Four. The total number of how many times I cried during this two day event with Out Leadership.
It's hard to sum up the emotions, inspiration and initiatives discussed and felt during the conference, so instead I am going to list some of the quotes stated by speakers at the event.
Annise Parker, American politician and previous Mayor of Houston.
"Go to the edge of where you're comfortable and then take one more step."
"If you're not doing anything scary, you're not doing enough."
David Lawenda, Head of Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook
"Leaders can't be leaders unless people follow them. Hard to get people to follow if they don’t know who you are."
Billy Porter, Tony Award Winner, Actor, Director and Star of Kinky Boots
"Speak so you can be it."
"You need to know how you are perceived so you can change that perception."
Jim Obergefell, lead plaintiff in Obergefell v. Hodges
"Make yourself the minority often as you can, that's where your advocacy will come from"
Daniel Diez, EVP and Global Chief Marketing Officer of R/GA
"Love has no labels"
"Be prepared for your success, when you capture attention do something amazing about it."
"OutNEXT is the first global talent development program for the next generation of LGBT business leaders...OutNEXT engages high-performing, high-potential, openly LGBT employees identified and selected by member companies, with leadership training content (from partners including EY, McKinsey & Co., and development experts curated by our Talent Initiatives team) targeted to professionals with between five and eight years of experience." Check out Out Leadership for more photos.
