Denise Morrison

1
President and CEO
Campbell Soup Company

Campbell’s CEO Denise Morrison believes that seeking the power of different is a key ingredient to any recipe for success. Each year, Denise hosts Jeffersonian-style dinners with all the company’s employee affinity networks to discuss ideas and issues. Denise and Campbell strongly support OPEN, Campbell’s LGBTQ Pride employee network. She leads and actively participates in the company’s employee and external diversity and inclusion events, seeking out opportunities to serve on panels where she can share her leadership experiences and philosophies. Campbell’s popular Made for Real, Real Life commercials feature modern American families, including gay and lesbian couples, such as two real-life fathers mimicking their favorite Star Wars characters with their son. Through the company’s #ForAllFamilies campaign, Campbell celebrates Pride Month across the U.S. supporting major events in Philadelphia, New York and Cincinnati with their Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers and V8 beverage brands. The Pride flag is also raised at a special ceremony at the company’s World Headquarters in June, and flies all month. Additionally, under Denise’s leadership, Campbell has scored a perfect 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index eight times, and, for the eighth consecutive year, was named to HRC’s Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality and Buying Guide for Equality for 2017. Last year, Campbell expanded its parental leave policy, which is gender-neutral and guarantees 10 paid weeks off for a primary caregiver, and two for a secondary caregiver, after a birth or adoption. Denise also championed human rights principles when she joined more than 160 executives to sign an open letter urging repeal of HB-2, a measure requiring transgender persons in North Carolina to use bathrooms corresponding with the sex on their birth certificate.

Jose Berenguer

2
CEO Brazil
JP Morgan

One of José’s top priorities as J.P. Morgan Brazil CEO has been to promote equality in the workplace, and make the franchise increasingly welcoming to the LGBT+ community and other minorities. To achieve this goal, when he started as Brazil CEO in 2013, he gave his full backing as the Executive Sponsor to launch the Pride BRG, the first bank in Brazil to create such a group. Moreover, as a board member of the Inclusive Leadership Council for Latin America at J.P. Morgan, he has used his expertise and seniority to influence and support the diversity agenda, and especially keep the LGBT+ agenda firmly on the table across the entire region. Additionally, in 2016, he approved and helped fund the first ever Out & Equal Brazil Forum for which he personally called several CEOs of Brazil’s major corporations to obtain their support and delivered the opening and closing remarks of the event. Furthermore, in June he spoke at a São Paulo Gay Pride Parade Brunch and delivered the keynote at the 2017 Out & Equal workplace Summit in Philadelphia for an audience of approximately 4,000 summit attendees from 40 countries.

Paul Polman

3
CEO
Unilever

As CEO of Unilever, fostering an environment where each individual feels uniquely valued and free to bring their whole selves to work is among Paul’s highest priorities. He supports LGBT+ initiatives worldwide, through impactful internal programmes, policies, LGBT+ PRIDE networks, and advocating through the Unilever brands externally. Through Paul’s leadership, last year Unilever became the first company to publish a Human Rights Report, which examined areas such as discrimination, freedom of association, harassment and fair wages in detail. They also promote inclusive policies on diversity, LGBT+ and minority ethnicities, and explicit same sex benefits where possible - for instance, Unilever USA’s benefits cover gender affirmation surgery and benefits for same-sex or domestic partners. Unilever are active members of Stonewall in the UK and this year achieved their 9th consecutive 100% on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index in the US. Paul is also engaging with states in the USA that are seeking to reverse HB2, the controversial bathroom bill and has signed statements commending LGBT+ policies, as part of a wider B-Team campaign against homophobia, including research illustrating that diversity is good for business.

Andrew Liveris

4
Executive Chairman
DowDuPont

As Executive Chairman of DowDuPont and Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company, Andrew leads the charge at Dow to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the workplace. A vocal advocate, he calls for action to tackle inequality head-on within the company, as well as within communities and society. He was among the first to sign the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), rallying with 160 other companies to advance workplace equality. In addition, Andrew spearheaded plans this year to strategically increase the diversity of Dow’s supplier base and was most recently presented with the 2017 Global Leadership Award from the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC). The award recognizes honourees for creating inclusive business environments, integrating India in the global supply chain and advancing core values such as manufacturing, innovation and scale in tough market conditions. Under Andrew’s leadership, Dow has spoken out in opposition to contentious, discriminatory legislation in several states, including North Carolina, Indiana, Louisiana and Texas and the organisation maintains strong partnerships with several organizations, including: the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, Out & Equal (O&E), PFLAG, Victory Institute, OUTstanding and GLAAD.

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé

5
Group CEO
BNP Paribas

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, CEO of leading European-based bank BNP Paribas, considers that creating a respectful environment for all employees, including LGBT ones, is a fundamental and non negotiable prerequisite for any efficient and successful organisation. He is therefore strongly committed to promoting diversity and inclusion within BNP Paribas. Jean-Laurent Bonnafé has personally supported the creation of LGBT employee networks within BNP Paribas and ensured that all HR processes are equal, regardless of sexual orientation. In 2015, he signed the L'Autre Cercle commitment charter, which sets out best practice for combating discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, making BNP Paribas the first and only bank signatory in France. Mr Bonnafé led the initiative for BNP Paribas to join the United Nations working group which aims to create standards of conduct for businesses to decrease discrimination against LGBT employees. Committed to achieving a new milestone for social and environmental engagement, Mr Bonnafé recently created a Company Engagement Department, directly represented on the Group’s Executive Committee.

Cathy Bessant

6
Chief Operations & Technology Officer
Bank of America

Within Bank of America, Cathy serves as executive sponsor for the LGBT Executive Council, comprised of global LGBT+ executives and established to encourage visibility of leaders who are out at work. Cathy also serves as the executive sponsor of the LGBT Pride Global Ally program, which includes more than 21,800 members across the company globally, and in 2013, Cathy received the Out & Equal Champion Award, which recognises a non-LGBT+ person who played a pivotal role in championing equal treatment of LGBT+ employees on the job. When North Carolina HB2 was introduced, Cathy spoke on behalf of the bank and helped lead the way for other companies to express their opposition. Cathy is a recognized leader in financial services and technology, where she is ranked No. 1 among the “25 Most Powerful Women in Banking” by American Banker magazine.

Mark Zuckerberg

7
Founder & CEO
Facebook

Mark is a vocal supporter for LGBT+ rights. Facebook has a perfect score of 100 on the HRC Corporate Equality Index and 7% of US employees identify as LGBT+ (based on a voluntary survey). In 2017, Facebook's LGBT+ employee group marched in 21 pride parades worldwide. Facebook offers a lot of fully inclusive policies for families (no matter how you define “family”) and earlier this year, announced new and extended benefits for all employees. As well as establishing gender neutral bathrooms, Facebook have a subgroup of their LGBT+ ERG solely for transgender individuals and offer gender confirmation surgery and mental health counselling as part of employee health care plans. Facebook also rolled out several products, including new camera experiences and profiles frames, to celebrate Global Pride and for Transgender Day of Visibility, Instagram created a viral campaign: #KindComments. Additionally, Mark has committed to donating 99% of his shares in Facebook to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative whose mission is “advancing human potential and promoting equality” and has publically spoken out against the ban against transgender individuals serving in the United States military.

Rekha M. Menon

8
Chairman and Senior Managing Director
Accenture India

Under Rekha’s leadership, Accenture in India is proud to be a corporate leader supporting the LGBT+ community. She is focused on providing equal opportunities for recruitment, career progression, professional development and benefits, and creating an inclusive work environment where their people feel comfortable, respected and safe. They achieve this by celebrating the LGBT+ community, including allies, at internal and external events, openly talking about pride, or simply displaying the colours of the rainbow on LGBT+ Ally badges. Additionally, their facilities across India include all gender restrooms, and they recently added gender re-assignment surgery to their medical insurance policy to support Transgender employees. Externally, Rekha has actively driven involvement in local LGBT+ themed events like facilitating sessions at the WorkPlace Pride (WPP) in Chennai, enabling employees to be a part of India’s first ever LGBT+ choir in Mumbai and supporting the Transgender community and other minorities through a skilling program which they run with empanelled NGOs.

Sue Fox

9
CEO
M&S Bank

As one of the only female CEOs in an industry traditionally dominated by men – particularly at the most senior levels – Sue utilises her position to ensure that diversity is seen as much more than gender, highlighting the importance of diversity of experience, thought and culture – encouraging every colleague to feel valued and able to achieve great things because of, and not in spite of, their differences. Under Sue’s direction, M&S Bank has established a Diversity and Inclusion Board and its own LGBT+ committee - ‘Outstanding’. Demonstrating its commitment, the business has introduced gender neutral titles, gender neutral toilets, and is a key supporter and the main sponsor of Chester Pride (for five years running) with attendance from every level of the business. The business also ran a dedicated session on Trans* Inclusion – relevant for both in and outside the work place - on Trans Visibility Day. Additionally, Sue produces a regular blog for M&S Bank’s employee intranet where she continues to role-model an inclusive environment and shows her continued support of diversity and inclusion at M&S Bank.

Mark Wilson

10
Group CEO
Aviva

Mark aims to lead a community where everyone feels empowered to be themselves. In September he spoke to their top 250 leaders globally about his expectation of them; to ‘make tomorrow happen today’ which can only be achieved by building rockstar teams that mirror the diversity of their customers. In a recent anonymous survey 87% of the 30,000 employees felt that people from diverse backgrounds can succeed at Aviva and over the last 24 months in excess of 5,000 Aviva employees have identified themselves visibly as LGBT+ allies. Most recently, Mark joined the Aviva OUTsurance bus as the only FTSE100 CEO enjoying and celebrating London Pride on the day. Additionally as a campaigner for sustainable business he has spoken at the UN about the role business has in creating a better society and earlier this year gave the key note speech at the launch of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark. He is also key driver in Aviva’s relationships with stonewall and OUTstanding, ensuring sponsorship for major events and working to establish Aviva as the only insurer in the Stonewall top 100 workplace equality index.

Chris Grigg

11
CEO
British Land

The property industry has been slow to embrace diversity but Chris is proud to be at the forefront of changing that.  He supports the LGBT+ people within his own organisation, aiming to create an environment where they can be themselves. The company has a very active Pride group and British Land is the first listed property company to achieve the National Equality Standard. Chris promotes LGBT+ inclusion internally with presentations at staff meetings, events and internal communications as well as celebrating London Pride week with a programme of events and activities. Externally, he has participated in industry panels raising awareness of the importance of creating an inclusive and diverse property industry, written blogs on the subject and sits on the Board of two industry bodies where he lends his weight to help drive inclusivity forward. He has also signed up to a “CEO Commitments to Diversity” within the real estate industry.

James Harris

12
Managing Director, UK & Europe
Mott MacDonald

James is the business representative for Mott MacDonald’s Advance committee, the employee network tasked with embedding equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the company. In his role as the leader of the UK and European business, he provides visible leadership and set the general direction of the business. Two of his key priorities are to create an environment where all staff can come to work and be themselves, and to ensure that all staff are valued for the contribution they make. This has been supported through a role models poster distributed at all UK offices showing visible LGBT+ employees and by participating in the Pride parades in London, Brighton and Manchester in 2017. Additionally, under James’ leadership, the company recently collaborated with InterEngineering to create video profiles of LGBT+ engineers, to raise visibility and show other LGBT engineers that sexuality or gender identity are no barrier to a career in engineering. He also organised the company’s sponsorship of the ‘Art of Being Out’ exhibition in association with OUTstanding.

Rhian-Mari Thomas

13
MD, Chairman Barclays Green Banking Council
Barclays

Having been named Barclays Woman of the Year for her support for diversity Rhian-Mari subsequently focused on supporting LGBT+ inclusion by becoming the co-senior sponsor of Barclays’ LGBT+ Spectrum network. During her 2 year tenure she has promoted a focus on recruiting allies. Rhian is both a vocal ally and a hands-on supporter of LGBT colleagues, through mentoring and coaching. Externally she sits on the OUTstanding Advisory Committee, Chairs the Programmes Committee and is a mentor on the OUTstanding mentoring scheme. Rhian is a sought-after speaker and panellist on the topic of LGBT+ allies and has spoken at various diversity events throughout the year.

Peter T. Grauer

14
Executive Chairman
Bloomberg LP

Peter has been the leading force and champion of diversity and inclusion efforts at Bloomberg. He supported the formation of an LGBT+ employee network and has listened carefully to the needs and concerns of LGBT+ employees; he has held focus groups and lunches to understand the challenges faced by staff and was instrumental in gaining equal benefits for all LGBT+ employees and partners. He has sat on internal panels discussing the need for safe working spaces for LGBT+ employees and is the senior and most vocal active ally for the network. He has contributed to and taken part in employee videos promoting the idea of bringing of your full self to work. Externally, Peter is a member of the Advisory Board for OUT Leadership and has spoken at key external events on LGBT+ issues. Late last year he co-hosted an OUTstanding dinner in New York for 40 business leaders and role models from across the OUTstanding and UPstanding role model lists. Peter also led Bloomberg's support of HRC's amicus brief in support of transgender student Gavin Grimm in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Patrick Vallance

15
President, Pharmaceuticals R&D
GSK

Patrick has overseen the creation of GSK’s first-ever Global LGBT+ Council 18 months ago, for which he is the sponsor and Chair. The panel brings together senior leaders from across the business as well as grassroots representatives from GSK’s LGBT+ employee resource group, Spectrum, for the first time. He is a key spokesperson for GSK’s Global Inclusion Week, speaking at several sessions about the value and importance of embracing diversity. He also recorded a personal video message about (and participated in) new Safe Zone training, has funded initiatives during Pride Week to celebrate and raise awareness, and regularly blogs and posts on GSK’s Yammer and intranet sites, acting as an enthusiastic spokesperson for LGBT+ events and milestones, such as IDAHoBiT, as well as personally participating in LGBT+-related initiatives. Externally, Patrick co-founded a new network called EDIS (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Science and Health Research) in partnership with the Francis Crick Institute and Wellcome Trust. Originally intended to be LGBT+ specific, the decision was made to broaden its remit to cover I&D more generally, on the basis that an intersectional approach would be more powerful for LGBT+ whilst also benefitting other areas of I&D, such as gender, disability and race.

James Forese

16
President
Citi

As President of Citi, James felt it was important -- and, frankly, long overdue -- to have someone in a senior position take responsibility for fostering an environment of belonging and inclusion for LGBT+ employees. In January of this year, he was appointed along with Bob Annibale as Co-Chair of the Pride Affinity group at Citi where his role as the LGBT+ ally is to ensure that they continue to make progress toward an LGBT+ inclusive workforce. In his role, he meets with the global Pride Network Steering Committee to obtain feedback on how to encourage more leaders to proudly embrace their identity in the workplace. He is currently part of an effort to actively promote the voices of LGBT+ employees on the diversity intranet site and plans to roll out a diversity communications campaign that focuses on diverse (and non-diverse) employees sharing their stories. Additionally, in June, James co-hosted a Pride Affinity Town Hall, where he addressed questions from the Pride Networks and discussed current events, including their position on public policy and legislation including the Texas Competes Pledge and Transgender restrooms.

Howard Ungerleider

17
Chief Financial Officer
DowDuPont

Howard Ungerleider serves as CFO of DowDuPont and of Dow, and is the executive sponsor for Dow’s LGBT+ & Allies employee resource group, GLAD. As GLAD’s executive sponsor for more than 10 years, Howard has enabled unparalleled progress in LGBT+ equality in the workplace and beyond. Through his support and leadership, he has played an integral role in increasing participation fourfold and elevating the GLAD group to its current position as the largest of Dow’s eight ERGs. His guidance and dedication have helped Dow gain national recognition and achieve the strongest possible inclusive culture and standards regarding LGBT+ policies and practices. He enabled expansion of a Dow ERG outside the U.S., resulting in participation in over 130 countries, with active chapters on every continent, instituted employee protections for gender identity and implemented transgender benefits and succeeded in securing Dow to speak on Capitol Hill on three separate occasions in support of LGBT+ policies/framework.

Michael Cole-Fontayn

18
Executive Vice President, Chairman EMEA
BNY Mellon

Michael is an outspoken and unwavering supporter of LGBT+ individuals in the workplace, ensuring that individuals’ differences are embraced; he leads by example to inspire senior leaders throughout BNY Mellon to show their support of LGBT+ inclusion. Michael’s commitment to empowering LGBT+ individuals within BNY Mellon has led to increased focus across the region, and in August 2017 BNY Mellon’s Luxembourg office launched EMEA’s 11th PRISM chapter. Externally, Michael leverages his profile to advance workplace inclusion at global events, such as the World Economic Forum, The Economist Pride and Prejudice: Business as a Catalyst for Change conference and the Out Leadership Europe Summit. Michael has also encouraged business leaders to adopt reverse mentoring programmes as a strategy to build an influential ally community and was instrumental to BNY Mellon signing the Diversity Charter Ireland. Additionally, he has inspired leaders across sectors to bring the LGBT+ lens to strategy discussions, as evidenced during the March 2016 launch of a groundbreaking study that BNY Mellon co-sponsored, “Out in the World: Securing LGBT Rights in the Global Marketplace”.

Richard Arnold

19
Managing Director
Manchester United

2016 was a pivotal year for Manchester United and the club’s engagement with the LGBT+ community. After working closely with one of their principal partners, Aon, Richard made a conscious effort to make Manchester United a place that was more welcoming to all individuals, regardless of their individual characteristics. The club worked hard to bring in an Equality and Inclusion Manager who has developed internal Inclusion Networks, one of which is focused on LGBT+ engagement and allows employees to share their thoughts and influence work going forward. Under Richard’s leadership, Manchester United is an active member of Stonewall’s TeamPride coalition, supporting events such as Stonewall’s TeamPride conference in February 2016, and this year hosting Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces Summit at Old Trafford. Additionally, Richard has actively sought out leaders from competing teams within the Premier League as well as agents of high profile players to engage and encourage these influential figures be more outspoken in support of LGBT issues and campaigns. This has increased the participation in the campaigns.

Mitchell Harris

20
CEO Investment Management
BNY Mellon

Mitchell is BNY Mellon’s lead executive responsible for PRISM, the firm’s internal resource for LGBT+ employees. His executive platform garnered greater visibility for PRISM with senior leaders and employees, resulting in a 25% member increase across 27 international chapters. As a passionate supporter, frequently invited to speak on LGBT+ and Diversity and Inclusion topics internally and externally, Mitchell is an unequivocal voice on equality and opportunity for all in the marketplace. His global efforts have included: working with a major Japanese insurance company to improve its LGBT+ initiatives; travelling to BNY Mellon’s India offices to formally relaunch the PRISM Ally program; bringing a groundbreaking “Uncovering Talent” staff and client workshop on diversity and LBGT+ issues to Japan in October, and an LGBT+ Ally event at BNY Mellon’s Tokyo offices; publicly advocating against anti-inclusion legislation in North Carolina and Tennessee; and leading the charge for BNY Mellon to be the only non-Australian bank to sign an open letter joining Australian business leaders in expressing support for marriage equality. Externally, Mitchell works with The Center, which serves New York’s LGBT+ community, and helped establish the Women’s Opportunity Initiative, the organization’s first program to build the economic and social empowerment of LGBT+ women.

Greg Case

21
President and CEO
Aon

Under Greg’s leadership, Aon prides itself on fostering a work environment where opportunity and success is defined by one's character and ambition, not race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age or citizenship. Along with supporting an active employee resource group, the firm has launched a ‘Safe Space Programme’ and runs a successful LGBT+ Allies Programme which deepens their commitment to building an inclusive culture. They provide health cover for those with gender dysphoria in the U.S. and are working on rolling cover out across the U.K. and more widely across other regions globally. Diversity & Inclusion remains a core component of induction sessions for all Aon employees and training and support is available for people managers across the firm. Externally, Greg helped found LINK, a professional network for the insurance LGBT +community in the U.K.; helping to recruit members, donating resources and providing the keynote at their first event. Additionally, in 2017 Aon achieved a 100 percent rating in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index for the tenth consecutive year, was also recognised as a Top 10 Company by the NatWest British LGBT Awards and won The Diversity Award at The British Insurance Awards

Jennifer Rademaker

22
Executive Vice President - Global Customer Delivery
MasterCard

As an LBGT+ Ally, Jennifer has focused her efforts in two areas – visible advocacy and career coaching. As some of her employees work in countries that are less accepting of the LGBT+ community, she ensures that she is visibly seen to be supporting LGBT+ colleagues by marching alongside them in various pride parades and by regularly discussing and presenting diverse opinions, experiences, and acceptance and support of LBGT+ employees in monthly Town Hall meetings. In addition to currently mentoring four LGBT+ employees, she also hosts career coaching sessions with members of the Pride employee resource group. Externally, Jennifer donates her time and expertise to organisations that help others without discrimination, including acting on the Board of Directors of the American Red Cross in Greater New York and as an active member, since founding, of the House of St Barnabas in London, an organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of homelessness.

Anne Sheehan

23
Enterprise Director
Vodafone

As the Enterprise Director of Vodafone Ireland, and Executive sponsor of the LGBT+ Network, Anne feels passionately that empowering and supporting LGBT+ colleagues is the right thing to do. As a leader in the largest Telco in Ireland, Anne leverages her position publicly to support the LGBT Network, and by extension the business community in Ireland, examples include ensuring a huge presence by Vodafone at the 2017 Dublin Pride parade, rolling out unconscious bias training for all Irish leadership teams and leading a successful and inspirational LGBT+ role models campaign highlighting the personal stories of LGBT+ people working at Vodafone. Additionally, in May 2017, she was invited to present to the Group Enterprise Function on the advantages of empowering the LGBT+ community from a business perspective. Externally, Anne regularly speaks at industry events such as Chamber events, Centre of Women in Technology (CWIT), WXN Leadership Summit and was recently voted as one of the top 25 women in business in Ireland.

Hannah Grove

24
Chief Marketing Officer
State Street

Hannah has served for the past eight years as executive sponsor of State Street Global Pride and Friends, the company’s employee resource group focused on championing State Street’s LGBT+ employees around the globe; developing, attracting, engaging and retaining diverse and industry-leading talent; providing networking and development opportunities; and strengthening ties to the larger LGBT+ community. She also supported the 2016 launch of the Global Ally initiative across State Street, has led town halls and spoken at various Pride events globally to celebrate diversity and drive greater awareness and has promoted topics of diversity and inclusion through external media such as articles and blogs. Externally, until June 2016, Hannah served as president of the board of the Women’s Lunch Place – one of the few homeless shelters in North America that welcomes transgender people who identify as female. She also leads State Street’s relationships with external organisations such as Stonewall, HRC, Out on the Street and Out and Equal. 2017 marks the third year in a row State Street has received a 100 percent rating on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.

Philip Clement

25
CMO
Aon

Philip is a constant and visible internal champion of LGBT inclusion; he is the Executive Sponsor of the Global LGBT+ BRG, he hosts dozens of events and programmes for colleagues and clients annually, he is active on social media, and assures Aon’s over-all support of LGBT+ agenda such as inclusive language at all touchpoints; legal and legislative issues; inclusive benefit policies covering items like gay marriage and gender reassignment; details like inclusive signage on restrooms. He also provides counselling and advocacy for colleagues looking for resources to come out or when face challenging situations often in foreign countries. Externally he is the founder of #TeamPride recruiting major brands in sport sponsorship such as Adidas, Accenture, Barclays, Virgin, Vodafone and sports teams such as Arsenal and Manchester United to pledge a change toward inclusiveness for all stakeholders in the sport industry. Additionally Philip supported the founding of Link and is an active member of Stonewall, Human Rights Campaign, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and numerous other LGBT+ activist groups

Mark McCombe

26
Senior Managing Director, Head of the Americas
BlackRock

Mark serves as Global Executive Sponsor of the OUT & Allies Network, where he acts as a sounding board for network activities, secures funding for external memberships, mentors LGBT+ leaders, and shares their most significant accomplishments with the rest of the firm. He continuingly partners with the leadership team to revisit policies and approach LGBT+ issues from a thoughtful perspective, including participation in public anti-discrimination letters and the earlier Supreme Court amicus briefs in support of marriage equality. He is a vocal advocate for inclusion, openly appealing against legislation which was intended to discriminate against transgender people in the workplace. Additionally, he sponsors ongoing memberships with external organisations such as OUTstanding, Out & Equal, and Stonewall, and earlier this year, spoke about his external engagement as an Ally at the Out Leadership CEO Summit.

Anna Cross

27
CFO Barclays UK
Barclays

Anna is an active ally of Barclays LGBT+ network Spectrum.  As a senior leader, she frequently represents Barclays at Spectrum events internally and externally.  Over the last 12 months, these have included an Economist debate, Out on the Roof with Allen & Overy, a September Soiree in Manchester with M&S and an LGBT+ interfaith event held jointly with PWC.  Anna is a visible and vocal ally, regularly sharing her passion for inclusion and has led the wider D&I effort across Finance for three years.  Through that visibility - wearing a lanyard, displaying materials from Stonewall and elsewhere - Anna has also been there to support colleagues one on one in their journey. Anna is engaged with OUTstanding to see how she work as an ally across the business world.

Danny Harmer

28
Chief People Officer
Metro Bank

Danny is the Exec Ally for Mpride, Metro Bank’s growing LGBT+ network. Under her leadership the group, which is just over a year old, and other colleagues participated in London, Brighton and Reading Prides 2017 and arranged for rainbow flags to fly in the bank’s store windows in support of local Pride weeks. Metro Bank, as an organisation, was the first bank to take a stand and introduce Mx as a title and non-binary as a ‘gender’ for both customers and colleagues and also boasts a dedicated page on gender neutrality on its in-house knowledge base, Metropedia, accessible to all colleagues. Metro Bank has run countless events throughout the year to support dialogue on LGBT+ issues. The bank’s policies are fully inclusive and they advertise jobs on Stonewall for vacancies where they see less diversity in teams and candidate pools.  Danny also sponsors the relationship with Stonewall.  All of this activity is focused on enabling people to be themselves in a culture where acceptance is the norm.  Externally, Danny proactively shares Mpride activity and other pro LGBT+ news and developments across her social media platforms and attends as many events focussed on inclusion and equality as possible.

Jim Herbert

29
Chief Development Officer ARS EMEA
Aon

Creating an environment where colleagues can be themselves and be ‘authentic’ without fear of discrimination or disadvantage is something Jim is enormously passionate about. He is the executive sponsor of Aon Pride Alliance and has worked to drive awareness outside of the UK, raising the profile of LGBT+ inclusion in their UK and European operations. He is also the Diversity & Inclusion leader of Aon’s Pinnacle Team, working to devise a global Inclusion Charter for all colleagues to sign up to, called “I’m In”, which aims to drive more visibility across the whole business. Externally, Aon has been a member of the Stonewall Diversity Champion Initiative in the UK since 2006 and is a full member of OUTstanding. Jim has also been working with Trans*formation exploring ways to challenge the current environment around the provision of support for gender reassignment care within the UK healthcare industry and is a strong supporter in Aon developing the first UK corporate Private Medical Insurance package to include cover for gender dysphoria. Additionally, he recently participated in a panel discussion at the British Insurance Brokers Association national conference to discuss Diversity and promote D&I to the broker community and he participates as a mentor on the OUTstanding mentoring scheme.

Sarah Morris

30
Chief People Officer
Aviva

Aviva is making a step change to become unmistakably authentic in their approach to diversity and Sarah’s ambition is to develop our D&I strategy to ensure their workforce reflects the increasingly diverse background with a suitable LGBT+ strategy for each of their markets. Aviva has a robust LGBT+ Pride Network and Sarah has proactively sponsored the launch and significant growth of the 'Allies’ aspect of the network. She featured on the 10 years of Aviva Pride video this summer as the only Ally showing her strong support for the cause. Under her leadership Aviva has shown itself to be a public ally of LGBT+ inclusion, with colleagues joining global Pride events and being the only FTSE 350 company to have their CEO, and many other members of the Group Executive joining over 100 colleagues on-board the ‘OUTsurance’ Bus at London Pride. Externally, Sarah recently spoke at the House of Lords to senior executives on the icons and rituals Aviva uses to demonstrate the importance of creating a truly diverse and inclusive environment to ensure all employees feel comfortable in the workplace. Personally she is a member of Stonewall and actively promotes their campaigns.

Kim Newell Chebator

31
Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer, EMEA
State Street

As Executive sponsor for State Street's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pride Network, Kim has helped to establish Pride networks in Ireland and Luxembourg with Germany launching at the end of the year. Since the LGBT+ Allies programme commenced last year, Kim has tirelessly promoted and supported the scheme and not only has a flag on her (open) door but transparently wears her promotional lanyard around the office. She also sits on State Street's Leading Women Executive Forum and is currently working on additional diversity campaigns alongside the Global Executive Committee. Externally, she has spoken at numerous high profile events, including the Workplace Equality Index (WEI) Awards and has recently addressed (internally and externally) the impact the current "speak up" culture might have upon individuals and firms in which fear overrides the wish to speak up and how some individuals feel they need to leave their "authentic self" at home.

Peter Harrison

32
Group Chief Executive
Schroders

Peter became Group Chief Executive of Schroders in April 2016. Since then he has launched a three-year Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) strategy that includes the creation of Schroders' first LGBT+ network (SchOUT) and the creation of D&I Profiles, an online form that allows Schroders employees to self-declare their sexual orientation and gender identity. Going forward, Peter aims to proactively improve the lives of LGBT+ employees through actions such as allies training, mentoring for LGBT+ employees and benchmarking through Stonewall's Workplace Equality Index. Later this year, he will also release Schroders’ first ever Transgender Policy to ensure that any transgender employee is supported in the workplace. Externally, Peter recently took over as Chair of the Board of the Investment Association where the Diversity and Inclusion agenda is a key priority. He helped drive the creation of the Association’s Diversity Project – the industry’s response to creating a more diverse and inclusive investment management industry. He also chairs the CEO Advisory Board, and has recently created an LGBT+ work stream within the Diversity Project that is uniting all LGBT+ networks within member firms to work together and create a more inclusive industry for LGBT+ employees.

Kent Wasson

33
Managing Director
Goldman Sachs

Kent was a founding member of Goldman Sachs’ LGBT+ network in Asia 12 years ago and currently serves as the head of that network, which has been ranked as the #1 LGBT+ Network in Hong Kong by local NGO Community Business since the inception of that award category in 2014. He also leads Goldman Sachs’ Managing Director Allies program in Hong Kong, and has driven analyses to help the network increase its impact within the firm, including membership surveys to ensure the needs of stakeholders are heard. He also led the effort to introduce gender neutral bathrooms in their Hong Kong office earlier this year. Externally, Kent drove Goldman Sachs’ role as a signatory on the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission’s LGBT+ anti-discrimination statement in 2016. He has spoken at a number of public events on the importance of LGBT+ inclusion, including as a panelist for “Driving Best Practice in LGBT+ Inclusion” hosted by Community Business.

Paul Geddes

34
CEO
Direct Line Group

One of the Group’s 6 values, which Paul was instrumental in shaping, is “Bring all of yourself to work”, which underpins a culture where diversity and inclusion is celebrated and valued. Over 90% of employees feel that DLG is a place where this value is lived, and Paul role models this through his blogs, and through events, such as the monthly CEO awards. Paul has for a number of years been a sponsor and advocate of the Group’s Diversity Network Alliance (DNA) which has a thriving LGBT+ arm and which has promoted the Group’s participation in events such as Pride. Externally, Paul has been a vocal ally, working with OUTstanding to develop his role as sponsor of the network.

Matt Elliott

35
People Director
Virgin Money

Matt is responsible for developing and delivering Virgin Money’s ‘Everyones Better Off’ ambition to be a welcoming place to work for all, where everyone is equally engaged. They have delivered a “Summer of Pride” campaign, sponsoring and supporting 10 Pride events countrywide to enhance attractiveness to the LGBT+ community as an employer. He actively role models within the company, mentoring and supporting Affinity Group events. He has also encouraged their initiative in the North East to connect businesses to form an LGBT network and has supported hosting Stonewall to enable in the Trans Manifesto consultation. Externally he supports diversity and inclusion in the widest sense, speaking at a number of companies this year (BAE Systems, Diageo, Marsh Maclennan) and high profile events including the Lord Mayor of London’s “Power of Diversity” series. Additionally Matt is Chair of OUTstanding’s Communications Committee, a member of the Advisory Board, and a strong supporter of OUTstanding in its efforts.

Sharon Thorne

36
Deputy CEO and Managing Partner, Global & Strategy for Deloitte North West Europe
Deloitte

Sharon is a senior visible sponsor for GLOBE, regularly speaking about the importance of authenticity, inclusion and LGBT equality. She has mentored a number of LGBT+ employees and in 2015 supported a trans employee through the process of coming out at work. In 2007, when she was partner responsible for Talent on the Deloitte Executive, she launched the firm’s diversity networks, including the LGBT+ network GLOBE. At the time she became the sponsoring partner for GLOBE, a role held until 2012, and since then she has been the network’s Executive Sponsor, providing the network with a link to the firm’s Executive. Externally, through her role as a non-executive director on the Board of the CBI she has been an advocate for the establishment of LGBT+ networks at other UK employers. She has also spoken at the Out & Equal LGBT+ Workplace Summit and acted as the host of a number of GLOBE’s external events focused on LGBT+ inclusion.

Neta Feller

37
VP Human Resources
Natural Intelligence

As a thriving internet company, Natural Intelligence is committed to social causes and sees it as its duty to promote diversity and equality. Under Neta's leadership as VP of Human Resources at the company, Natural Intelligence has made a name for itself as a prominent endorser of LGBT+ rights - securing a safe, welcoming and accepting environment for LGBT+ employees. Examples include, pride flags adorning the main reception and the executive floor, the company signing the Israel Diversity Standard’s ‘Statement of Principles’ and regular LGBT forum lunches. The company also offers a grant in the amount of NIS 50,000 (app. US$13k) towards surrogacy for all employees - enabling same-gender couples to have children and build families. In an effort to spread the word and motivate further support of LGBT+ welcoming workplaces, Neta approached other HR executives in leading companies in Israel, calling them to commit to the Israel Diversity Standard. Additionally, together with LGBTech, they are currently co-creating a video targeted at corporations, sharing tips and guidelines for creating a welcoming workplace for employees of all gender and sexual identities.

Eileen Taylor

38
Global Head of Regulatory Management
Deutsche Bank

Eileen is a known “go to” person in the firm to support LGBT+ employees and activities, not just in the UK, but globally. She serves as an informal advisor to Employee Resource Groups around the world as to how they can have greater impact and chairs the UK Diversity Council at Deutsche Bank. Additionally, she previously helped a former DB employee through her gender transformation journey and has subsequently opened doors to help her find a job now that she has moved countries. Externally, she has been a mentor in the OUTstanding mentoring programme since its initiation and hosted the launch of 2 mentoring cohorts. She has also been a panel member and facilitator on OUTstanding panels and has hosted and attended Executive breakfast sessions. Furthermore, she is Chair of Catalyst’s Europe Advisory Board and is a co-chair of the Center for Talent Innovation which has done groundbreaking research on LGBT+ issues in the workplace.

Mike Gamson

39
Senior VP Global Solutions
LinkedIn

At LinkedIn, Mike has been a longtime advocate of amplifying the power of positive company culture and values as a competitive business advantage. Specifically, he’s been an active advocate for the LGBT+ community at LinkedIn, ensuring that their global corporate Pride events were fully funded and supported at the executive level. He also speaks regularly to employees and beyond about the importance of a workplace where everyone can bring their authentic selves every day. Externally, he teaches others the importance of being an ally to provide active support to people and causes that need it. For him, the decision to become an ally is a commitment to speak up in situations where he can make a difference. It’s also a commitment to his peers that he’s with them - both with his deeds and his words.

Heidi McCormack

40
CEO
Emerald Life

Heidi lives and breathes LGBT+ equality at Emerald Life. As the UK’s first full-service insurance provider to the community, they serve LGBT+ people and their insurance needs in a way that has not been done before. They have an LGBT+ intern program which shows young adults the real environment of bringing their true selves to work. As a speaker in financial services/insurance arenas, Heidi has frequent opportunities to share her experiences as a straight person in her “on boarding” to the challenges faced by the LGBT+ community. Externally, Heidi is a Diversity Role Model and has merged her passion for the arts with increased awareness of LGBT+ issues (positive change) by being involved in the organisation/execution of the Winter Pride Arts Awards (2nd year as sponsor) and the “Now, Where Are We” exhibition at the Strand Gallery in conjunction with Pride in London this year. In other areas, Emerald has sponsored the Elton John AIDS Foundation programme for teenagers living with HIV to attend summer camp, funded the National LGBT Police Conference and the decoration of a Metropolitan Police Van for the Pride in London parade and seconded their communications staff to re-write the content on an LGBT+ parenting website for city workers to network and seek expert support.

Dan Klein

41
Head of Global OEM Operations
Microsoft

As Executive Sponsor for Microsoft Diversity & Inclusion Councils in Ireland and the United States, Dan helps ensure all diversity dimensions, such as gender, accessibility, culture, generational and LGBT+, are championed for maximum visibility, success and impact. Dan has demonstrated incredible commitment to ensure LGBT+ diversity in particular receives top mind-share, resourcing and support from the executive leadership level through to individual contributors – from keynote event speeches, sponsorship and mentoring of LGBT+ individuals, to sharing his personal journey to grow ally networks. Dan validates the true spirit of leading by example, exhibiting great enthusiasm to define and implement corporate diversity initiatives, such as the company's LGBT+ Pride Month celebrations and LGBT+ specific diversity training, and supporting Microsoft’s first-ever LGBT+ leadership conference with over 40 Microsoft LGBT+ leaders representing over 20 countries around the world. Widely awarded in previous years for creating spotlight opportunities resulting in a number of Microsoft Ireland “firsts” for LGBT+ progress, Dan is also a member of BelonG To, The Human Rights Commission, the 30% Club and MARC – Men Advocating Real Change.

Jenny Dearborn

42
Senior Vice President, Global Head: Leadership, Organizational Development, Talent & Learning
SAP

As Global Executive Sponsor for SAP’s LGBT+ employee network, Pride@SAP, Jenny has worked to raise awareness companywide for diversity and inclusion and in 2017, she expanded Pride@SAP to include new chapters in 20 countries. She has blogged on the topic, and presented SAP’s commitment to LGBT diversity and inclusion at a session on “The Importance of Being Yourself at Work,” and for 2015 & 2016, was the SAP contingent Grand Marshall for the San Francisco Pride parade. In 2017, she sponsored a new global learning program, Focus on Insight: Diversity+Inclusion, a new learning experience specifically designed to introduce all employees to the mindset, behaviors and strategies that promote a more inclusive culture throughout SAP. Her support contributed to SAP’s achieving a perfect score for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index. She also led SAP’s three-year sponsorship of the “Lesbians Who Tech Summit,” which she presented at in 2016.

Tommy Stadlen

43
Co-Founder
Swing Technologies

In May 2017 Swing Technologies was one of the first in the world to offer employees paid time off for political engagement. Tommy conceived this policy after a consensus within the company that shared values of equality and openness are increasingly at stake across the world. Tommy wanted the organisation to send a loud message internally and externally that they stand for tolerance, diversity and inclusion. He also wanted employees to feel supported in their attempts to fight for a fairer society. Tommy, a former McKinsey consultant, is also the co-author with former BP CEO Lord Browne of the international best-seller, 'Connect: How Companies Succeed by Engaging Radically With Society'. Their book found that deep societal engagement helps corporations outperform peers on the stock market by 20 percent over a decade. At the heart of their 'Connected Leadership' approach is diversity and inclusion. Since publication in 2016, Tommy has worked around the world to communicate this message to CEOs, future leaders and the general public, through media (CNBC, Bloomberg, Harvard Business Review), lecture tours (Harvard, MIT, London and Oxford business schools), and as an advisor to NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business.

Allan Wardrop

44
Partner
Hogan Lovells

Allan is the head of Diversity in Hogan Lovells' Hong Kong office, and one of the founders and global sponsors of the Hogan Lovells global ally and LGBT+ network, Pride+. In his role as a sponsor of Pride+, he aims to be visible within the office on LGBT+ inclusion, organising internal events, lobbying for and fronting regional and global internal events, advertising external events within the firm and encouraging staff to attend, sponsoring external events and organising Hogan Lovells-branded external events. Externally, Allan supports Community Business, and participated in their LGBT+ awards in 2016 and 2017, being shortlisted for the Ally Award in both years. Through the diversity programme, of which he is the chair, Hogan Lovells support and sponsor Pink Alliance, as a corporate sponsor of Pink Dot, and as a sponsor of Pink Season events each year. Additionally, they support Queer Straight Alliance, are a member of the HK Gay and Lesbian Attorneys (HKGALA) network, and are closely involved with Out Leadership.

Karin Cook

45
Group Director
Lloyds Banking Group

As Executive Sponsor for sexual orientation and gender identity at Lloyd’s, Karin’s influence, passion, and sponsorship were the driving force behind the Group’s move to ensure their UK Private Medical Benefit is inclusive of gender dysphoria. Among many things, Karin is now focussed on making the bank easier for trans* customers to deal with. She has pioneered new methods of Group-wide communications and new styles of events around LGBT+ awareness days, ensuring flags were displayed at over 40 Group sites. She has been keynote speaker at events including the Group’s Rainbow network conference, Stonewall Youth Awards, Mermaids annual event and the Pink News Awards. She has hosted a roundtable event with Pink News discussing trans* inclusion with senior political and business leaders, and sponsored both  trans* & bi inclusive Lloyds Bank marketing campaigns, an industry first.

Richard Kirkman

46
Chief Technology and Innovation Officer
Veolia

Under Richard’s leadership Veolia became the first company in its sector to join Stonewall, which works for equality for the LGBT+ community. The changes at Veolia were inspired by key LGBT+ volunteers, who were asked how they could become a more inclusive employer. Suggestions have been implemented such as job applications changing to recognise and promote diversity. They also launched ‘EQUAL’ an online, growing community with 75 members to facilitate discussions around diversity training needs, awareness issues and socials. Richard led the decision for Veolia to join OUTstanding, helping to develop the work of an existing volunteer group, raising awareness of LGBT+ inclusion issues across Veolia UK and Ireland, and providing support for all LGBT+ employees. He is a member of the OUTstanding membership committee where he hopes to encourage more engineering and manufacturing companies to participate to create a better balance across industries.

Kevin Martin

47
Group General Manager, Regional Head of Retail Banking & Wealth Management Asia-Pacific
HSBC

Kevin has been the lead on HSBC’s sponsorship of the Asia Out Leadership summits since 2016, convening over 150 senior regional business leaders to engage and progress big business on the importance of LGBT+ inclusion and recently gathered 15 financial industry Executive Sponsors to collectively plan on driving greater LGBT+ inclusion in Asia-Pacific. He has been instrumental in ensuring a proactive leadership communications programme including video blogs, townhalls and webcasts/calls that integrate support and championing of LGBT+ and broader diversity and inclusion principles across his leadership teams and employees in the region. He has also been key in encouraging customer-focused improvements for LGBT+ persons, including the introduction of gender-neutral account titles and inclusive insurance policies. Externally, Kevin is a supporter of Hong Kong’s Community Business NGO, and was this year nominated for ‘Executive Sponsor of the Year’.

Ollie Roberts

48
Vice President, People
AB InBev

Ollie was the sponsor for the LAGER (Lesbian and Gay + Everyone Respected) network in SABMiller plc and has continued this since the combination with AB InBev where he has actively worked with affiliate networks across the global organization to share best practice and publish stories to approximately 200,000 colleagues globally.  SABMiller also undertook the Stonewall evaluation for the first time in their history in 2015 and again in 2016, seeing it as a fundamental enabler to improve workplace practices.  Externally, Ollie is an influencer for LGBT+ rights in the alcoholic beverages sector, leading to many references in the press.  He established SABMiller plc as the first global beverages and FMCG business to join OUTstanding and also set up a major corporate sponsorship deal with Pride in London, both of which continues with AB InBev.  

Wendy Murphy

49
Senior Director HR EMEA
LinkedIn

Wendy sponsors the employee resource group Out@In across all markets in EMEA to help them reach their potential, focusing on attracting, retaining and motivating those from the LGBT+ community. She financially supports many of the activities/events for the LGBT+ community and was the lead Exec to walk Pride Dublin in 2017. She also mentors a number of employees from the LGBT+ community on their career aspirations and how to be successful whilst being their authentic selves and recently launched a diversity survey across the EMEA region in which employees self identified across a variety of demographics. Externally she engaged OUTstanding in the UK, GLEN in Ireland and other organisations across continental Europe to partner with LinkedIn in order to leverage their expertise, and ensure that they as an organisation are helping move the needle in the industry on creating a level playing field for everyone.

Susan Allen

50
Head of Retail Distribution
Santander

As an ally Susan advocates heavily for all LGBT+ staff at every opportunity; from regular EXCO / Executive meetings to Divisional Conferences, internal town halls and diversity education and awareness events. She is the Executive sponsor for LGBT+ network (Embrace) and through her role has been able to influence executive decision makers and support initiatives proposed by the Embrace Network, leading to their first Gender Identity & Expression policy, Transitioning at Work Guide, LGBT+ focused adverts, sponsorship of events and increased involvement with LGBT+ charities. This year, under Susan’s leadership, the organisation also made a concerted effort to profile Pride across their branch and contact centre teams and engaged a wide range of colleagues - including many straight allies, in decorating branches and participating in Pride marches in London, Glasgow, Lancaster, Cardiff, Birmingham and Manchester. Externally, she is a keen supporter of Diversity Role Models.