GLIFAA Wins the 2009 Out and Equal Workplace Advocate Award
GLIFAA became first federal entity to receive an award from Out & Equal. At the Awards Ceremony, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton applauded GLIFAA in a two minute videotaped message (transcript here). The Department also made a press release about the award. GLIFAA Policy Director Ajit Joshi accepted the award at the Summit on October 8th. Read Ajit Joshi's Thank You Presentation (pdf). He delivered this message immediately after Secretary Clinton's video was played. Out & Equal made a video of the entire award presentation. View it on GLIFAA's Facebook Page.
GLIFAA Policy Director Ajit Joshi accepts the Out and Equal Workplace Advocate Award on behalf of GLIFAA.The 2009 Out and Equal Annual Workplace Summit occured October 5 - 9. Twelve employees from the foreign affairs agencies attended, including eight from USAID (five from the Management Bureau, two from the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA), and one from Global Health), two from State (including an FSO and two others based in Charleston), and one from the Foreign Agricultural Service. The group of 12 was diverse by gender, sexual orientation, race, national origin, and age.
At the Out & Equal Annual Workplace Summit, GLIFAA not only received an award, but also participated in two featured panels. Chadwick Mills spoke about What it Takes to be the Employee Resource Group of the Year and Ajit Joshi contributed to a discussion on the Best Practices in the Federal Sector. Chadwick spoke about GLIFAA's strides over this past year that resulted in the award and he presented a powerpoint with voice-over documenting GLIFAA's achievements for this award. Ajit Joshi discussed GLIFAA's 17 year history, its reach as a global employee resource group, the our ability to build bridges with other minority groups and work with non-LGBT people.
As part of this awards process, the organization received letters of recommendation from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Representative Tammy Baldwin, and the Human Rights Campaign.
- Read about the Award
- Secretary Clinton's Letter of Recommendation (pdf)
- Representative Tammy Baldwin's Letter of Recommendatin (pdf)
- Human Rights Campaign Letter of Recommendation (pdf)
GLIFAA won the 2009 Employee Resource Group of the Year award!
From the nomination
In June 2009, the State Department was the only federal agency to announce benefits for same-sex partners - diplomatic passports, shipping of household effects, travel, access to medical facilities overseas, and training. This success was the result of GLIFAA’s grass roots coalition of 2,200 people, 92% of whom were married to an opposite-sex spouse or single, and efforts on the Hill, the Administration, and LGBT organizations. GLIFAA also had several “firsts” - a federal National Coming Out Day notice in October 2008, an employee survey including sexual orientation and gender identity, and a pride statement from the Secretary of State.
About the Awards
The Out & Equal Workplace Summit is the world's premier educational and networking event focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workplace issues. This annual event involves a wide range of learning and networking opportunities for nearly 2,500 members of the LGBT employee leadership community and the colleagues, workforce professionals and executives that support them. The summit provides organizational visibility for participating organizations as an employer of choice and allows for organizations to be aware of cutting edge private sector best practices to be competitive in recruitment, retention, and productivity. The Summit is open to all employees and will provide training and workshops over a range of topics including Equal Policies & Benefits, Talent Management& Professional Development, Leadership, and Workplace Climate.
The summit offers the opportunity to those employees interested in improving their leadership skills, knowledge, and application of LGBT employee concerns to their work. As such, supervisors, managers, affinity group leaders, human resource professionals, and diversity champions are particularly encouraged to participate in the summit. The summit offers unique opportunities for addressing concerns unique to people of color, women, transgender people, the aging workforce, and international LGBT populations.
The summit will include approximately 80 top quality workshops on a wide range of issues important to LGBT employees and the workplace. The Summit also offers several full-day and half-day seminars on LGBT workplace issues providing practical, in-depth skills training. This year's Summit will also feature keynote address by John Berry, the highest-ranking openly gay person in President Barack Obama's administration.
At the Summit, Out & Equal also honors individuals and organizations that are leaders in advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees in America's workplaces through the Out & Equal Workplace Awards, or "Outies."
