The 2008 Out & Equal Workplace Award finalists have been announced! Winners will be announced at a Gala Awards Dinner on September 13, at the Austin Convention Center, during the annual Out & Equal Workplace Summit. This year Out & Equal is expecting more than 3,000 attendees at the Summit, which includes human resources and diversity professionals, community advocates, LGBT employees and allies.

The finalists are:

Out & Equal Trailblazer Award - This award recognizes an LGBT person who has made a significant contribution to advancing workplace equality. This individual’s activities will have made a marked improvement in their own workplace and/or have contributed to equality nationally.

• Chris Crespo, LGBT and Allies Inclusiveness Strategy Leader, Ernst & Young LLP
• Mike DeGroot, Production Manager - Product Development and Sourcing, JCPenney
• Keith Ford, Business Manager, Pratt & Whitney
• Nikki Raeburn, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of San Francisco
• Tim Stiles, Partner, KPMG
• Lora Yates, Director of Global External Manufacturing Management, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics at Johnson & Johnson

Out & Equal Champion Award - This award recognizes a non-LGBT person who has played a pivotal role in championing equal treatment of LGBT employees on the job. This individual will have shown a unique commitment to LGBT workplace rights and will have used his or her talents to further that cause, even at some risk.

• Karen DeCuir-DiNicola, Manager of Diversity Initiatives, General Motors Corporation
• Janet Miller-Eveland, National Client Executive - Corporate Services Division, Sodexo
• Griffin Haviken, Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion, Merrill Lynch
• Randy Kammer, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California
• Mark Parker, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nike
• William C. Thompson Jr., Comptroller, City of Washington

Out & Equal Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Employee Resource Group of the Year - This award recognizes a particular employee resource group (ERG), sometimes referred to as a business group or network, that has a proven track record of success in advocating for LGBT equal rights in its own workplace.

• 3M PLUS (3M Companies)
• EAGLE - Employee Alliance for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Empowerment (IBM)
• GLBT Networking Circles (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP)
• HP PRIDE (Hewlett-Packard Company)
• PRIDE - People Recognizing Individuality, Diversity & Equality (Sodexo)
• TI Pride Network (Texas Instruments)

Out & Equal Significant Achievement Award - This award recognizes any employer that has made significant strides in the past year in advancing a fair and equitable workplace for its LGBT employees, such as: announcing domestic partner health insurance, including gender identity diversity training, or initiating a unique general advertising campaign that includes LGBT people.

• Goldman, Sachs & Co.
• ING
• ITT Corporation
• Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP
• Merrill Lynch

Out & Equal Workplace Excellence Award - This award recognizes any employer that has an historic and ongoing commitment to pursuing and executing workplace equality for LGBT employees in their own workplace. This employer has a history of continually raising the bar of workplace equality for others to business leaders to follow.

• Chevron Corporation
• The Dow Chemical Company
• DuPont
• Fannie Mae
• Johnson & Johnson
• PepsiCo

Award finalists were selected from a pool of nominations that included dozens of worthy candidates. A volunteer committee of judges from diverse backgrounds will further evaluate the finalists and decide the winners. Award winners will be presented with Outie statuettes during the Gala Awards Dinner on September 13, emceed by celebrity comedian Kate Clinton.

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