Angela E.L. Barnes Named Crain's Notable LGBTQ Executive Championing Diversity and Inclusion

From Crain's Chicago Business:
This Notables section features 56 LGBTQ executives and 10 companies that champion diversity. A number of the honorees work for or support leading advocacy organizations, including AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Center on Halsted, Chicago House & Social Service Agency, Equality Illinois and Howard Brown Health.

Some of the attorneys on the list represent gay clients in employment or family law matters. Others have handled asylum cases for clients who were persecuted in their home countries. They help advance colleagues through the LGBT Bar Association and other legal forums.

These Notables are working at small businesses and large corporations, arts organizations and nonprofits. Typically, they started or sponsor employee resource groups and serve on diversity and inclusion councils with an eye to breaking down the barriers that keep LGBTQ people from advancing to leadership positions. And they mentor colleagues informally or in structured settings to help them get ahead.

The Supreme Court's landmark ruling in June that civil rights law protects gay and transgender employees from discrimination pleases this cohort of Notables and the broader community that advocates equality.

About Angela E.L. Barnes,General Counsel & Director, Legal Affairs & Growth Initiatives:
At the enterprise that seeks solutions to urban problems, Angela E.L. Barnes handles legal matters and co-leads the company’s racial equity and inclusion framework. The group has devised solutions for a range of urban challenges such as flooding and congestion. Before joining City Tech last year, Barnes was general counsel and director of compliance and business operations at MxD, formerly known as UI Labs. Barnes chairs the board at the Center on Halsted and leads the center’s Women’s Action Council, focused on outreach and inclusion of the queer women’s community. She is on the board of Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and is former co-chair of GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Chicago Leadership Council. She co-founded SHE100, a philanthropic giving circle of lesbian and queer women.

Read the article at Crain's Chicago Business.

See all 2020 Crain's Notable LGBTQ Executives and Businesses Championing Diversity and Inclusion.