Out & Equal Workplace Advocates issued its annual Workplace Awards (affectionately known as the "Outie" Awards) at the 2006 Workplace Summit on Friday, September 15, 2006 during the ever-popular Gala Awards Dinner.

This year's Dinner featured the amazing Kate Clinton (right) reprising her role as emcee.

In addition, this special event included a live auction, special entertainment and, of course, the presentation of the Out & Equal Workplace Awards. The awards honor individuals and companies for their outstanding achievements to promote workplace equality.

All candidates and finalists deserve our cheers, but to be on hand to witness this special event as we acknowledge the award recipients is a truly awe-inspiring evening whether you're holding a camera, an award or just your fork... it's about equality for all, plain and simple.

And a special thanks is in order for this year's panel of judges. What a Herculean task it is to identify those above-and-beyond leaders among a sea of workplace activists and cutting-edge philanthropic organizations. This year's panel has been particularly well versed in the decision-makiing process, and we are all on the edge of our seats waiting to learn who will come out with an Outie in 2006.

Workplace Award finalists are now available for you to look over. Be sure to recognize who is making exceptional inroads toward LGBT workplace equality. One thing to keep in mind is that we're all on the same road and the sooner we arrive at our destination — equality for all — the better, as then we will all win.

 

2006 AWARD WINNERS

Trailblazer Award

Emily Jones accepts the 2006 Out & Equal Trailblazer Award.

Emily Jones, Kodak

Emily Jones retired from Kodak as Director of Imaging Materials Research after 29 years in the R&D community. She co-founded the Lambda Network, was their first Board Chair and co-chaired the first Education Event. Her recent focus has been on marketing Kodak to the GLBT community. Emily helped design the UCLA LGBT Institute and is a graduating member of the first class. Emily serves as Past President of the Gay Alliance of Genesee Valley. She served as Out & Equal Awards Co-chair and presents frequently. Emily is co-chair of the HRC Business Council and champion of the Corporate Equality Index.

Other finalists included:
Kevin Jones, Citigroup
Ken Hagenback, Hallmark
Daniel Forrest, Nike
Terry Hildebrandt, HP

Champion Award

Deborah Dagit accepts the 2006 Out & Equal Champion Award.

Deborah Dagit, Merck

Deborah Dagit has been a strong, tireless and visible LGBT advocate throughout her 15 years as a diversity leader. She has implemented DP Benefits in three companies, serves on the Board of the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN), has facilitated the development of LGBT training in partnership with Brian McNaught, has been actively involved with three different LGBT Employee Resource Groups, and has taken on tough issues such as same-sex marriage.

Other finalists included:
Hayward Bell, Raytheon
Maria Campbell, SC Johnson
John Ferraro, Ernst & Young

ERG of the Year

Samantha Britney, on behalf of Micorsoft's GLEAM, accepts the 2006 Out & Equal ERG of the Year Award.

Microsoft GLEAM

Microsoft’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender group (GLEAM) was able to effectively work with the company to include gender identity or expression in the company's EEO statement, obtain approval to add health coverage for transgender surgery to the company's healthcare policy, and influenced the company's decision on turning a neutral support of Washington's anti-discrimination bill and other anti-discrimination legislation to full public support of anti-discrimination legislation in the U.S.

Other finalists included:
Gays, Lesbians and Allies at Dow (GLAD)
KP Pride (Kaiser Permanente)
Nike’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Friends Network (GLBT&F)

Significant Achievement

On behalf of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Michael Lammons, a Partner from the Atlanta office, accepts the 2006 Out & Equal Significant Achievement.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers

PriceWaterhouseCoopers has committed great energy, effort, resources, and budget to advancing workplace equality for LGBT people in the firm, including launching and funding GLBT Circles (their ERG) in 10 US offices, launching their executive level National GLBT Partners Advisory Board, sponsoring office-wide pride celebrations in 5 major market offices, launching LGBT diversity training for all lines of service, and awarding the firm's highest honor, the Chairman's Award, to the GLBT Circle in their Tampa office.

Other finalists included:
Deutsche Bank
Kodak
Raytheon

Workplace Excellence

Representatives of JPMorgan Chase accept the 2006 Out & Equal Workplace Excellence Award from Selisse Berry.

JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase is a consistently forward-looking champion for workplace equality, safety, and inclusiveness. Its global ranking as a top company for LGBT diversity and its consistent score of 100% on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, illustrate strong leadership for nondiscrimination policies, benefits parity, inclusion, and community support.

Other finalists included:
SC Johnson
Wells Fargo

 

2006 JUDGES

 

If you, your company or someone you know has a real-world success story in terms of defining and upholding LGBT workplace equality, we want to hear from you and learn about it. Contact us today.

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