing Diversity Change Agent. As an active member of the St Louis Gender Foundation, Michelle often speaks in community forums about the reality of living as a transgender American.

Michelle and her wife are both champions for equality and have dedicated themselves to improving the acceptance of transgender individuals by being visible, supporting others to be themselves, and by the sharing of their experiences.

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Upcoming Town Call on 2011 Workplace Summit workshop proposal and award nomination process

As we gear up for the 2011 Out & Equal Workplace Summit, scheduled for October 25-28th in Dallas TX, Out & Equal is offering an informational webinar on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 12:00 noon, PST. This webinar will make it easy to submit workshop proposals for the 2011 Out & Workplace Summit, and nominations for the 2011 Out & Equal Workplace Awards (the "Outies").

This year, workshop proposals and award nominations will be accepted through a new platform called ProposalSpace.com, an application that will provide a more robust process for creating and evaluating submissions.

Members of the Out & Equal staff will walk you through the features of the platform and answer questions about what steps you should consider to increase the chances of your proposal being accepted. We will also answer questions about the revised program schedule for this year's Summit, as well as discuss opportunities for event sponsorship.

Everyone interested in submitting workshop proposals or award nominations - or learning more about the Out & Equal Workplace Summit in general -- is encouraged to be on the call. Registration is now open!

Please note that the deadline for submitting 2011 Out & Equal Workplace Summit workshop proposals and Outie Award nominations is April 30th.

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Communities in Common: Celebrating Black History month

Contributed by Q Wilson

More often than not, when people hear the word ‘gay’ they think white middle-class male. Of course, the diaspora of the LGBT community is much more vibrant and diverse than that. As with many things in our society it’s the facts and figures that have been collected that speak for a group of people, even if it doesn’t include all of the people of a particular population.

Earlier this month I attended the Creating Change conference in Minneapolis. One of the workshops I had the opportunity to attend was Black Lesbians Matter, presented by the Zuna Institute of Sacramento, California. The information presented in the workshop was from the 2009 – 2010 National Black Lesbian Needs Assessment, a groundbreaking survey. This first of its kind survey is a broad brush overview into the lives of Black lesbians in the United States, by asking, who are Black lesbians? And what issues/concerns do we face?

The workshop included a panel, the majority of whom had worked gathering information for the assessment survey. The panelist included Francine Ramsey, Executive Director and co-founder of the Zuna Institute; Zandra Conway, Program Manager for the InterCity Services; Dr. Nita Mosby Henry, Founder/Director of the Kaleidoscope Project and Kaz Mitchell, Director of Circle of Voices. The panelists discussed some of the unique experiences, perspectives and priorities of Black Lesbians gathered through this survey’s data.

Nearly 1,600 Black lesbians responded to the survey. Here are just a few of the statistics gathered:
• 84% of respondents hold graduate degrees and maintain an annual salary of at least $51,000.
• 36% of the women responding are from the southern region of the United States.
• 69.5% of the women surveyed either have children or are planning to have children.
• 27.8% have experienced domestic violence in a same-sex relationship.

These statistics are merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the information gathered. They will go a long way however, towards helping bringing more attention to and creating a clearer picture of the needs of the diverse populations that comprise our LGBT community. The information gathered through this survey shows what Black lesbians feel are the most important issues affecting their lives and families, what’s different from what we hear usually, as well as what is similar.

I hope to see the data gathered through this survey used often in the near future and perhaps be the framework for continuing to gather data from lesser represented populations in our community.

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OUTMedia to provide MBA networking opportunities

OUTMedia, a partner of Out & Equal, will be making it possible for LGBT professionals to participate in the 2011 QS World MBA Tour. The QS World MBA Tour is a recruiting tour aimed at providing details on MBA programs to participants across the United States. Mainstream MBA recruiting events don’t often include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) in their concepts of diversity. However, thanks to OUTMedia, more LGBT professionals will be able to attend than ever before.

To help encourage more LGBT prospective students connect with business schools and admissions departments, OUTMedia is offering free admission to this recruiting tour. For all LGBT professionals who are interested in attending the QS World MBA Tour more information is available.

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NY Fingerlakes Regional Affiliate holds workshop on workplace equality

Out & Equal NY Finger Lakes brought a sample of the Workplace Summit experience on this January to their area. Presenters Vitamarie Trincali of MetLife and Janet Donner from ITT facilitated a group of human resource professionals and diversity leaders from leading Rochester area companies. With hands-on scenarios and discussion, participants were able to go back to their workplaces with tools to better increase LGBT inclusiveness at their workplaces.

Out & Equal NY Finger Lakes presents 5-6 educational events such as this each year, complemented by monthly networking events. They will be the host affiliate for the Out & Equal Northeast Regional Workplace Summit, taking place on April 14, 2011. More information about registration and sponsorship for the regional summit is available.

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Podcast available: How to have a successful career as an out LGBT employee

Out & Equal's LGBTCareerLink recently held an enormously popular webinar, "How to have a successful career as an 'out' LGBT employee," featuring career coach David Couper. The webinar was sponsored by Deutsche Bank Careers and served as a forum for LGBT employees across the country to share stories and questions about being out at work. Participants brought a wide range of perspectives from “People do not want to know about me being gay” to “Allowing employees to bring their whole selves to work is something I preach from the top of my company” to the conversation.

If you missed this webinar, our largest ever, it’s not too late: the podcast and comments are still available for download.

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