BIZ Online NGLCC

The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce's "Evening of Courage" proved an uplifting and memorable event as LGBT small business owners, corporate leaders and LGBT allies came together to celebrate the contributions of diversity pioneers.

Spirits were high as more than 600 people crowded into the historic National Building Museum for cocktails and dinner Nov. 7. This was the fifth National Dinner since NGLCC was created in 2002.

Inspired by the election of President-elect Barack Obama just three days before, Chance Mitchell, NGLCC's co-founder and CEO, encouraged the crowd to take up the next president's challenge to work together to create change. "The change we make today will bring an even brighter tomorrow," said Mitchell.

Louise Chernin echoed Mitchell's theme. She accepted the Chamber of the Year Award on behalf of the Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA). Chernin, who is executive director of the GSBA, saluted the courage of the men and women who first made change some 30 years ago by daring to come out as LGBT business leaders.

"They rolled out the economic fabric of this world to show you that we are the faces in that economic fabric," says Chernin. "We are the surgeons who operate on your heart. We are the attorneys who negotiate with you across the table. We are the people in the restaurants who serve you and the chefs who prepare things for you. Everywhere you go we are there. The bravery it took 30 something years ago to do that is why we're all here today."

The night's most poignant moment came when Irwin Drucker of IBM and George Carrancho of American Airlines presented the NGLCC/American Airlines ExtrAA Mile Award to filmmaker Cynthia Wade, director of the Oscar-winning documentary "Freeheld." Wade said she was compelled to tell the story of New Jersey police lieutenant Laurel Hester as she battled cancer and fought to transfer her police pension to her domestic partner Stacie Andree.

"One of the things that was really special about the Oscars was Laurel had passed away but Stacie, an auto mechanic who was poised to lose their house without Laurel's pension and who had never been west of Pittsburgh, came with me to the Academy Awards and had Laurel's ashes in a locket, so Laurel was there with us," recalled Wade. "That night Freeheld was the number one Googled term on the planet."

The Courage in Business award was presented to Fred P. Hochberg by NGLCC board chair Walter Schubert. Hochberg is the former dean of Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy as well as a former presidential appointment as the deputy administrator in the Small Business Administration during the Clinton Administration, and the recently appointed commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. "He is an example, a mentor, a role model to us all. He is a courageous leader," Schubert said in introducing Hochberg.

Hochberg reflected those words back to the small business owners and entrepreneurs in the audience. "I think the real courage right now is to be in business today," he said, referring to the tough economy and the troubled financial markets.

The NGLCC presented its Supplier Diversity Advocate of the Year award to Theresa Harrison, director of supplier diversity at Ernst & Young. Justin Nelson, NGLCC's co-founder and president, acknowledged Harrison for her evangelism on behalf of NGLCC and LGBT supplier diversity. "Thanks to Theresa and others on the procurement council, we experienced a 711 percent increase in reported spending with LGBT suppliers, literally millions and millions of dollars," he said.

Nelson also thanked Motorola, which was named Corporation of the Year, for its long-standing efforts to ensure the success of diversity efforts within its own company and across corporate America. "Motorola has been visionary in its understanding of the importance of diversity, within its workforce, customer base and suppliers," said Nelson.

The night's sweetest moments came when Todd and Sean Bavol-Montgomery, owners of Integrity Staffing Solutions, were recognized as the 2008 NGLCC/Wells Fargo LGBT Business Owners of the Year. Partners both in life and work, the two men talked about their dreams as they accepted their award.

Todd Bavol-Montgomery said he never dreamed he would win such an award and then be able to show his affection for his partner. Then he promptly kissed his partner and the audience cheered.

The amazingly successful Integrity Staffing Solutions provides specialty staffing in the areas of clerical, accounting, finance and light industrial. It has 22 offices around the United States and is located in Wilmington, Del.

Also named that night were the finalists for the award—leadership coach Jennifer Brown of Jennifer Brown Consulting in New York and communications and design expert David Owen Hastings of David Owen Hastings Design in Seattle.

Mitchell also announced the appointment of three new members to the NGLCC Board of Directors. Beginning in January, Mitchell said that Chris Crespo of Ernst & Young and Irwin Drucker of IBM will join the board. In addition, he said that a community ally was being named to the board—Mark Bertolini, president of Aetna, the first time a community ally has been represented on the board.

The night ended with Nelson praising small business owners and corporate leaders for their courage in standing with the NGLCC in the face of outrageous attacks by conservative fringe groups.

"Courage comes from standing by those partnerships when times are tough, when decisions are sometimes painful, because you know them to be right and just," Nelson said. "Now, more than ever, it is important that we stand together. All of us in this room tonight – major corporations and small businesses alike, chambers of commerce, employees and customers, suppliers, organizations, families, and allies—must stand together because our cause is right and just. Together we are courageous."