The LGBTQ+ Board Alliance builds on years of pioneering work and the complementary strengths of its founding organizations: Audeliss, INvolve and Out Leadership.
The union of these three organizations positions the LGBTQ+ Board Alliance as the authoritative organization advancing LGBTQ+ inclusion on corporate boards on a global scale. No other organization rivals the depth and breadth of the LGBTQ+ Board Alliance’s expertise.
Out Leadership started the LGBTQ+ Board Diversity Conversation 9 years ago when only two companies in the Fortune 500 were LGBTQ+ inclusive at the Board level. Over those years, Out Leadership:
- Wrote the first-ever LGBTQ+ Inclusive Board Diversity Policy for the United States which has been used as a template by thousands of companies, with almost ⅓ of the Fortune 500 and 50% of the Nasdaq listed companies now having LGBTQ+-inclusive Board policies.
- Published LGBTQ+ Board Diversity policies and procedures for the United Kingdom and Hong Kong (in partnership with DLA Piper), as well as for Australian companies.
- To create transparency, Out Leadership mapped for the first time the board diversity policies of the entire Fortune 500 for the first time in 2021, and has updated and expanded its board diversity research in subsequent years to map every listed company in the Fortune 1000, the Nasdaq, the NYSE 100, the Euronext 100, the FTSE 350, the HSI, the Nikkei 225, the ASX 200, and the S&P/TSX Composite Index–over 5,000 companies each year.
- To develop board-ready leaders, Out Leadership created the first and still only LGBTQ+ Board Fit Program–in partnership with KPMG and Egon Zehnder–to prepare candidates to serve on boards that has developed hundreds of leaders over the last 5 years.
- In 2018, Out Leadership worked with the 4 largest pension funds in the United States (NY City, NY State, CalPERS, and CalSTRS) to amend their pension fund investment guidelines to add LGBTQ+ to the list of diversity for their mandates, and continues to work with pension funds around the world including NCPERS and Australian Super Funds including presenting its research, data, and policy at the ASX annual summit in October 2024.
- Out Leadership’s board expertise has been leveraged for legislative policy in the United States, including both supporting the passage of and defending California AB979, as well Todd Sears testifying to the House Financial Services Committee of the United States Congress on Board Diversity in 2022.
- Over the last 9 years, Out Leadership has convened over 40 OutQUORUM conversations in London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Tokyo, and Paris to discuss LGBTQ+ inclusive board diversity. Convened 1200+ CEOs, and 30,000+ business leaders in Out Leadership’s exclusive Summits and events around the world, with the aim of harnessing the power of business to drive equality.
- Resulted in massive increases in LGBTQ+ inclusive board diversity policies, with a 1,556% increase among Nasdaq-listed companies and a 387% increase in the Fortune 500. This progress is expected to drive further increases in companies worldwide.
Audeliss was founded to increase the representation of LGBTQ+ individuals, women, people of color, and other diverse individuals on Boards and in C-Suite by leveling the playing field in the executive search process.
INvolve helps organizations drive systemic culture change and create inclusive workplaces where LGBTQ+ and other diverse individuals can thrive.
Over the last 13 years, Audeliss and INvolve;
- Increased the board diversity at a wide range of companies through the direct appointment of diverse leaders into board positions. 83% of all board appointments made by Audeliss since 2011 have been diverse with 8% of their total global board appointments being LGBTQ+ individuals.
- Have published the annual global Outstanding Role Model Lists supported by YouTube showcasing LGBTQ+ leaders and their senior allies who are breaking down barriers at work for LGBTQ+ employees within global businesses. Since 2013, the Outstanding Lists have featured 1196 LGBTQ+ Role Models from 395 different organizations across 50 different countries.
- Supported over 100 global organizations with initiatives designed to increase LGBTQ+ representation and inclusion. This includes dedicated talent development programs created specifically to support LGBTQ+ individuals into leadership positions.
- Brought together some of the most progressive, influential and inspiring leaders in business for the annual INvolve Role Model Gala hosted in both London and New York with sponsors including Dow, BCG, StateStreet, S&P Global, Standard Chartered, WPP and many others.
- Hosted key forums led by prominent LGBTQ+ CEOs and leaders to discuss the challenges of advancing LGBTQ+ representation in business, as well as an ongoing Chair and CEO event series educating key decision makers on trends affecting board hiring strategy.
- Delivered training sessions directly to Board members at multiple organizations on the importance of LGBTQ+ representation and diversity of thought at Board level, and upskilled internal hiring teams on removing bias within their own recruitment processes to clear the way of increased LGBTQ+ representation.
- Educated millions of global employees and thousands of corporate leaders around LGBTQ+ inclusion through dedicated training sessions and the development of e-learning modules as part of mandatory onboarding and training.
- Produced timely and critical research on LGBTQ+ senior representation and inclusion including on the LGBTQ+ Pay Gap, the barriers faced by LGBTQ+ individuals moving into senior leadership, and the impact of negative representations of LGBTQ+ individuals in the media.