Olin Business School and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans — hosted an LGBT Workplace Inclusion Conference on Aug. 14 at Washington University in St. Louis.
More than 50 attendees representing local firms and educational institutions, including WUSTL staff, faculty and students, participated in the interactive session at Bauer Hall. The conference focused on sharing best practices for making businesses and organizations fully inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Beck Bailey, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s deputy director of employee engagement, discussed how organizations can gain a competitive advantage and improve their score on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, published annually by HRC.
“The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is grateful for the generous hospitality of the Olin Business School at Washington University for hosting us and 20 of St. Louis’ leading companies,” Bailey said. “These employers, committed to diversity and inclusion across their workforces, heard about our latest research and guidance on making their workplaces more welcoming for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.”
Discussions on how to build a framework for equality, nondiscrimination policies, equitable benefits and public engagement were also shared with the audience. The second half of the conference focused on how to build a transgender-inclusive workplace, including an understanding of the individual transition process, implications for business, and best practices to secure transgender health-care coverage.
Mark Brostoff, associate dean and director of Olin’s Weston Career Center, kicked off the conference.
“The opportunity to help facilitate an employer conference with the Human Rights Campaign on LGBT workplace inclusion demonstrates our school’s commitment to ensure our corporate partners and students have the tools necessary to fully embrace diversity in the workplace,” Brostoff said.