Inclusive Events & Inspiring Guest Speakers
The committee celebrates many DE&I events like Coming Out Day (Oct. 11), Pride Month (June), International Pronouns Day (Oct. 3), Transgender Awareness Week (November), and more. Other events include volunteering, social activities, and community activism as we work to expand awareness and support for vital issues within the LGBTQ+ community.
In addition, with employees based in the U.S. and Mexico, we also focus on international laws and issues facing the LGBTQ+ community abroad. The LGBTQ+ Committee volunteers and fundraises for a Tijuana non-profit, Cocut Comunidad Cultural de Tijuana LGBTI, a non-profit civil association that promotes respect for the LGBTIQ+ community. In May 2022, we hosted Susy Barrales of Union Trans Tijuana as a guest speaker.
The group has also hosted Brian Kendall Sims as a speaker; Sims is an American politician, activist, and attorney. He has been a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 182nd district since 2012. Sims is the first openly-gay elected state legislator in Pennsylvania history. Past committee meetings have also hosted guest speakers such as Van Ethan Levy, Brittany Leach, and Sam Sharon, Ph.D., among other researchers and community figures in the LGBTQ+ community.