Post submitted by Liz Cooper, former Associate Director, Corporate Equality Programs

HRC Foundation and more than 250 guests celebrated the 2018 Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality last evening in New York City, honoring 600-plus businesses achieving a perfect score in the 2018 Corporate Equality Index (CEI).

The highlight of the evening event, hosted by Time Warner Inc., was a fireside chat between HRC President Chad Griffin and CNN host Brooke Baldwin about the remarkable progress toward full equality at nation’s largest employers, as well as the ongoing challenges still facing the LGBTQ community.

Jim Cummings, Senior Vice President of Compensation and Benefits of Time Warner, and Mary Beth Maxwell, HRC Foundation Senior Vice President for Programs, Research & Training, also delivered remarks. And Deena Fidas, director of HRC’s Workplace Equality Program, spoke about HRC’s expanding work in global workplace equality and introduced Emilio Maldonado, the executive director of Fundación Iguales & HRC Equidad CL.

“Thank you to all of our speakers and panelists for their insights and tireless commitment to creating more fair and equitable workplaces for all of their employees,” Fidas said.

Stacey Friedman, Executive Vice President and General Counsel for JPMorgan Chase & Co., introduced a panel discussion facilitated by Beck Bailey, deputy director of the HRC Foundation Workplace Equality Program. Panelistsl included LGBTQ workplace champions including Stephanie Battaglino, Corporate VP, New York Life and Founder, Follow Your Heart LLC; Rosanna Durruthy, Head of Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, LinkedIn; Michael Lopez, Head of Inclusion & Diversity, Diageo; Willard McCloud III, Global Lead - Diversity & Inclusion and Culture, Pfizer.

The New York event was the first of two celebratory gatherings recognizing this year’s CEI Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality recipients – the second will be held in Las Vegas on May 11.

HRC Foundation’s 2018 Corporate Equality Index is the premier national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices pertinent to LGBTQ employees. In the 2018 CEI report, 609 major businesses — spanning nearly every industry and geographic area of the country — earned a top score of 100 and the distinction of Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.

Congratulations to these leading businesses that achieved a perfect score on the 2018 Corporate Equality Index!