Our Milestones
Our Purpose
We help businesses create a better world.
A world in which all people can live authentically and openly without fear, love who they love, create the families they want, and achieve their full potential.
Our Mission
We harness the power of business to drive equality.
We convene, connect and develop LGBTQ+ and Ally leaders across the globe. This allows us to advocate for inclusion for all people at every level, from employee to executive to CEO. Because equality drives business, and business drives equality.
Welcome to Out Leadership
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Our Origin
We started a conversation that’s grown into a global movement.
In 2010, we built Out Leadership on a simple premise: That business can leverage economic power to drive both societal change and bottom line impact. Out Leadership is not your typical business, because we’re the first company in history whose only product is equality. We’re also the world’s first LGBTQ+ B-Corporation, which means we understand purpose and business.
Our Purpose
We’re living in a defining moment.
Businesses have become powerful drivers of change and are increasingly required to have a purpose. Employers, employees, and consumers alike, all demand it. They actively choose the companies they do business with, buy from, and work for based on their values and how they act. And it’s this fundamental shift that has led the top companies in the world to realize that equality is essential for success. And that’s where we come in.
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2010
Out Leadership, formerly Out on the Street, is founded by Todd Sears in New York City.
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March
2011
First ever Out on the Street LGBTQ+ leadership summit in New York City hosted by Seth Waugh and sponsored by Citi Bank, Bank of America, Barclays, Goldman, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley.
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May
2012
Second Out on the Street Summit held in New York City hosted by James Gorman from Morgan Stanley. The first time ever that more than one CEO spoke out for LGBTQ+ rights at the same time.
November
2012
Out on the Street launches in Europe with its first summit hosted London with over 200 attendees including some of the most senior leaders and CEO's in Europe.
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April
2013
Out Leadership held the first-ever LGBTQ+ business summit in Asia in 2013 hosted by Barclays and HSBC, featuring HSBC's largest press event ever, sparking a debate about LGBTQ+ equality in Hong Kong.
Todd Sears spoke at TEDx Duke, his alma mater about his personal journey through his career, coming out, and the creation of Out on the Street.
November
2013
Out Leadership launches OutNEXT, the first and only global talent accelerator program for LGBTQ+ emerging leaders in business.
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April
2014
First OutNEXT event in New York City with over 100 attendees.
March
2014
First Out in Law summit in New York City, with 200 attendees and 28 law firms participating. The summit featured a conversation with Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman of Goldman Sachs.
December
2014
Out Leadership launches in Asia with a summit held in Hong Kong with over 400 participants, and hosted by Barlcays and HSBC.
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Out Leadership, in partnership with OPEN Finance and Freedom to Marry, filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States supporting marriage equality (Obergefell v. Hodges).
2015
Out Leadership launches its first summit in Sao Paulo, Brazil, hosting a talent landscape, two VIP dinners, panel discussions, and OutNEXT.
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January
2016
Out Leadership's Global Advisory Board facilitates first-of-its-kind discussions around LGBTQ+ issues in business at the World Economic Forum in Davos in partnership with Microsoft and EY.
February
2016
OutWOMEN is launched, which is dedicated to connecting out women in business, celebrating their accomplishments, and tapping their strength to help elevate progress for all women in the workplace.
April
2016
Out Leadership advised member companies with the help of Deustche Bank and Paypal, on advocacy actions in response to NC HB2 law. The law was overturned in 2017.
May
2016
Out Leadership launches in Australia with its first summit held in Sydney hosted by Tony Cripps from HSBC, with over 150 of the most senior leaders in the country.
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2017
Out Leadership reaches 50 member firms.
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Release of Out to Succeed in partnership with member PwC, first ever global study on LGBTQ+ emerging business leaders.
Release of Corporate Engagement Guidelines for LGBTQ+ Equality which was the first ever LGBTQ+ inclusive board guidelines.
November
2018
Out Leadership rings the opening bell at NASDAQ and announced the Business Statement for Transgender Equality.
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April
2019
Out Leadership and Out for Undergrad announce a strategic partnership to bridge the talent pipeline between LGBTQ+ students and business leaders.
Out Leadership and Ropes & Gray co-authored Visibility Counts, a first-of-its-kind global report on LGBTQ+ self-identification which enables companies to invite LGBTQ+ employees to self-identify.
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2020
Out Leadership convened a coalition of LGBTQ+ non-profits and filed an Amicus Brief to articulate the economic cost of LGBTQ+ discrimination.
Out Leadership releases AllyUp, in partnership with FCB and EY. AllyUp uncovers the impact of allyship on the experience of LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace.
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2021
Out Leadership launches OutNEXT Alumni, dedicated to LGBTQ+ leaders that have graduated from the OutNEXT program as it's own summit.
2021
Launches OutSPOKEN with Mila Jam, Out Leadership's senior advisor for transgender initiatives and transgender activist/musician, which is an initiative dedicated to transgender people in business.
First OutQUORUM Report is released and identifies, for the first time, the lack of LGBTQ+ inclusion in corporate boardrooms and corporate board diversity policies among Fortune 500 companies.
Trans Business Guide is released, a first of its kind resource for the business community to better understand transgender issues and how to support the transgender community as business leaders.
November
2021
Todd Sears testifies before the U.S. Congress on the importance of economically empowering the LGBTQ+ community.
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Second OutQUORUM Report is released, expanding Out Leadership's first-of-its-kind board diversity mapping to all Fortune 1000 and Nasdaq-listed companies.
4th annual Out Leadership State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index is published, ranking all 50 united states on LGBTQ+ Inclusion, along with the accompanying State CEO Briefs.
July
2022
Citi hosts the 10th annual OutNEXT, the largest ever gathering of young LGBTQ+ leaders in New York City, and the program expands to Toronto and Los Angeles.
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Out Leadership partners with NEXUS, which convenes LGBTQ+ ERGs in the UK, and publishes an original piece of research.
February
2023
Out Leadership’s WorldPride 45 CEOs dinner (in honor of the 45th Sydney Mardi Gras) was the world’s largest-ever gathering of CEOs in support of LGBTQ+ equality.
Third OutQUORUM Board Diversity Report is published, showing a huge increase in companies with LGBTQ+ inclusive board diversity policies.
5th annual Out Leadership State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index is published. For the first time ever, the nation’s overall average score on LGBTQ+ equality fell.
Out Leadership launches the first ever LGBTQ+ focused ESG Summit in New York and publishes its first ESG Report.
November
2023
Out Leadership celebrates 10 years of partnership with HSBC at our 10th Asia Summit in Hong Kong.
Keep exploring.
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What We're Doing -
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Out On the StreetMar 20, 2011
Out on the Street: US 2011
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Out On the StreetApr 30, 2012
Out on the Street: US 2012
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Out On the StreetNov 10, 2012
Out on the Street: Europe 2012
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Out On the StreetApr 26, 2013
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Out On the StreetOct 23, 2013
Out on the Street: Asia 2013
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Out On the StreetNov 19, 2013
Out on the Street: Europe 2013
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Mar 13, 2014
Out in Law: US 2014
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OUTNEXTApr 30, 2014
OutNEXT Emerging Leaders Summit: 2014
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Out On the StreetMay 1, 2014
Out on the Street: US 2014
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Out On the StreetMay 1, 2014
Out on the Street: US 2014
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Sep 24, 2024
OutNEWS- Unlocking OutVantage™
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Aug 7, 2024
OutNEWS – The LGBTQ+ Employee Life Cycle
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Jul 25, 2024
OutNEWS – Out Leadership’s World of Impact
Read Now -
Jul 18, 2024
OutNEWS – Meet the Interns!
Read Now -
Jul 2, 2024
OutNEWS – Joyful Pride
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Jun 24, 2024
OutNEWS – Supreme Threat
Read Now -
Jun 17, 2024
OutNEWS – The US Summit
Read Now -
Jun 10, 2024
OutNEWS – The State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index
Read Now -
Jun 3, 2024
The Best and Worst States for LGBTQ+ Equality
Out Leadership Announces the 6th Annual State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index
Read Now -
May 28, 2024
OutNEWS – Trans & Nonbinary Leadership Summit
Read Now
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Out On the StreetMar 20, 2011
Out on the Street: US 2011
Read Now -
Out On the StreetApr 30, 2012
Out on the Street: US 2012
Read Now -
Out On the StreetNov 10, 2012
Out on the Street: Europe 2012
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Out On the StreetApr 26, 2013
Out on the Street: US 2013
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Out On the StreetOct 23, 2013
Out on the Street: Asia 2013
Read Now -
Out On the StreetNov 19, 2013
Out on the Street: Europe 2013
Read Now -
Mar 13, 2014
Out in Law: US 2014
Read Now -
OUTNEXTApr 30, 2014
OutNEXT Emerging Leaders Summit: 2014
Read Now -
Out On the StreetMay 1, 2014
Out on the Street: US 2014
Read Now -
Out On the StreetMay 1, 2014
Out on the Street: US 2014
Read Now