They are Ambassador (ret.) Michael Guest, Senior Advisor to the Council for Global Equality, Julie Hogan, Regional Vice President at Xerox Corp., and Megan Wallent, a General Manager at Microsoft .
"I am delighted to welcome our new Board members to Out & Equal," said Founding Executive Director Selisse Berry. "They each bring an incredible amount of dedication and passion to the movement of achieving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workplace equality, and they will help us further our mission nationally and globally."
More after the jump.
More after the jump.
Guest made national headlines three years ago when he decided to retire from his role as a U.S. diplomat — serving in various positions over 26 years — to protest the lack of equal rights, benefits and protections for partners of gay and lesbian Foreign Service employees. He subsequently served on President Barack Obama’s State Department Transition Team, identifying remedies to these policies, which the Obama Administration has since adopted. Guest co-founded and works with the Council for Global Equality, a coalition of 18 human rights and LGBT organizations that seeks stronger U.S. support for LGBT equality at home and abroad. He resides in Washington D.C. with his partner, Alex Nevarez.
Hogan is responsible for Xerox sales, technical services delivery and professional services throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She has played various roles at Xerox over the last two decades. She joined Xerox as a customer services engineer, held various services operations management positions and general management assignments, including strategy, planning and technology infrastructure. Before joining Xerox, she served in the United States Navy, providing technical support for classified defense computer systems and intelligence projects. She currently resides in San Ramon, California with her partner, Allison Leach.
Wallent has spent more than a decade working for Microsoft, responsible for delivering multiple versions of Internet Explorer, leading a large team that built major portions of Windows Vista, and currently leads a team in the Windows Server and Tools Division. She’s an outspoken advocate of transgender rights, and transitioned on the job in 2007. She chronicled her experiences on meganwallent.com, which has generated a wide and varied readership. She resides in Seattle, Wash., with her spouse, Anh, and their children, Peri, John and Daniel.
Berry also thanked outgoing Board members, Tara Bunch, who served four years on the Board, including two years as President, and Amanda Simpson, who left the Board this month after three years to take a senior advisory position within the United States Department of Commerce.
"Tara and Amanda have both played invaluable roles with Out & Equal," Berry said. "We appreciate everything they have done for us, and their commitment to making a difference for the LGBT community. They will continue to be instrumental in the movement for LGBT equality, either through their direct involvement with Out & Equal or by being the voices of our community in their own workplaces."
The new Board members will serve a two-year renewable term beginning this month.
