Equilar, the leading provider of corporate leadership data solutions, today announced a new Equilar Diversity Network partnership with Out Leadership. This new partnership will expand the scope of director candidates within Equilar BoardEdge, increasing opportunities for LGBTQ+ executives to sit on boards of directors while bolstering public companies’ ability to achieve what Out Leadership calls “Return on Equality,” and the goals of its specific Quorum initiative on LGBTQ+ Board representation.

According to a recent Equilar study, just 0.4% of Russell 3000 companies disclosed that they had LGBTQ+ members on their boards. Because sexual orientation must be self-identified, LGBTQ+ executives are not only significantly underrepresented in corporate boardrooms, they are also likely undercounted.

The continued efforts of organizations like Out Leadership support executives who self-identify. This not only will lead to more awareness of highly qualified LGBTQ+ candidates, but also will ultimately result in a more accurate representation of the community as companies increase recruitment and voluntary disclosures of diverse members.

“LGBTQ+ awareness continues to increase in the workplace. And boards without representation from these communities risk missing important factors that can empower their companies to better serve employees and customers,” said David Chun, Founder and CEO of Equilar. “We’re proud to partner with Out Leadership and continue our efforts to disprove the notion that there is a lack of qualified, diverse board candidates.”

“Out Leadership is proud to be the LGBTQ+ partner of Equilar Diversity Network. This partnership is extremely timely as we observed signs of a growing consensus among business leaders, regulators and the markets that the Board diversity agenda must be inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity. With our partner Equilar, we want to showcase that the LGBTQ+ Board talent is here and ready,” said Out Leadership CEO and Founder Todd Sears.

Out Leadership was one of the nominating groups for the recently released Agenda Diversity 100, a list of pre-vetted and board-ready candidates from underrepresented demographic groups published by Agenda, the Financial Times’ publication for corporate board members. The Agenda Diversity 100 utilized the Equilar BoardEdge platform as a data source, which will now include Out Leadership’s network. The addition of these board-ready candidates will enhance companies’ ability to recruit directors who combine professional experience with diverse perspectives integral to the future of Corporate America.

About Out Leadership

Out Leadership is the oldest and largest global LGBTQ+ business advisory that partners with the world’s most influential companies to build business opportunities, cultivate talent, and drive LGBTQ+ equality forward. We believe that LGBTQ+ inclusion positively impacts business results, and that including LGBTQ+ people at the most senior level of executive leadership builds business. We call this idea Return on Equality™.

Comprising more than 80 global member firms and dedicated to cross-industry collaboration, Out Leadership is a certified B Corporation. Out Leadership convenes CEOs, business leaders and allies at exclusive invitation-only events across 4 continents. Out Leadership also operates three talent initiatives: Quorum, which aims to increase LGBTQ+ representation on corporate boards; OutNEXT, the first global talent development program for emerging LGBTQ+ leaders; and OutWOMEN, connecting senior-level LGBTQ+ women in business.

About the Equilar Diversity Network

Launched in September 2016 to advance diverse representation in boardrooms across the globe, EDN now consists of more than 45 partner organizations and nearly 170,000 diverse board candidates, supplementing nearly one million candidate profiles already in the Equilar BoardEdge database. EDN is a consortium of leading diversity-focused organizations consolidating robust registries of board-ready executives into one searchable database. Since the Network was founded, more than 2,000 members across EDN partner organizations have been appointed to corporate boards.

About Equilar

Equilar is the leading provider of corporate leadership data solutions. Companies of all sizes rely on Equilar for their most important business decisions, including 70% of the Fortune 500 and institutional investors representing over $20 trillion in assets. Equilar offers data-driven solutions for business development, recruiting, executive compensation and shareholder engagement that bring together business leaders to drive exceptional results. Founded in 2000, Equilar is cited regularly by Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other leading media outlets. Learn more at www.equilar.com.

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