Celebrating Pride Month: 5 business leaders who promote inclusive growth

Marking the celebration of Pride Month and recognising those in the LGBTQ+ community that have created a platform globally for inclusion and given a voice to a section that had been silenced for decades. Editorji lists a few of these path makers for inclusiveness in businesses.

Tim Cook
The first openly gay leader of a Fortune 500 company made a public statement in 2014 as he came out as gay in an editorial for Bloomberg Business, saying, "I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."

Tim Cook said he was motivated to publicly come out as gay after receiving letters from children struggling with their sexual orientation.

Jim Fitterling
Following Cook's bold statement, the CEO of the petrochem giant Dow Chemicals also came out of the closet. On National Coming Out Day in 2014 Fitterling publicly accepted his sexuality after concealing it for 30 years.

Dow began flying the rainbow flag outside its Midland, Michigan headquarters. Fitterling said, “Inclusion is about everybody feeling like they’ve got an equal shot to get ahead and everybody feeling like it’s a safe environment. That’s what we’re trying to create.”

Inga Beale
Dame Inga Kristine Beale, DBE is a British businesswoman and the former CEO of Lloyd's of London has shattered many glass ceilings. In 2014, she become the first female CEO at the 325-year-old insurer Lloyd’s of London and one of the first openly bisexual CEO in financial services. She has made waves by transforming a conservative institution, as well as the wider industry, into a more inclusive and welcoming environment. She was named to the UK Government’s 2017 New Year’s Honors list, for her contribution to the economy and her support of diversity

Beale maintains "It’s not about me. It’s about what you do for other people. For me, it’s so important because you need these role models.”

Alan Joyce
Piloting Australia’s biggest airline, Alan Joyce is a common name in the list of most powerful LGBT corporate executives. Joyce became the CEO of Qantas in 2008 but publicly announced his sexual orientation to the media in 2012. Joyce, 51, has been a vocal supporter of the campaign to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia. Joyce has been very vocal that "it is critical to make people recognize that they know LGBT people."

Peter Thiel
A legendary financier and co-founder of PayPal; an early investor and current board member of Facebook; a Stanford-educated billionaire, Peter Thiel is force to be reckoned with in the financial world
Thiel’s sexuality came out in 2007 when Gawker Media outed him in a blog post.
This German-American made history as the first first openly gay speaker at Republican National Convention and delivered a speech on sexuality. "Every American has a unique identity," said Thiel. "I am proud to be gay. I am proud to be a Republican. But most of all, I am proud to be an American."