Making the Business Case for Investing in the Leadership Development of LGBTQ Colleagues
Inclusive leadership isn't just a checkbox—it's a strategic business advantage. According to Slack’s "The State of Work 2023" survey, 82% of employees cite happiness and engagement as key drivers of productivity. This level of engagement thrives in a culture where employees feel accepted and have opportunities for growth. It’s time to take a data-driven approach to prove the significant benefits and positive impacts that fostering LGBTQ leadership can bring to an organization. Join PILOT’s Founder & CEO, Ben Brooks, to learn how investing in diversity and inclusion can drive innovation, employee engagement, and business success.
Ben Brooks (He/Him)
Ben Brooks is the founder & CEO of PILOT, an award-winning employee career development software platform. Inspired by his successful CEO & executive coaching practice, Ben saw an opportunity to democratize executive coaching and empower employees at scale. He invested his life savings into founding the company with a mission of ensuring everyone “feels powerful at work.� PILOT was named #1 HR Tech Startup to Watch in 2020 and HR Executive Magazine named him one of the Top 100 Influencers in HR & Technology in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. PILOT was named a Top HR Product of 2020. Previously, Ben held a number of leadership and management roles at Lockheed Martin, Oliver Wyman, and Marsh & McLennan Companies, where his last role was as SVP of HR, where he was named a “rising star� by HR Executive Magazine and later was featured on its cover for his innovative work in human capital. He started his career at Enterprise Rent-a-car. In the community, Ben served on the board of directors for Out Serve-SLDN, the organization that spearheaded the successful effort to end the Department of Defense's discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, and he co-founded the LGBT employee resource group at his management consulting firm (that continues to thrive a decade later). He's a proud graduate of the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business and has resided in Manhattan for a decade.
Financial Wellness for LGBTQIA+ Community
Roughly half (48.15) of LGBTQ+ adults say they are financially unwell, compared to one-quarter (25.7%) of the general public. How can we change this? We sit down with Christopher Williams, CoFounder & Director of Strategic Initiatives at COWRIE to talk about achieving financial wellness for the LGBTQIA+ community and other underrepresented identities.
Christopher Williams
Christopher has been a Community Advisory Board member of TransTech since 2021, bringing 10 years of experience in Advertising, FinTech, SaaS, and Aerospace, as well as Grassroots and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). A Just Economy Institute alumni fellow and an Aspen Ideas Festival alumni fellow, Christopher is a champion of intentionally oppressed people queering every space they enter in every way possible. As a pastime, Christopher is a reoccurring guest on the British-based X-Men podcast, X of Words, where X-Men comic books are discussed from a Black-queer lens. Additionally, Christopher has been a hobbyist genealogist for over 15 years engaging in a form of “hauntology� (or the aim to understand how the social/cultural past “haunts� the present and future) by dissecting how Black family trees are innately queer and un-normed. The work Christopher does is self-dedicated to three groups of people affectionately known as “dead-folks, nerds, and sissies.�
Leveraging Mentorships as an Employee Engagement Strategy
Are you wondering how to attract and retain employees and increase satisfaction as we continue to hear about the “great resignation�? Mentorship has been proven to be a successful method of employee engagement that gives participants a chance to share their knowledge while making a difference. This can reduce stress and increase satisfaction. Having facilitated over 1,200 mentorship matches, StartOut is familiar with the impact these relationships have. StartOut Mentorship Program Manager Derrick Foust and Wealth Advisor’s Vice President Eve Ellis will be joining us to discuss how corporations have partnered with StartOut to implement their own mentorship programs for employees while supporting LGBTQ+ founders
Eve Ellis
Eve Ellis is a wealth advisor developing sophisticated solutions which integrate traditional investments, trust, and estate planning, lending, and philanthropy for a select number of high-net-worth individuals, families, family offices, and nonprofit organizations, as well as custom planning for executives and entrepreneurs anticipating late-stage, pre- and post-liquidity events.
She also advises interested clients on socially responsible and impact investments, and provides access to two proprietary portfolios which she co-manages � the Gender Parity Strategy and the Matterhorn/Refinitiv Diversity & Inclusion Strategy - to investors seeking to align their investments with their values.
She is a member of the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (US SIF).
Eve served on the board of the Ms. Foundation for Women for eight years and is a founding board member of the Ms. Action Fund. She is also longtime board member of Maccabi USA and of the investment committee of Congregation Rodeph Sholom in NYC.
A former professional tennis player, Eve was inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. She is also a Captain for the Yale Women’s Athletic Network.
Derrick Foust
Derrick is a Program Manager at , overseeing mentorship programming to drive impact objectives through curated connection and resource building.
To date, we have matched 1,000+ founders with mentors, with a 98% satisfaction rate from participants.
He has a passion for amplifying voices in entrepreneurship and working with smart companies who want to share their message in creative, community-driven ways.
He's worked for The Gotham Film & Media Institute (formerly IFP) and Made in NY Media Center championing creatives and entrepreneurs along the way.