Business schools’ best, brightest and most stylish gathered in San Francisco on October 11-14, 2007 to ‘œConnect. Build. Achieve,’ as the 10th Annual Reaching Out Conference motto stated. I was invited to the conference to share my impression of this educational, networking and recruiting event for LGBT students in MBA programs.

My aim was to take my outsider perspective and find answers to three questions that registered when I first heard of this conference:
Why is corporate America interested in recruiting LBGT MBAs?
What unique contributions do LGBT MBAs have to offer?
What significance does this conference carry?

I walked away with these answers, plus much more.

Shortly after the blitz of panels, workshops, and keynote speeches, the answer to my first two questions came together and can be summed up in a few sentences. Businesses and their employees benefit from a diversity of thinking. The Reaching Out conference is just one of several diversity recruiting events in which corporate America partakes to get their staff to reflect the U.S. population. Skills and a proven track record matter most to a business — LGBT comes second.

Of course, answers are always more complicated than that. Much like how our laws vary across the country and signal the LGBT tolerance of a region, coming out at work isn’t safe at every business. The panels and workshops opened the dialogue for unique issues LBGT MBAs face in their target industry as they try to connect with the right names, build those relationships, and achieve his or her career goals.

Some nuggets of insight from the panels I attended:

LBGT Recruiting – Whereas some people think LBGT workers are seen as attractive employees because they’re assumed not to have families and responsibilities related to such, some companies make an effort to dispel that myth. Dawn Carter, Senior Manager of University Programs and Diversity at Amazon.com mentioned that they do job placement for the partners of their relocation hires.

Media and Entertainment – What’s the big deal about being gay in this industry? This panel focused on what an MBA does for you in media and entertainment, and how to land the job you’re targeting. The answer: an MBA is your tool kit to manage operations and your proven track record of creativity. Those are keywords to find those jobs, and to land them, show your passion.

Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital – All entrepreneurship is going to involve failures, being LGBT doesn’t necessarily involve more. The personal experiences of this panel were perhaps the most enlightening.

Jack Corwin, President and CEO of Huntington Holdings, Inc. related the importance of getting clients to trust him. Trying to hide your sexuality from clients means your hiding something, which often scares them away.

Anietie Ekanem, founder of ActivelyOUT, shared that the assumption of heterosexuality in the corporate world made the freedom of entrepreneurship more appealing. Coming out at work provides many unknowns, whereas entrepreneurship allows more control.

Busy Burr, founder and CEO of Lucy & Lily, Inc., meanwhile discovered that being a lesbian is less of an issue in getting venture capital than is being a woman in the business of seeking such.

The keynote speakers, the attendees, and some of the event organizers answered my final question: the significance of this event?

Lisa Sherman, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Logo, talked about the early days of her executive career, when being an out professional seemed impossible. Her story of coming out (and not coming out) when the stakes are high brought many in the audience to tears, but also gave hope to all of us that success can be achieved while staying true to yourself. Coming out at work is now just a bit easier thanks to the large presence of influential companies in attendance at the conference.

Chip Conley, Founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, stepped in with the educational aspect and shared how Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs helped his business thrive, as explained in his book PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow. The conference matched a gay man to an LGBT audience: an important message of entrepreneurial success matched to welcome ears, and those in search of a role model.

It was Margaret Cho who stole the show. Her undying support of the LGBT community in her comedy had the room running on heightened senses and charged emotion. Perhaps the most poignant moment for me was hearing her tell an audience of MBAs that they are the ones who will change the world. Money is what matters, and money is what will make people listen.

After all the dust had settled, I asked a couple of the organizers of the conference to share his or her lasting impressions. Alejandro Pardo, MBA student at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, says, ‘œAs a Mexican, I have personally been really benefited by this experience’¦ I have never been out in either my school of job before, definitely was a life changing experience for me, and I am sure that like me, many people benefit from it.’

And Melissa Ong, also an MBA student at Haas adds, ‘œMy final revelation came yesterday when I received an email from a straight classmate who attended Reaching Out for a cultural diversity project. He wrote about how he was neutral on LGBT issues before the conference and how attending Reaching Out made him truly understand LGBT issues. He indicated that he is now a strong supporter of LGBT rights and will be the first to volunteer if we bring the conference back! I understood the significance of the conference for LGBTs going into it, but this experience has made me realize how much educational value the conference has for our straight allies, as well.’

Sounds like Margaret Cho definitely knows something about money making people listen and changing the world.