Board of Directors
President
Tom Johnson - Clorox
Vice President
Mike Feldman - Xerox
Vice President of Development
Bobby Wilkinson - USAA
Treasurer
Angie Wilson - Ernst & Young
Secretary
Patrick O'Donnell - Deloitte
Directors
- Scott Beth - Intuit
- Claudia Brind-Woody - IBM
- Renee Brown - Wells Fargo
- Laura Crumley - Dell, Inc.
- Lori Fox - Lori Fox Diversity & Business Consulting
- Donna Griffin - Chubb (retired)
- Julie Hogan - Xerox
- George A. Kalogridis - The Walt Disney Company
- Charles Lickel - IBM (retired)
- Eleanor Mercado - Paul Hastings LLP
Emeritus
- Kayla Shell - Dell
- Tara Bunch - Hewlett Packard
Board Officers
Like many individuals, Tom Johnson has had an interesting journey from a closeted entry-level role to one as an “out” leader in a U.S. corporation. Tom is currently Vice President – Finance, Global Business Services at The Clorox Company, where he operates the company’s shared services unit supporting the company’s business units and functions. He also plays a lead role in developing the Finance organization and its capabilities. Prior to his current role, Tom held leadership roles as the company’s Controller and Chief Accounting Officer and as Vice President of Finance for the company’s Specialty Products Division.
Tom joined Clorox over 20 years ago and has served in a variety of roles in Finance, Marketing and Business Development. He emerged from the corporate closet when the company asked him to accept relocation as part of an International assignment. This event was the beginning of efforts that Tom co-led to bring domestic partner benefits and other equitable policies to Clorox, which eventually resulted in the company’s perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index. Tom believes that corporations will continue to lead the way resulting in full equality for GLBT people inside and outside the workplace. Tom is also one of the founding members of Clorox Pride, the company’s employee resource group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees and their advocates.
Tom is originally from a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. He and his partner, Bruce Genaro, spend their time skiing, hiking and practicing yoga in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe.
Mike FeldmanMike Feldman is Senior Vice President of Global Document Outsourcing Services at Xerox. Mike and his team are responsible for driving revenue and profit growth of Xerox's Global Managed Print Services business in the Large Enterprise and Indirect channels. His team sets the strategy and builds the portfolio of offerings to the market. They are responsible for global services delivery of this offering. Mike and his team work closely with customers, solution partners, press and analyst's.
Prior to joining Xerox, Mike spent 24 years at Hewlett-Packard and was HP’s Vice President and General Manager of the Managed Enterprise Solutions Business Unit in the Imaging and Printing Group’s (IPG) Americas Organization. Mike and his team were driving direct sales of the IPG product, solutions and Managed Print Services portfolio to named enterprise and public sector customers throughout the Americas. In this role, Mike had responsibility for delivering against the Managed Print Services financial commitments.
Mike holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Pace University and is a graduate of the Leadership Program Institute Program at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management. He resides in New York City with his partner, Art Jalandoni.
Bobby Wilkinson
Vice President of Development
Bobby Wilkinson is the Executive Director of Client Marketing with USAA, where he leads a team of marketing professionals who serve USAA's Property and Casualty Product leaders in new member acquisition and growth, deepening relationships and member retention. Bobby previously served as the State Farm Zone Marketing Manager for the State of California, where he lead a team of marketing experts in determining marketing strategy, planning and tactics for one of the largest and continually profitable operations in State Farm’s Zone structure. Bobby began his State Farm career in 1991 as an intern and worked in various operational and Human Resource roles before landing in Corporate Marking. During his tenure in that department, Bobby led the efforts in taking State Farm’s sports and entertainment sponsorship marketing profile to new heights. From better leveraging long-time properties like the State Farm LPGA Classic and the State Farm Bayou Classic, to developing new partnerships with the NCAA, NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, Go Diego Go Tour and the American Idol Live Tour, Bobby led State Farm's efforts in the sponsorship marketing arena during an unparalleled phase of brand growth and importance.
Bobby graduated from Eastern KY University with a double major in Finance and Business Education. He currently sits on the brand editorial board of Event Marketer Magazine, the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission Advisory board and is a former member of the National Advertising Review committee. He has earned the Senior Claim Law Associate designation, a Marketing Excellence Accreditation from the Association of National Advertisers and completed his MBA in November of 2009. Bobby and his schnoodle Brutus currently reside in San Antonio, TX.
Angie WilsonAngie
is a partner with Ernst & Young with more than 15 years of
experience in the Assurance and Advisory Business Services practice.
She leads the firm’s Health Sciences practice in Los Angeles and has
significant experience in serving all sectors within health sciences
including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, hospitals,
managed care organizations, pharmacy benefit management companies, long
term care and hospice. Angie has extensive experience serving clients
that are SEC registrants, including the direct involvement in several
IPO’s and secondary offerings. She has also assisted many clients in
private placement offerings and merger and acquisition activities.
Angie
leads the firm’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered inclusiveness
and diversity efforts for the West Sub Area and is a member of the
firm's West Sub Area Inclusiveness Steering Committee.
Angie is a CPA and received an accounting degree from the University of Tulsa
and an MBA from Arizona State University. Angie and her partner Sofie
enjoy spending time with their two young children and playing golf (both
are ex professional golfers). Angie is also a member of United Way
Women Leaders, Southern California Biomedical Council and the Human
Rights Campaign Federal Club.
Patrick is a Principal in the New York office of Deloitte & Touche (Deloitte) and provides advisory and attest services to large, multi-national clients in the manufacturing industry. Patrick was admitted to the partnership in 2006 and has been with Deloitte since 1997. Prior to joining Deloitte, Patrick worked for the Bank of New York and on Wall Street.
In addition to serving Deloitte clients, Patrick holds a leadership role and has direct involvement in several firm initiatives focused on talent recruitment, development and retention. Patrick also serves as the partner advisor for the New York chapter of Deloitte’s LGBT business resource group and is a member of the Northeast region’s Diversity & Inclusion Council. As partner advisor, Patrick mentors the chapter’s leadership team; oversees the group’s activities with respect to professional development opportunities within Deloitte and with other firms and companies; and organizes and participates in community service activities with multiple area LGBT organizations. Patrick also serves on the firm’s national LGBT advisory team.
Patrick earned an MBA in Finance from Fordham University in New York and a BA in Communication and Business from The American University in Washington DC. Patrick grew up in New Jersey and currently resides in New York City with his partner John.
Directors
Eleanor Mercado is a litigation associate with the law firm of Paul Hastings LLP. Prior to joining Paul Hastings, she was a law clerk for the Honorable Daniel A. Barker on the Arizona Court of Appeals. She practices in the areas of complex business litigation, including the defense of private class action litigation in securities, ERISA, and shareholder derivative actions. She also represents individuals and corporations in criminal and regulatory matters, including securities, antitrust, and Foreign Corrupt Practices investigations.
In 1999, Eleanor graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy. In 2005, she graduated from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law where she was a board member of the Public Interest Law Foundation and served on the staff of the Interdisciplinary Law Journal.
Scott Beth joined Intuit in March of 2003 and is the Vice President of Finance Operations. In this role, Scott is responsible for company-wide sourcing and purchasing including strategic supplier relationship management, cost and quality management, negotiations and contracting. Scott is also responsible for Intuit’s Supply Chain and Order-to-Cash procesess which include order management, physical and digital fulfillment, accounts receivable and credit/collections.
In 2011, Scott expanded his role to include real estate and workplace services for Intuit’s global campuses.
Prior to joining Intuit, Scott held leadership positions at Agilent Technologies where he formed the procurement organization for the Hewlett-Packard spin-off as the Vice President of Procurement. Prior to Agilent, Scott held a number of leadership positions in Hewlett-Packard over 23 years spanning engineering, information technology, supply chain management, procurement, quality and finance.
Scott earned his BA in economics from Stanford University and serves on a number of boards and advisory committees including the University of San Diego Supply Chain Management Institute.
Claudia Brind-Woody
Claudia Brind-Woody is currently the Vice President and Managing Director for IBM Global Intellectual Property and Advanced Technology Licensing. She is responsible for licensing and assignment of IBM patents and technologies to companies in the Software, Services, WebTech and Financial Sectors. She also runs IBM’s Small Divestiture Practice and the specialized consulting group known as IP Management Services.
Claudia has been with IBM since 1996, and has held multiple global roles during her tenure. She has been a Vice President in the Industrial Sector, the Managing Director of the IBM Nokia account in Finland and a Vice President in Global Technology Services to name a few. She received the coveted IBM Chairman’s Award for her work on the Global Y2K team, and also has two IBM patents pending.
In her “night job” at IBM, Claudia serves as the co-chair of the IBM Executive LGBT Taskforce that focuses globally on the issues of LGBT employees in the work place. She is an accomplished keynote speaker who has represented IBM in Copenhagen, Zurich, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Brussels, London, Munich, Paris, Helsinki, Bangalore, Tokyo, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Austin, Chicago and Washington, DC.
In addition to speaking on LGBT issues, Claudia serves on the Board of Directors of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates and co-chairs their International Advisory Committee. She has also served on the Lambda Legal Board of Directors and the John C. Stennis Institute of Government Board of Advisors. In 2011, she received the Out & Equal Trailblazer award for her work in LGBT diversity and was listed in GO Magazine’s “100 Women We Love” Class of 2011. In 2012, she received the “Emily Wirsing Kelly Leadership Award” from Mary Baldwin College and was named to The Guardian’s WorldPride Power List Top 100.
Before joining IBM in 1996, Claudia worked for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games as the Technology Program Director for the Olympic Results System. Earlier in her career, Claudia was the Vice-President for Business Development at CenturyTel (CTL). She served as the Assistant Dean of the College & Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. She also served as the Assistant Athletics Director at two major universities: the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Claudia coached a 1979 USA National Team in women’s basketball, and was an assistant coach for two years under Pat Head Summitt at The University of Tennessee.
Claudia holds a J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Georgia State University, an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and an M.S. from the University of Tennessee. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Mary Baldwin College where she earned her B. A. summa cum laude. She is admitted to practice law by the State Bar of Georgia.
She lives with her wife, Tracie, in Oxfordshire, England.
Donna GriffinAs Chief Diversity Officer at Chubb, Donna is responsible for providing leadership and oversight of corporate activities that drive Chubb’s diversity strategy, working closely with business unit leaders and Human Resources. Donna is responsible for Chubb’s minority talent management strategy and diversity education efforts across the organization as well as being an advocate for Chubb’s diversity efforts and accomplishments externally.
A 27-year employee of Chubb, Donna served for 14 years, beginning in 1994 as Director of Worldwide Operations. In this position Donna was responsible for global support to underwriting, claims and broker customer service. Prior to that, Donna served in a variety of senior P&L positions in underwriting, marketing and branch administration. Donna holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Rhode Island College, and she has completed executive development programs at Penn State, Wharton and Harvard.
Apart from her primary business focus, Donna is the founding corporate sponsor of Chubb’s Black Employee Network and has served on Chubb’s Women's Development Council, and the Gay and Lesbian Employee Network. Outside of Chubb, she serves on the Strategic Planning Committee for Executive Women of New Jersey and the Advisory Board for the Rutgers Institute for Women’s Leadership. Donna is a past board member for the New Jersey Battered Women’s Services and the Women’s Fund of New Jersey. In 2003, she was recognized by New Jersey Business Magazine as one of the year’s 25 Women of Influence. In 2006, the New Jersey Star Ledger named her one of the 10 Most Powerful Women in New Jersey Business. In 2010 New Jersey Business Magazine included Donna as one of the “Best 50” women in New Jersey business. In 2011 The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce named Donna Outstanding Corporate Leader in Diversity.
Donna’s career at Chubb represents a proven track record of effecting positive cultural change; an ability to create and drive long-term strategies; a global perspective; a vast business network within the industry and worldwide; and an understanding of the particular challenges facing women in business.
Julie HoganJulie Hogan is Vice President of Strategic Client Operations at Xerox. During her twenty-five years at Xerox, Julie’s roles have spanned the services business across the country. Originally from Chicago, she served in the United States Navy, providing tech support for classified defense computer systems and intelligence projects. Julie serves on the Out & Equal Board of Directors. She resides in San Ramon, California with her wife, Allison.
George A. KalogridisGeorge A. Kalogridis serves as president of the Walt Disney World Resort. A 41-year veteran of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, George oversees a workforce of more than 66,000 Cast Members at four theme parks and 25 resort hotels all located at the world’s premier vacation destination.
Before the appointment to this role in January 2013, George served as president of the Disneyland Resort since 2009, where he led more than 25,000 Cast Members at the world-famous Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure Park, the Disneyland Hotel, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, the Paradise Pier Hotel and Downtown Disney.
George began his career at Walt Disney World in 1971 as a busboy at the Contemporary Resort. During his tenure, George has held numerous executive positions, gaining a breadth of experience from all aspects of the operation.
From 2006 until his appointment to Disneyland Resort, George served as chief operating officer for Disneyland Resort Paris and was responsible for leading the daily operations of the Resort’s two theme parks, seven hotels and the Disney Village. During his tenure in Paris, George oversaw the highly successful 15th anniversary celebration of the resort. He also played an instrumental role in reorganizing the Resort’s operations structure to help improve both Guest and Cast satisfaction.
Prior to his role in Paris, George served as senior vice president of Resort Operations for the Disneyland Resort, where he played a significant role in the first expansion of the resort – the opening of Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney. In addition, he was responsible for the daily operations of both theme parks and three hotels, as well as Downtown Disney.
In addition to his leadership roles in both Paris and Anaheim, George served as vice president of Travel Operations at Walt Disney World in Orlando, where he implemented a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that continues to serve as the foundation for how millions of Guests book their travel to Walt Disney World. George also served as vice president of EPCOT, where, in addition to overseeing park operations, he led the Millennium Celebration for The Walt Disney Company.
During his tenure as president of the Disneyland Resort, George was active in the community in California, serving on CHOC Children’s Hospital Board of Directors, the Board of Directors of Children’s HealthCare of California, the Out and Equal Board of Directors, California Travel and Tourism Commission, the Cal State University - Chancellor's Hospitality Industry Advisors Board, the University of California, Irvine Center for Global Leadership and UCI’s Paul Merage School of Business Dean’s Advisory Board.
George graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelors Degree in Sociology.
Charles LickelCharles Lickel retired as Vice President of Software Research for IBM in 2011 after 32 years with IBM, capping his career off with his leadership of the Watson Jeopardy Grand Challenge win. Recognized as a leader of diversity within IBM, he was appointed co-chair of the IBM GLBT diversity task force by then-Chairman Lou Gerstner. Demonstrating his particular interest in driving changes to bring equality in the workplace, in 2001 he was honored as one of the Gay Financial Network 25 for his effectiveness in shaping a diversity-friendly climate at work, as well as for service as a role model in business leadership. In 2009, he received the Harvey Milk Alumni Award from University at Albany. In 2011 he received the A. Nico Habermann Award from The Computer Research Association for advancement of underrepresented groups in computer research. Charles received The NOGLSTP'S 2012 GLBT Engineer Award in recognition of his contributions to the Engineering and GLBT Community. Additionally, Charles shares his talents as a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum, sits on the board of The Guidance Center and advisory boards of SUNY Albany, Pace University and the NJ Institute of Technology, and is a member of the Human Rights Campaign. Charles earned his BS from the State University of New York at Albany. He currently lives in Tarrytown, NY with his husband.
Lori Fox is a passionate advocate and member of the incredibly diverse LGBT community. As President and Founder of Lori Fox Diversity/Business Consulting, Lori works as a diversity/business consultant and personal coach, consulting with individuals and corporations on workplace issues. Lori’s primary focus is the personal and professional development of LGBT business and non-profit professionals, and the organizations they serve.
Lori served as a Director of Human Resources and Business Partner for McDonald's Corporation, working throughout the United States and international assignments for over twenty years; consulting in unique cultures, with unique people.
Lori has worked in leadership, training and coaching roles in a diversity of local and national organizations, including OutandEqual, where she serves as National Chairperson of the Transgender Workplace Advisory Board.
Lori is a frequent speaker and facilitator on LGBT Diversity issues on university campuses, churches and business organizations throughout the US.
As a Transgender woman, she truly lives her life with a passion for authenticity and excellence.
Renee Brown is a Senior Vice President and the Director of Enterprise Social Media at Wells Fargo. She served as the Executive Sponsor of Wells Fargo’s PRIDE team member network for three years and, pre-merger, of Wachovia’s LGBT resource group, GALEA. As an out lesbian executive and trailblazer, Renee has served on many diversity teams and committees to develop and support greater equality in the workplace. Raised in Louisiana Cajun country, she now makes her home near Charlotte, North Carolina with her partner, Kelly, and their nine year old daughter.
Laura Crumley is currently an Executive Director of Finance at Dell, Inc. In this capacity she is responsible for leading a team in the financial planning, analysis and reporting for Dell’s $4.8B Global Support & Deployment line of business. Since joining Dell, Laura has held finance director roles in Global Operations, Americas Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Product Research & Development and Worldwide Procurement. Laura serves as Co-Chair of the Executive Advisory Board of PRIDE, Dell’s LGBT employee resource group. She is also a Federal Club Council Member of the Human Rights Campaign.
Laura earned her BA in Economics from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and her MBA from the University of LaVerne. Laura currently resides in Austin, TX with her partner Tamra.
Emeritus
Kayla Shell serves as Legal Director of Dell’s Large Enterprise Sales Division. She has been at Dell since May 1998 serving in various assignments as a sales, marketing, advertising, and e-commerce attorney. She was previously at Shell Oil Company in Houston for several years. Kayla serves as Co-Chair of the Executive Advisory Board of PRIDE, Dell’s GLBT network group. During Kayla’s leadership of PRIDE, Dell became an O&E Summit sponsor and has scored 100% on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index Survey. Kayla is a Federal Club Council Member of the Human Rights Campaign and actively supports Equality Texas, a GLBT lobbying organization, and Atticus Circle, and GLBT allies organization. Kayla lives in Austin with her partner, Randi Shade, and their children.
Tara Bunch is currently the vice president of Global Customer Support Operations. She is responsible for delivering customer support services across all of HP’s consumer products as well as directing HP’s commercial and enterprise printing services and support portfolio.
Tara began her career at HP in 1985 in the Computer Systems Division. During her career, she has held a variety of management and executive leadership positions in manufacturing operations, as well as product research and development. Prior to her current role, Bunch was vice president and general manager of HP’s Digital Camera and Photography Solutions businesses.
Tara received her Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1985 from the University of California, Berkeley and received her Masters Degree in Business Administration in 1989 from the University of Santa Clara California.
Tara lives in Colorado with her partner, Susan, eight year old daughter, Emily, and five year old twin sons, Ian and Aidan.