The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce turned up the heat for its 12th Annual International Business & Leadership Conference on the Florida coast in August. More than 800 LGBT entrepreneurs, corporate partners, government officials, allies and organization leaders from seven countries gathered for the sold-out event, held at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor
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By Melissa Lowery Matt Kidd, executive director of Reaching Out MBA, or ROMBA, is on a mission to educate, inspire and connect LGBT MBAs and develop the next era of leaders who live authentically at all levels of business. “We need more people like Trevor Burgess of C1 Financial who really was out his entire
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By Melissa Lowery Becky Frank and Nate Sweeney tour the construction site of the LGBT Health Resource Center at Chase Brexton Health Care. When Chase Brexton Health Care opened in 1978, at the corner of Chase and Brexton Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, there was a dearth of safe, respectful health care services available
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By Melissa Lowery When President Obama charged the federal government with establishing a coordinated government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce in 2011, the U.S. Small Business Administration responded with action and practical application. Under the leadership of Eugene Cornelius Jr., deputy associate administrator for field operations, the SBA developed
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When Dave Jones was elected as Commissioner of the California Department of Insurance in 2011, he brought with him a history of advocacy and a commitment to equality. He began his career as a legal aid attorney with Legal Services of Northern California from 1988 to 1995, providing free legal assistance to low-income, disadvantaged and
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Understanding that a city with a high number of LGBT individuals might need a specialized business development program, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the National Black Justice Coalition took its Many Faces. One Dream. program to the city of Columbus, Ohio, in September. MFOD is an economic empowerment tour for LGBT communities of color.
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By Mark Stone What started out as a regular day for Michael Watts and Kurt Kretzschmar ended up changing the couple’s lives when Kretzschmar returned home from a long day at work. Overworked and unhappy, he was looking for a change. Watts — whose work experience focused on leading teams for large retail companies like
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By Brenda Matamoros Photo by Amy Mayes Photography Rainie Cole and Cindi Creager of CreagerCole Communications at the iconic Stonewall Inn on June 26, 2015 celebrating Marriage Equality. Photo credit: Amy Mayes Photography Becoming a successful media spokesman or spokeswoman requires practice and precision. Cindi Creager and Rainie Cole, the married duo that
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By Brenda Matamoros With satellite offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Tampa, Baltimore, the D.C. area, Phoenix and California, John D. Rivers, president and CEO, JDR Consulting LLC, is the owner of a small business with big clients. The firm recently made the smart move from New York to Dallas. JDR is following many large Fortune
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By Irwin Drucker, NGLCC board of directors, and chief public affairs and government relations officer, WOSH Inc. Irwin_Drucker When 1999 began, I could never have imagined how my life was about to change. At the time, it was my 16th year at IBM Corp. and I was serving as the global sourcing manager for
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