Walter Schubert, CEO and Founder, The Schubert Group LLC, and Founder, The Gay Financial Network

Walter Schubert, a third generation member of the New York Stock Exchange, is the Founder and CEO of The Schubert Group LLC, a global management consulting firm. He is also the founder of The Gay Financial Network (www.gfn.com), the Internet's first fully integrated financial information and services web-site for the LGBT community. With over 30 years experience on Wall Street in the Financial Services Industry, and as the first openly gay member of the New York Stock Exchange, his extensive knowledge and experience in the securities business, coupled with his initiative in creating The Gay Financial Network have earned Schubert a well-deserved reputation as a recognized leader within both the U.S. financial service and LGBT communities.

Walter Schubert has been featured in a broad array of print and broadcast, domestic and international, media venues. Civic-minded and involved in many community affairs projects, Schubert is an active contributor to many charities. In 2003, Walter Schubert became the founding member of the board of directors of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. He currently serves as its chairman.

In 2000, he was elected to the national board of directors of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbian and Gays (PFLAG). He was re-elected to the board of PFLAG in 2004 and currently serves as treasurer.

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Rev. Dr. Janie Adams Spahr

Rev. Spahr is a Presbyterian minister ordained in 1974 and is now honorably retired as a lesbian evangelist emerita. Janie served Presbyterian pastorates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and San Rafael, California. She was also the executive director of the Oakland Council of Presbyterian Churches before coming out in 1979. She joined the staff of Metropolitan Community Church as minister of pastoral care in San Francisco from 1980 to 1982. 

She was the founding executive director of Spectrum Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Concerns in Marin County from 1982 to 1993. She then became the founding minister director of That All May Freely Serve from 1993 to 2007 when she retired. Spectrum was one of 4 LGBT organizations that helped sponsor (along with United Way of the Bay Area) the Building Bridges Program from which Out & Equal was born.

Janie is a mother, grandmother, wife emerita, and twin sister in a loving family.

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Vickie Shaw looks like the woman next door ... All-American with blond hair, lipstick and polished nails. Once she opens her mouth, you'll know she was born and raised in Texas and you'll never stop laughing. After eighteen years of marriage and three kids, something was missing in Vickie's life...

"People were always coming up to me and saying, 'You should do stand-up comedy.'"

Vickie did become a stand-up comic and came out as a lesbian at the same time.

"I would've come out as a stand-up, but it would've killed my parents."

Visit her online at vickieshaw.com

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Not Quite Opera is a San Francisco theater company devoted to the development of original musicals. Our recent hit, Absolutely San Francisco, played to packed houses at the Phoenix Theater in 2007 and is looking for a permanent theatrical home. Other NQO productions include Musical Genius, The Fall Feast, Whats New(som)? and Modulating Back to Tonic.

Absolutely San Francisco is a 90 minute musical romp in which four native San Franciscans go in search of their hearts desire by taking a cable car ride (something locals never do.) When the car breaks down and the fog closes in around them, the characters are forced to make peace with their lost dreams. Davo is a billionaire hippie descended from Gold Rush stock who yearns for his lost love and the return of the 60s. Jeffrey is a gay wine merchant coping with divorce after being one of the first to marry for the brief time gay marriage was legal in California. Grace is a Chinese immigrant who made a financial success in America only to lose her husband to cancer and her son to crime. And, Harrys Wife is a homeless hold over from the 60s in search our gorgeous, elusive and for the moment still single Mayor Gavin Newsom.

With a book written by Anne Doherty, Absolutely San Francisco features music and lyrics by local writers: Chuck Ver Berg, Dwight Okamura, Brad Erikson, and Anne Doherty.

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While singing for the play Letters From A New England Negro in 1992, Linda Tillery was introduced to some field recordings of traditional African-American music. "My God," she exclaimed, "this is what I've been looking for!" Tillery poured over documentary recordings and ethnomusicology research to uncover a treasure-trove of spirituals, work songs, field hollers, and slave songs. Within months, she assembled the Cultural Heritage Choir: Rhonda Benin, Elouise Burrell, Melanie DeMore, Brian Dyer and Simon Monserrat.

These songs are "survival music." As Tillery explains, this music, particularly the spirituals, has kept Black people alive through slavery, night rider's raids, and segregation. This is the music that has been used as a support for just about every political movement in this country. People take spirituals, reword them and march together in the name of freedom and justice.

The Cultural Heritage Choir is a Grammy nominated, percussion driven, vocal ensemble whose mission is to help preserve and share the rich musical traditions of African-American roots music. Their music is rooted in the deep south and strongly connected to their West African and Caribbean origins.

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"Their cadence is so sensual that it's virtually irresistible!"
-Enrique Fernandez, Miami Sun Sentinel

At the first note, you’ll want to jump out of your seat. Orquesta La Moderna Tradición transports you to an era of sensual danzones and swinging cha-chas—the music of the Havana social clubs of the 1950s. The only band of its type in the United States, the 12-piece ensemble captures the romance and style of a memorable era in Cuban dance music.   

Violins and flutes weave lilting melodies against the backdrop of driving Afro-Cuban rhythms. The orchestra’s repertoire ranges from traditional ballads to the latest salsa and songo hits to surprising twists: you should hear their spin on the old church tune “Golden Slippers.” As one critic put it: “Imagine a blend of Tito Puente and a tango, and you'll begin to get an idea of the power and beauty of this music.”

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Robert Hanson, President, Levi Strauss Americas

Robert Hanson is the president of the Americas region for Levi Strauss and Co., which includes accountability for the U.S. Levi’s brand, U.S. Dockers, U.S. Levi Strauss Signature, Canada, Mexico and Latin America businesses. Previously, he served as president of Levi Strauss North America, and prior to that as president and general manager of the U.S. Levi's brand, a position he held since 2001. As president and general manager of the U.S. Levi’s brand, Robert led all aspects of the brand’s U.S. business from strategic planning and product design to consumer marketing and sales.

Robert is a member of the company’s worldwide leadership team, which sets the company’s global strategic direction. Robert began his career with Levi Strauss & Co. in 1988 as an advertising manager. Since then, he has held a variety of increasingly important positions in the U.S. and Europe. He was named President of Levi Strauss North America in October 2006.

Prior to joining LS&CO, Robert worked at the global advertising firm, Foote, Cone & Belding. Robert received a bachelors of arts and a bachelors of science degree from Saint Mary’s College in California and attended the Executive Program of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business Consumer Marketing. He also attended Lloyola University in Rome.

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Jane Harper, Director, Collaborative Innovation at IBM

Jane Harper is IBM’s director of collaborative innovation where she is responsible for creating programs and tools which enable global teams to collaborate and turn innovative ideas into reality. Prior to this, Jane led IBM’s university relations team where she worked with universities around the world to drive innovative joint research projects and collaborate on critical skills development to feed our talent pipeline.

Jane’s focus as an executive has always been in areas that involved creating change and innovation for IBM.  As Director of Internet Technology, Jane was one of the early pioneers in IBM’s Internet efforts and worked on the original teams that created the first ibm.com, IBM’s intranet and alphaWorks.  In 1999, Jane and her team launched Extreme Blue, a vital corporate program focused on talent, technology and business innovation.  Extreme Blue has grown to 14 labs worldwide and now engages hundreds of student interns and employees each year who work together on more than a hundred innovative projects with measurable results.  Extreme Blue is featured in the recent best selling book entitled "Mavericks at Work" as one of 32 maverick stories around people and innovation.

In her 27 year career with IBM, Jane has had a broad background of staff and management experience in information technology, marketing, finance, human resources and corporate strategy.  As part of the company’s diversity initiatives, Jane is a member of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) executive task force.  Outside of work, Jane is married to Christie Hardwick and together they have four children.  Jane serves on the emeritus board of GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network), and she enjoys biking, skiing and traveling.  Jane has an MBA in marketing from Pace University.

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