A number of travel industry figures feature among a newly-published list of the leading 100 LGBT executives.
Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce; Monarch Group chief executive, Andrew Swaffield; Lufthansa chief strategy officer and senior vice president, Sadiq Gillani; AirBnB chief marketing officer, Jonathan Mildenhall; Virgin Holidays managing director, Mark Anderson; Hoseasons managing director, Simon Altham; Hertz Global Holdings vice president global merchandising and ancillary revenue, Brian Casebolt; and Premier Inn brand marketing director, Russell Braterman, all appear.
They are among 160 leading LGBT and ‘ally’ professionals celebrated with the publication of executive level network group OUTstanding’s 2015 power lists, released in partnership with the Financial Times. Those on the list were nominated by peers and colleagues.
OUTstanding founder and chief executive, Suki Sandhu, said: “Compared to 2013, we see far more people wanting to be associated with the lists – this year we have 42 brand new additions to the Top 100 alone.
“This is fantastic news as I hope it shows people are both more comfortable about being their true selves at work, and also that they see the value of ‘going public’ in terms of inspiring the next generation of leaders.
“I’m hugely proud that all of our featured role models continue to challenge the assumption that you can’t be openly LGBT in business and be a success.
“Those featured are an inspiration to anyone who fears that they may have to be closeted at work, and waste valuable effort muting their authentic selves.
“Our LGBT and ally executives all deserve credit for the leadership they show in welcoming people of all backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities. And I look forward to the changes our future leader role models will carve in this on-going and vital campaign.”