Out Leadership releases original research, convenes LGBT+ CEOs at its 9th annual U.S. Senior Leader Summit

NEW YORK, May 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- 

Sessions and speakers include:

LGBT+ in the Corner Office: CEOs Taking Action, hosted by Ogilvy

• Lou Aversano, CEO, Ogilvy USA
• Bill Campbell, Executive Director and Business Tax Global Compliance and Reporting Leader, EY
• Sharice Davids, US Representative, Kansas (Video Address)
• David Djaha, Managing Partner - Elect, Ropes & Gray
• Beth Ford, CEO, Land O' Lakes
• Jim Fitterling, CEO, The Dow Chemical Company
• Laura Kelly, Governor, Kansas 
• Gus Kenworthy, Olympic Silver Medalist
• Sarah McBride, National Press Secretary, HRC
• John Richards, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig
• Todd Sears, Founder and Principal, Out Leadership
• Kathleen Sebelius, 21^st U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services
• Pam Stewart, SVP National Retail Sales, Coca-Cola North America
• Sally Susman, EVP, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Pfizer
• Allison VanKuiken, Executive Director, TransCanWork

Global Insights: Business Innovation Driving Change, hosted by Ropes & Gray

• Beth Brooke-Marciniak, Global Vice Chair, EY
• Chris Crespo, Director of Inclusion, EY
• Robert Edwards, Director of Attorney Development & Diversity, Ropes & Gray
• Jaimi Goodfriend, Head of Investment Professional Development, Point72
• Joan McPhee, Partner, Co-Chair Diversity Committee, Ropes & Gray
• Michael McRaith, MD Insurance Solutions, Blackstone
• Charles Myers, Chairman & Founder, Signum Global Advisors
• Amanda Persaud, Partner, Ropes & Gray

VIP Reception: Pride Business Kickoff (closed to press) 

• Chasten Buttigieg
• Herb Engert, NY Managing Partner, EY
• Jake Resnicow, Executive Producer, Pride Festival 2019
• Peter Erichsen, Partner, Ropes & Gray

More than 200 senior executives will gather for Out Leadership's 9^th annual U.S. Senior Leader Summit in New York, sponsored by EY, Ogilvy and Ropes & Gray.

The summit includes conversations with the most senior out LGBT+ business leaders in the world, and the launch of an array of new insights from Out Leadership: 

• Out Leadership's State LGBT+ Business Climate Index, a groundbreaking new system for assessing states' performance on 20 carefully selected distinct measures of LGBT+ inclusion
• Visibility Counts, a white paper co-written by Ropes & Gray examining how and why companies have created global systems for collecting sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) demographic data from employees, and identifying best practices for doing so.

Panel discussions will focus on the research findings and their implications for LGBT+ equality globally, and how business can continue to drive progress.

"Whether it's advocating on Capitol Hill for US legislation to enforce workplace protections for LGBT+ Americans or recently announcing the launch of the Partnership for Global LGBTI Equality to help companies implement the UN Standards of Conduct around LGBTI inclusion, EY is an active champion and supporter of LGBT+ rights within government, business and the community," said Rich Jeanneret, Vice Chair and East Region Managing Partner, EY Americas. "EY is consistently ranked among the best places for workplace diversity, especially with our recent induction into DiversityInc's Top 50 Hall of Fame. Thanks to EY leadership, we are able to foster conversations and push the LGBT+ agenda to actively advance inclusion within the business world and beyond."

"At Ogilvy, diversity has always been and will always be a critical part of our DNA," said Lou Aversano, CEO, Ogilvy USA. "Our founder, David Ogilvy, was an early advocate for diversity in the workplace and, as Chairman of the United Negro College Fund, in 1968 he set the agenda for the agency's pursuit of inclusion in the workplace. I am proud this legacy lives on through initiatives and policies that have earned us the designation of being among the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign for the fifth consecutive year. For us, having diverse viewpoints, perspectives, and backgrounds at the table is central to our ability to make brands matter for our clients in this fragmented, unpredictable, even chaotic world.

"Advocating for the rights of people of all backgrounds, genders, races, ethnicities and sexual orientations is an important part of Ropes & Gray's identity," said Brad Malt, Chair, Ropes & Gray, whose lawyers successfully argued the landmark marriage equality case Obergefell v. Hodges before the U.S. Supreme Court. Ropes & Gray also has developed legal and regulatory reviews of LGBT policies and practices in 23 countries for Out Leadership's CEO Business Briefs and is supporting the project's expansion to cover all 50 U.S. states; and the firm partnered with Out Leadership to conduct a groundbreaking research study of 38 global companies' practices regarding LGBT+ self-identification. "We're proud of our partnership with Out Leadership, of all of the work our lawyers have done to advocate on behalf of the LGBT+ community, and of the efforts we have made at the firm to build a diverse and inclusive workplace." 

"Creating cultures where LGBT+ people are safe, supported, and able to rise to their highest potential is powerfully transformative," said Todd Sears, Founder and Principal, Out Leadership. "The tools we're adding to our extensive collection of insights, including Visibility Counts, our white paper about LGBT+ self-ID; the LGBT+ Business Climate Index, and our CEO Business Briefs for the 50 U.S. States, are intended to help stakeholders properly weigh the economic impact of policies that are often thought of as primarily social or cultural – to see how harmful discrimination is to businesses and to talent, and how beneficial inclusive policies can be. We're grateful to Out Leadership's 68 member companies for partnering with us every day to help us create Return on Equality®."

About Out Leadership

Out Leadership is the global LGBT+ business network CEOs and multinational companies trust to generate Return on Equality®.

We create global executive events and insights that help leaders realize the economic growth and talent dividend derived from inclusive business, and convene groundbreaking talent accelerators: OutNEXT, the first global leadership development program for the next generation of LGBT+ talent; Quorum, which seeks to advance LGBT+ diversity in corporate governance; and OutWOMEN, which convenes and celebrates LGBT+ women in business.

Out Leadership is a certified B Corp. For more information, please visit www.outleadership.com

SOURCE Out Leadership