We’re delighted to announce that Chris Frederick is joining the Out Leadership team. This follows a three-month strategic review of the organization as we approach a decade in business and is prompted by strong growth in membership, high member retention rates, along with rapid expansion to new cities and geographies. Chris is the first of 5 strategic hires the organization has made, with more to be announced in the coming weeks.
Chris Frederick (Managing Director, Global Events) joins from NYC Pride where he has spent the past 8 years as Executive Director, and most recently led the delivery of the phenomenally successful Stonewall WorldPride in New York City earlier this year. This was the first time WorldPride was ever hosted in the U.S., and was the largest LGBT+ event in history with over 5 million attendees.
Chris Frederick commented, “I am excited to join the Out Leadership team as we celebrate our 10th anniversary in 2020. I have enjoyed building NYC Pride into the successful event series it has become over the last decade and thank Heritage of Pride for believing in my vision as we set out to successfully create WorldPride 2019. I look forward to continuing to expand Out Leadership’s world-class programming while affecting change for future generations of out leaders.”
Out Leadership CEO & Founder Todd Sears added, “We could not be more excited to have this world class talent joining the team. 2020 is a big year for us as we celebrate our 10th anniversary. As part a strategic review this year, we have reconfigured the organization to do even more in our next 10 years. Chris’ role, as well as 4 other key hires that we will be announcing soon, were created to help launch the next phase of Out Leadership’s work towards LGBT+ inclusion around the world.”
Out Leadership Turns 10 in 2020
In an uncertain era for LGBT+ equality, we have reason to remain optimistic thanks to continued unwavering support for our community from so many global companies.
This year, in partnership with law firm Ropes & Gray LLP, Out Leadership rolled out Visibility Counts, the first-ever Global Corporate Guidelines for LGBT+ Self Identification. At our 2019 U.S. Summit we launched the LGBT+ Business Climate Index, a groundbreaking framework for assessing performance of LGBT+ inclusion in all 50 states — specifically measuring the business impact of government policies and prevailing attitudes impacting LGBT+ people, quantifying the economic imperatives for inclusion and the costs associated with discrimination. Our third annual summit in Sydney, Australia significantly expanded our Quorum initiative, Out Leadership’s movement to increase LGBT+ representation at the corporate board level, globally sponsored by KPMG thanks to a new partnership with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Chris has been widely recognized for his contribution to the industry and was recently included in MetroSource’s recent issue of People We Love for 2019. He was also named one of the top 1000 Event Professionals in the U.S. by BizBash.