Marking a huge British milestone, Square Peg Media, the U.K.’s leading diversity and inclusion events company, has, in partnership with The Telegraph, compiled the Out at Work & Telegraph Top 50 LGBT Executives in Business list. “This celebrates individuals who are actively making a difference for LGBT people in business, paving the way for future generations by proving that being out at work doesn’t mean staying hidden or staying put,” declares Eilidh MacLeod in England’s The Telegraph.
The list hopes to establish a benchmark in England for years to come but makes pains to eschew the kind of publicity-driven announcement that, say, Tim Cook created when he came out as Apple’s new CEO. “It is fantastic that a chief executive of a major worldwide brand such as Apple intends to use his new-found role as an LGBT figure to challenge future inequality. But he is not the first openly gay business leader, and unless he works tirelessly for the next 20 years he certainly won’t be the one who has made the most impact,” writes Macleod.
What sets this list apart from the myriad Top-50 lists that recognize workplace diversity is that it was open to anyone from the business community, regardless of their station. Thousands of entrants submitted their names. Founding partners, Barclays, Google and Société Générale, were carefully chosen for the part they have played in contributing to workplace equality by supporting LGBT events, companies, employee groups and rights.
According to The Telegraph: “Each nominee was considered against select criteria and narrowed down to a shortlist of 50 executives. This was then presented to a judging advisory board of nine leading figures from the worlds of politics and business. Chairing the board was Linda Riley, member of the board of directors at Glaad, patron of the Albert Kennedy Trust and founder of the European Diversity Awards and Out with the Family. The list includes CEOs, CFOs, Senior HRs and a multitude of titles and companies including Nike, BSkyB and KPMG.
