October 2011
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Join us for these great upcoming learning opportunities:
Town Calls
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Monthly Insights
Thoughts from Pat Baillie, Associate Director of Training & Professional Development
 Most of the departments at Out & Equal are "Summit, Summit, Summit all the time" these days. The program book is at the printer's, featured panels are being finalized, reservations made and we are starting to ship our office to Dallas! We have approval from the Office of Personnel Management for federal employee training and received approval for the entire conference from the HR Certification Institute. For the Training department, it's business as usual and this last month was a true smorgasboard of trips. We had a great training last month with the Tampa Bay Regional Affiliate. Hosted by Raymond James, we taught Train the Trainer, Buidling Bridges and got a chance to talk to the Raymond James executives. I headed to the annual Evansville HR Association conference in Indiana on October 6 to teach the Building Bridges Executive Overview (see my blog post on the trip). This week included trips to teach Building Bridges for the staff and contractors at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas in preparation for the Summit and to the first OutServe conference for active duty military in Las Vegas. I will also do a quick trip to DC to teach at the SHRM Diversity Conference on October 24! Don't worry, Q and I will be ready to go in Dallas on the 25th. Be sure you check out the Leadership Seminars on Friday, October 28th. All the core courses will be available. Travel safe, and if you can't make it to the Summit, don't worry, we are working to continue our virtual Summit over the next year and hope to provide some recordings of important sessions. Sincerely,
Pat Baillie
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October Town Call
Building an LGBT Supplier Diversity Program
Working toward an LGBT inclusive workplace now expands beyond the parent company and employees. The contractors and companies that work with your company can also be influenced by your work toward LGBT equality. Reviewing contractors to ensure they include sexual orientation and gender identity protections and benefits can show a corporation's resolve to bring about change. Providing opportunities through the supplier diversity program at your company can also make a difference. The NGLCC Supplier Diversity Initiative (SDI) offers businesses a tool to make connections and open doors with America's top corporations and each other. The SDI certifies Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and/or Transgender owned Business Enterprises (LGBTBEs) and works to provide opportunities for LGBTBEs to gain exposure within corporate procurement processes. This certification is established, recognized and can be implemented with minimal staffing on your part. Come learn about the program, see how the process works with corporate case studies and the how you can use LGBT Supplier Diversity to increase your competitive edge and support LGBT owned businesses around the world!
Read more about this month's FREE Town Call here .
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Noon Pacific | 1 pm Mountain | 2 pm Central | 3 pm Eastern
One hour in length
Register here.
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Trainers' Corner
News for Out & Equal Certified Trainers
Telling your story is such an important part of the work that we do. It is part of who we are as a community and it doesn't take long when we meet someone who is LGBT to ask them about their story of coming out. Many times we don't share our stories with allies and straight co-workers. In some cases, it may not be appropriate to talk too much about our personal lives, but how do we normalize the conversation and include our stories in the workplace.
I have been using a great example that talks about seeing the world from a different perspective and open up the discussion about heterosexism. This is a quick exercise you can do at meetings. Ask the group to write down or think about 5 things they value in their lives. When they finish, have them share their values or ask how many included being able bodied? Then ask if anyone has ever broken a bone, been on crutches or in a wheelchair. Ask them what happened to the world they usually navigate so easily? You can't make it up the stairs, it is a long way to get from one spot to another. You suddenly see barriers that you overlooked before because you were able bodied. This is the same as heterosexism. The world is built for heterosexuals and it is easy to navigate. When someone who is LGBT tries to navigate that system, there are lots of roadblocks. Encouraging everyone to look at where the barriers are help awareness, creating new solutions and making the workplace a safe place for everyone!
Join us to share and hear each other's stories on the next monthly Trainers' Forum Webinar on October 20, 2:00pm (Pacific Time Zone). Contact Pat Baillie for more information. |
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Out & Equal Workplace Advocates™ is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
Out & Equal is committed to ending employment discrimination for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees. We believe that people should be judged by the work they do, not by their sexual orientation or gender identity. Every day, we work to protect and empower employees to be productive and successful-so they can support themselves, their families, and contribute to achieving a world free of discrimination for everyone.
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