Press release

Out in Tech Launches Program to Increase Opportunities for LGBTQ+ Tech Talent

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Out
in Tech
, the world’s largest community of LGBTQ+ tech professionals,
today announced the launch of Qorporate,
a membership program for companies committed to improving opportunities
for LGBTQ+ people and other underrepresented groups throughout the
global tech industry. Founding members of Qorporate include Automattic,
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), HP (NYSE: HPQ), PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) and
Snap (NYSE: SNAP).

Finding, hiring and retaining women, people of color and LGBTQ+ people –
especially tech talent – is one of the biggest human resources
challenges facing companies today. While most large tech companies have
established diversity and inclusion programs, technology startups often
lack the scale at which diversity initiatives are a priority or employee
resource groups can be formed.

“Diversity in tech is one code the industry has been slow to crack,”
said Andrew Lowenthal, executive director of Out in Tech. “By harnessing
the collective experiences of member companies and our community of more
than 25,000 LGBTQ+ techies around the world, we can advance the tech
sector and create more equitable and inclusive workplaces for all
underrepresented groups. When companies have the tools to empower all
employees, progress happens.”

Qorporate will bring together LGBTQ+ employee resource groups and
executive champions from member companies to create resources to help
all companies, regardless of size, recruit and retain employees from
underrepresented groups. Resources will address a wide range of topics,
including establishing and supporting employee resource groups,
implementing data-driven human resource practices to support diversity
and inclusion, and employing an intersectional approach to create a
culture of belonging.

“Inclusion is both a moral imperative and a business necessity. Diverse
teams, sustained by an inclusive culture, foster innovation and lead to
better performance,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal.
“PayPal is proud to support Out in Tech, and we hope that companies
everywhere will continue to take part in opportunities like Qorporate to
create more welcoming and diverse workplaces for us all.”

“When we understand someone’s journey, it gives us empathy for them as
an individual. And when someone trusts that they can share their story,
be who they are and be accepted, they can fully bring themselves to
work,” said Lesley Slaton Brown, chief diversity officer of HP. “By
helping to launch Qorporate, Out in Tech’s corporate council, and
encourage everyone to be who they truly are, we’re poised to truly
support LGBTQ+ employees around the world.”

Employees of Qorporate member companies will receive access to a
proprietary global digital community of LGBTQ+ tech employees to foster
belonging for remote employees or those for whom membership in physical
communities is not possible. In addition, a job board will connect
LGBTQ+ candidates with job listings from Qorporate member companies that
are actively seeking to build a stronger pipeline of diversity for the
future.

“As an early supporter of Out in Tech, we’ve seen their wholehearted
approach to social impact firsthand,” said Matt Mullenweg, founder and
CEO of Automattic. “We’re proud to help launch their corporate council
to advance LGBTQ+ inclusion.”

“We are thrilled to become a founding member of the Out in Tech
corporate council,” said Lara Sweet, chief people officer of Snap Inc.
“We are excited about the value this important new collaboration will
bring in developing tools, resources, and best practices to break down
some of the systemic barriers that often lead to people feeling
excluded. Ensuring Snap’s culture represents the diversity of the global
Snapchat community is critical to our success, and we look forward to
creating a more inclusive environment for the LGBTQ+ community.”

“We are a proud partner and founding member of Out in Tech’s corporate
council with a goal to improve diversity,” said Craig Froelich, chief
information security officer of Bank of America. “The business community
needs our collective expertise to attract and retain talent from those
underrepresented groups.”

Founded in 2013, Out in Tech now has more than 25,000 members in cities
around the world, including Austin, Bangalore, Boston, Chicago, London,
Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, Seattle,
and Washington, with more chapters on the way. Out in Tech volunteers
have collectively devoted over 8,000 hours to help groups fighting for
LGBTQ+ equality worldwide and work at companies including Airbnb,
Amazon, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Netflix, and Slack.

For more information about Out in Tech and joining Qorporate, visit
outintech.com/qorporate.

About Out in Tech

Out in Tech is the world’s largest non-profit community of LGBTQ+ tech
professionals, uniting its more than 25,000 members by creating
opportunities for career advancement and leveraging tech for social
change. For more information, visit outintech.com.