This week I talked with Selisse Berry, Founder and CEO of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates about Out & Equal's Workplace Summit that takes place in Orlando, Florida from October 4th to 7th at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. Out & Equal is the world's largest non-profit dedicated to achieving LGBT workplace equality and works with Fortune 1,000 companies and government agencies around the world to provide a safe, welcoming and supportive environment for LGBT employees. This three day global conference will feature hundreds of educational opportunities including workshops, expert panels, networking mixers and plenaries with keynotes from prominent LGBT and ally leaders. More than 3,500 LGBT employees, executives, CEOs, celebrities, politicians, advocates, activists and allies are scheduled to attend including Abby Wambach, former US Women's Soccer Team Captain; Lance Bass, Pop-star / Dancer / Actor / Producer; The Pointer Sisters, Pop Group; Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer; George Kalogridis, President of Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts; Diana Nyad. record-breaking athlete; Margot Slattery, President of Sodexo; Sarah Saldana, Director of US ICE and many more. I talked to Selisse about this fabulous event and her spin on our LGBT issues.
LISTEN:
When asked what she would like to see happen for LGBT equality in the next few years Berry stated:
Well absolutely we're committed to passing the Equality Act. We are supporting the work that's happening around legislation that supports our community and I'm very excited about having the first woman president of the US and feel like our options are clear for the future of LGBT equality, that Hillary Clinton has been a supporter of our community, will continue to support our community and so I am looking forward to her tenure as president and having the Equality Act passed because so much of our work has been going company by company because there's no federal law to protect us. We still live in this interesting time in history where we can be married on Saturday and then in 22 states in the country we still can be fired on Monday for putting our wedding picture on our desk because there are no federal laws to protect us. So I'm looking forward to federal protections in the United States and also looking forward to continuing this work globally so everyone around the world can be out and equal.
Selisse Berry founded Out & Equal Workplace Advocates 20 years ago in 1996. Since then Selisse has built the Global LGBT Workplace Equality movement by creating a network of multi-national companies and federal agencies to work toward LGBT education, empowerment and visibility. In the past 20 years her work has impacted more than 40 million people in over 50 countries and she has brought the promise of equality to Fortune 1,000 companies and US government agencies. Selisse has been awarded with honors from universities, corporations, media institutions and legislators around the world. Selisse is the editor of Out & Equal at Work and the namesake of the San Francisco Business Times Selisse Berry Legacy Leadership Award. In 2015 she opened Out & Equal's first East Coast office in Washington DC where she lives with her wife Cynthia.
For More Info: outandequal.org