Back at Out & Equal - and Building LGBTQ+ Leadership Pipelines

I’m thrilled to be heading back to the Out & Equal Workplace Summit this October in Seattle. It is one of the largest gatherings of LGBTQ+ and allied professionals, workplace leaders, ERG champions, and advocates from around the world.

Out & Equal has been part of my own leadership journey for more than 20 years. I first attended the Summit in 2005, during my years leading LGBTQ+ employee groups at GE, NBCUniversal and Comcast, and I’ve seen firsthand the role these communities can play in helping people build confidence, expand their networks, gain visibility, and grow as leaders.

That’s one of the reasons this year’s session feels especially meaningful.

I’ll be taking the stage with Trent Arrowood from Altria for our session:

From ERGs to Leadership Pipelines: Building LGBTQ+ Talent Labs

Wednesday, October 14 | 1:45–3:00 PM PT | Rooms 343–344

Together, Trent and I will share the real-world story case study of Altria's OutFront LGBTQ+ & Ally Leadership Lab – an initiative I had the privilege of helping design and facilitate. It’s a look behind Altria’s LGBTQ+ leadership development program and how an ERG, HR, talent leaders, and executive stakeholders came together to turn an idea into a meaningful investment in the next generation of leaders.

At a time when many organizations are rethinking how they support employee communities, I believe there is an enormous opportunity to broaden the conversation. ERGs can absolutely create connection and belonging, but they can also become powerful engines for leadership development, career acceleration, executive exposure, and measurable business impact.

And this won’t just be a case study.

We’re making the session highly interactive. Participants will use our LGBTQ+ Leadership Lab Design Canvas to identify organizational needs, think through the leadership capabilities they want to develop, and begin building a program they can take back to their own organizations.

I’m incredibly excited to share this work at a Summit that has meant so much to me personally and professionally.

If you’re heading to Out & Equal this year, I hope you’ll add our session to your agenda. Connect with me on LinkedIn and let me know you’ll be there. Trent and I would love to see you in Seattle!

Would you like to learn more about creating a Leadership Lab at your company? Let’s talk!