The first company whose only product is equality.
Todd Sears founded Out Leadership in 2010 as Out on the Street — the first LGBTQ+ business summit series on Wall Street — on a simple premise: business can leverage economic power to drive both societal change and bottom-line impact. Fifteen years on, it is the global LGBTQ+ business network, the world’s first LGBTQ+ B Corporation, and the organization behind OutQuorum.
It started as a summit no one on Wall Street had held before.
In March 2011, the first Out on the Street LGBTQ+ leadership summit convened in New York City — hosted by Seth Waugh and sponsored by Citi, Bank of America, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley. A year later, at the second US summit hosted by Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman, more than one CEO spoke out for LGBTQ+ rights at the same time — a first.
The series went global fast: Europe launched in London in November 2012 with more than 200 senior leaders, and in 2013 Out Leadership held the first-ever LGBTQ+ business summit in Asia, hosted by Barclays and HSBC — featuring HSBC’s largest press event ever and sparking a public debate about LGBTQ+ equality in Hong Kong. The summit calendar from those first years — US 2011, US and Europe 2012, US, Asia, and Europe 2013 — is still on Out Leadership’s events archive.
What began as a summit series became a network — and the network became a platform for the initiatives, research, and policy work that OutQuorum now measures.
One summit became a family of programs.
OutNEXT
The first and only global talent accelerator for LGBTQ+ emerging leaders, launched November 2013; its first summit drew 100+ attendees in New York the following spring.
OutQUORUM
Launched October 2015 in San Francisco to advance LGBTQ+ representation on corporate boards. The first hand count of every Fortune 500 proxy found exactly 2 companies that included LGBTQ+ people in board diversity. This site is its current instrument.
OutWOMEN+
Launched February 2016 — dedicated to connecting out women in business, celebrating their accomplishments, and tapping their strength to elevate progress for all women in the workplace.
BoardFit
Launched with KPMG in 2016 to prepare LGBTQ+ leaders for board service — alongside the OutQUORUM database of 3,000+ board-ready LGBTQ+ leaders and pension-fund engagement representing roughly $3 trillion in assets.
Board diversity guidelines
The first-ever LGBTQ+-inclusive board diversity guidelines: US with KPMG (2017), UK with DLA Piper (April 2023), Australia with Perpetual (March 2023), Hong Kong with DLA Piper (2024).
See the guidelines →Research that set benchmarks
Out to Succeed with PwC (2018), the first global study of LGBTQ+ emerging business leaders; the State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index with the Gill Foundation (2019), ranking all 50 US states; Visibility Counts (2021–22), the first public mapping of LGBTQ+ board diversity in the Fortune 500.
Browse the research →From one room on Wall Street to boardrooms on four continents
- 2010
Out on the Street is founded
Todd Sears founds Out Leadership — then Out on the Street — in New York City.
- Mar 2011
The first summit
The first Out on the Street LGBTQ+ leadership summit, hosted by Seth Waugh and sponsored by Citi, Bank of America, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley.
- Nov 2012
Europe launches in London
More than 200 attendees, including some of the most senior leaders and CEOs in Europe. Earlier that year, the second US summit — hosted by James Gorman — marked the first time more than one CEO spoke out for LGBTQ+ rights at once.
- Apr 2013
The first LGBTQ+ business summit in Asia
Hosted by Barclays and HSBC, featuring HSBC’s largest press event ever and sparking a debate about LGBTQ+ equality in Hong Kong. In November, OutNEXT launches — the first global talent accelerator for LGBTQ+ emerging leaders.
- Oct 2015
OutQUORUM launches
A pioneering program advocating for LGBTQ+ diversity on corporate boards, launched in San Francisco. That same year, Out Leadership joined an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court supporting marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges.
- 2016
OutWOMEN+, BoardFit, and Australia
OutWOMEN launches in February; BoardFit launches with KPMG; the first Australia summit convenes 150+ senior leaders in Sydney; and Out Leadership brings LGBTQ+ business issues to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
- 2017
The first US board diversity guidelines
With KPMG, Out Leadership publishes the first LGBTQ+-inclusive board diversity guidelines in the United States. The network reaches 50 member firms.
- 2018
The Nasdaq bell — and a business statement heard in Washington
Out Leadership rings the Nasdaq opening bell and convenes 56 major companies and 14 LGBTQ+ organizations as signatories to the Business Statement for Transgender Equality. Out to Succeed, the first global study of LGBTQ+ emerging business leaders, publishes with PwC.
- 2019
Measurement goes state by state
The State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index launches with the Gill Foundation, ranking every US state on LGBTQ+ inclusion; Visibility Counts, a first-of-its-kind report on LGBTQ+ self-identification, publishes with Ropes & Gray.
- 2021
The first OutQUORUM report — and a seat before Congress
The first OutQUORUM report documents, for the first time, the absence of LGBTQ+ people from Fortune 500 board diversity policies. In August, the SEC approves Nasdaq’s board diversity rule — citing OutQUORUM research seven times. In November, Todd Sears testifies before the US Congress on LGBTQ+ economic empowerment.
- 2023
WorldPride — and guidelines for two new markets
The WorldPride 45 CEOs dinner in Sydney becomes the world’s largest-ever gathering of CEOs in support of LGBTQ+ equality. Australia guidelines publish in March, UK guidelines in April; the third OutQUORUM report maps the FTSE 350, ASX 200, and Hang Seng for the first time.
- 2024
Hong Kong — and nine indices mapped
The Hong Kong guidelines launch at the Milken Institute Summit with DLA Piper; the fourth OutQUORUM report maps nine indices across seven markets. In December, the Fifth Circuit vacates the Nasdaq rule.
- 2025–26
The rollback — and this site
The Nasdaq rule is repealed in February 2025. OutQuorum keeps counting: ten indices, seven dimensions, and the first measured decline. See what the data shows →
What isn’t measured doesn’t count, and we’re here to make sure it does.
The policy work lives on the board diversity policy page; the published reports and guidelines are on the research page; and the full organization — summits, talent programs, membership — is at outleadership.com.