StartOut Names Gene Falk as CEO

NEW YORK, March 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of StartOut has selected Gene Falk as CEO, effective immediately. Mr. Falk will helm the organization as it expands to the next step in its mission of helping to create the next generation of LGBT business leaders by fostering entrepreneurship in the LGBT community.  While continuing to enhance its impact and extend the reach of its programs to educate, connect, support and inspire active LGBT entrepreneurs, StartOut will place an increasing focus on its social impact activities, addressing economic empowerment at all levels of the LGBT community, with a particular emphasis on LGBT youth.

Gene Falk is a highly acclaimed and innovative leader and a senior executive with extensive experience as a CEO.  In both the corporate and not-for-profit worlds, Gene has a track record of scaling and managing game-changing ventures, including a series of groundbreaking enterprises he developed for Fortune 500 media companies.

Falk left the corporate world and moved to the public sector, where he transformed mothers2mothers from a small, grass-roots program into a global leader in innovative public health, a $20 million/year, multinational not-for-profit focused on AIDS prevention and care and  maternal and infant health.

  Earlier, while serving as a senior executive at Showtime, Gene was an activist and a passionate advocate for LGBT and HIV/AIDS causes.  He helped establish GLAAD as a national organization and later chaired its Board, and he provided critical support as a board member, advisor and fundraiser for other leading LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations

"It is a tremendous honor to take the reins of StartOut and work closely with its dedicated and deeply passionate board," said Falk. "I believe that economic equality is one of the next huge issues for the LGBT community, and StartOut can play a unique role in leveling the playing field for entrepreneurs and business people throughout our community."

Among the objectives for StartOut in 2014 are issues that lie at the intersection of commerce and social impact.   LGBT workers earn an average of 20% less than their straight counterparts. In 29 states a person can be fired on the basis of sexual orientation and in 33 states if you are transgender.

"While there have been substantial gains in our representation and visibility in politics, entertainment, journalism and now even sports," said Falk,  "in too many places the corporate closet continues to flourish, and there are virtually no role models in the senior ranks of the business community.  Not a single Fortune 500 company is headed by an openly LGBT person and few of them have any openly LGBT Board members."

"We are elated to have Gene as our CEO," said Chris Sinton, Chair of StartOut's Board of Directors. "We sought, and found, a leader with deep experience scaling organizations in both the corporate and not-for-profit sectors.  Gene's unique background combining leadership in business, social entrepreneurship, and the LGBT community is a perfect fit to lead StartOut as we grow and work towards our ambitious goals of addressing economic empowerment for the LGBT community by helping inspire and support both active and potential LGBT entrepreneurs. StartOut's work in this area will help strengthen the community, increasing our capacity for the many civil rights battles ahead.  With Gene's hire we are poised for an even broader impact."

For his achievements, Gene has received extensive recognition and honors from both public and private sectors including the prestigious Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and the Kravis Prize for Leadership, as well as recognition by the World Economic Forum/Schwab Foundation and from the Treatment Action Group.

StartOut has developed a powerful network of over 9,000 LGBT professionals with an interest in, and passion for, entrepreneurship and business leadership, and the desire to help others while pursuing their own ambitions and dreams.  With 5 active chapters (New York, San Francisco, Austin, Los Angeles and Boston) and 3 more on the launchpad (Chicago, Seattle, and Denver), in 2014 StartOut will build on its 2013 success, when it sponsored over 60 events educating and connecting LGBT entrepreneurs.

StartOut was recently awarded a grant from the Arcus Foundation, one of the world's leading funders of LGBT causes. The $50,000 grant will help Mr. Falk and StartOut's Board support the next generation of LGBT business leaders and their engagement on these issues:  helping aspiring entrepreneurs start new companies, helping current entrepreneurs to grow and expand their businesses, and engaging successful entrepreneurs to support and mentor others throughout the community, with a particular focus on lgbt youth.

About StartOut

Founded in 2009 with chapters in New York City and San Francisco, StartOut is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to fostering and developing entrepreneurship in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ("LGBT") community. It helps aspiring entrepreneurs to start new companies, helps current entrepreneurs to grow and expand their businesses, and engages successful LGBT entrepreneurs as role models and mentors for up-and-coming entrepreneurs.  StartOuts' goals are to educate, inspire, and support members of the LGBT community around entrepreneurship and business leadership. For more information, visit http://www.startout.org.

For inquires / interviews:

Jonathan D. Lovitz, Communications Manager
[email protected]
954.695.5896

SOURCE StartOut