Despite OUBC's growth in recent years, there is still a lot of work to be done! 

A recent study showed that nearly half of college-educated lesbians and gays still hide their sexual orientation at work and nearly a third live "double lives," in the closet at the office but completely open about their sexuality outside of work.  Obviously, there is massive opportunity to get more LGBT individuals to come out of the closet.  With half of LGBT individuals remaining in the closet, it's likely that stereotypes non-LGBT individuals have about the LGBT community are being perpetuated.  Nothing helps to educate and dispel stereotypes about LGBT individuals than meeting and working closely with an LGBT individual.  But most worrying, according to the study, gays and lesbians who "keep their true sexual identity under wraps while at work are more likely to report job-related stress and isolation than their peers, and are also more likely to want to leave their current jobs."  Staying in the closet hurts the broader LGBT community and its fight for equality but also hurts one's ability to succeed and be happy at work.

There are millions of LGBT individuals in America's professional ranks.  Our conference can only touch the lives of a few hundred.  It's important to realize that change starts at the top and change starts with the next generation.  Hopefully, we can continue to affect the corporate cultures at some of the nation's leading companies so that their employees don't feel the need to be closeted at the office.  And hopefully, we can do so by affecting the next generation of these companies' leaders.  We still have a long way to go!

Check out the article here. 

John Berry's speech at the OUBC was profiled in a blog post for the Harvard Business Review.  J.D. Schramm, an OUBC Board Member who leads the student networking session at the annual conference, was inspired by Director Berry's words and his ability to effectively turn a difficult speaking opportunity into an effective call to action.  As J.D. quotes Director Berry, who pulled on the recent suicides of LGBT college students, "We can build a lighthouse as a beacon of hope in dark times and opportunity for others to see that the tragedies of the past several weeks are unnecessary.  Get involved, wherever you are, whatever field you pursue.  Get involved.  Because the tree of liberty grows in one direction: out, by adding rings.  What will you add?"

Check out the HBR blog post here.

This past weekend, we finally got to show everyone what we'd been planning for the last year.  And we were delighted to have the largest number of students and professionals ever in attendance to take part in our long-awaited conference.  We had over 350 students and professionals attend OUBC, and the feedback we've received has been overwhelmingly positive and down-right heartwarming. 

With the recent high profile suicides of LGBT students, the empowerment, inspiration, and community that OUBC provides have never been more important.  These quotes, which I've pulled from e-mails I've received since the conference, show that OUBC is more than just a conference.  It is, to borrow a phrase from our keynote speaker John Berry's words from Friday night, a beacon of light for those in the dark.

"The conference was an enormous leap of faith and confidence for me, and it delivered more powerfully and effectively than I had ever anticipated.  I think it was the first time I've really been fully comfortable being gay.  Thank you for being a part of it.  It truly means a lot.  I can't wait to contribute to it."  - Male Bowdoin student

"Thank you so much for a wonderful weekend.  I'm certain I don't speak for only myself when I say I learned so much, made so many connections - both personal and professional - and received so much reassurance.  This year's OUBC conference has greatly influenced my life, and I am extremely grateful.  Thanks again from the bottom of my heart." - Female UNC Chapel Hill student
 
"I was completely blown away by the passion, enthusiasm, and community that was present this weekend.  I was absolutely exhausted by work, life, and applications, but this weekend helped refresh my perspective and get me really excited about consulting.... It was an unbelievable experience.  Please know that all your work paid off." - Female Northwestern student

"It was an incredible experience that I'm so happy to have taken part in."  - Male Harvard student

"I had no idea what to expect when I signed up, and my attendance paid off more than I could have imagined.  Every aspect of the OUBC - from professional networking to personal relationship-building to structured learning - helped me grow and become more comfortable as a gay professional."  - Male Middlebury student

"I was impressed by the caliber of the OUBC candidates as well as the flawless execution of the event."  - Platinum Sponsor recruiting professional

Thanks to everyone who made OUBC 2010 a huge success, a powerful community, and a lighthouse for those who might otherwise be lost.  We look forward to your support next year.

With OUBC 2010 less than two weeks away, we couldn't be more excited to bring a record number of incredible students to our event in New York City.  Our Admissions and Scholarship Committee is currently reviewing the 275 applications we've received, and it's no easy task!  Our applicants are as impressive as they are diverse.  The perspectives and enthusiasm found in the applications will certainly carry over into our event in early October.

In the next few days, we'll be notifying students who applied in the last few weeks before registration closed.  Unfortunately, due to unprecedented interest and logistical constraints, we are unable to accommodate all interested students.  We are doing our best, though, to bring as many as possible to New York and ensure the most high-potential candidates are at our event.

A big thanks is owed to Doug Weiss, Luke Cohler, and the army of campus ambassadors who drove our application numbers to record heights this year.  Thanks!

OUBC Board Member Mary Gentile, a faculty member at Babson College and former faculty member at Harvard Business School, is releasing her new book this month entitled Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What's Right (Yale University Press).  We congratulate her on the new book and wish her lots of luck as it debuts.  Recently, Mary wrote a blog post for the Huffington Post about the BP oil spill and the need for organizations to encourage employees to speak up and voice potential concerns.  Please check out the post here.  Similarly, you can learn more about the book at www.marygentile.com.

We received confirmation today that John Berry will be able to join us at OUBC this year as a keynote speaker.  John Berry is the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  He is the highest ranking openly LGBT member of the Obama administration, or any presidential administration for that matter.  His full bio is here. 

He will be speaking at the dinner on Saturday evening, the final event of our weekend conference.  We expect Director Berry to discuss his career and provide anecdotes about his experiences as an LGBT member of political circles.  He will also encourage students to come out of the closet after graduation, as he has been open about his sexuality since his 20s and it has not hindered his professional success.

We hope you share our excitement about Director Berry's attendance.

We are now accepting applications for the 2010 OUBC!  Due to lots of demand from students on campuses across the country, we decided to accept applications and open up registration before the end of the academic year, earlier than we ever have before. 

A committee of OUBC organizers and professionals from sponsoring firms will review the applicants.  Each application will be reviewed for strong academic performance, extracurricular and professional involvement, and a thoughtful personal statement.  While a resume is not required for acceptance, it is highly encouraged that you upload a copy of your resume.  We hope to accept as many students as logistically possible, and we are already planning on having more student participants than we had in 2009.

You should also consider applying for one of our merit-based travel scholarships.  We have limited funds to offer students free travel to and from New York City and a hotel room over the weekend.  So, if you are traveling from out of town, we encourage you to click the travel scholarship box on the application form.  Nothing additional is needed if you are applying for this scholarship, though you must submit a resume to be considered.

We will review applications on a rolling basis and will get back to you within four weeks of your application, so apply now!  The earlier the better.

If we are not able to offer you a spot at OUBC or you are unable to attend for any reason, you can log back in to receive a full refund.  You can also continue to update your resume and other personal information as needed before the conference just by logging back in.

The organizers are happy to announce that OUBC 2010 will be held Friday, October 1st and Saturday, October 2nd at JPMorgan's midtown offices in New York City.  Conversations are already underway with JPMorgan about how we can use the bank's numerous conference spaces in their 383 Madison building to provide our enriching content to participants in varied and appropriate settings.  We are excited to have large auditorium seating for our plenary sessions, smaller rooms to best facilitate small group discussions, and rooms of all sizes in between that can accommodate first-time events we are dreaming up.  The JPMorgan facilities also have open spaces that are perfectly suited to our networking events and career fair. 

JPMorgan has provided us great facilities in the past and this year will be no different.  See you in early October!

ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS!!

The sponsors of the Out for Undergraduate Business Conference (OUBC) invite you to apply to be your college’s Campus Ambassador for the 2010 conference, to be held in the fall in New York, NY.  OUBC’s Campus Ambassadors will play a key role in executing the conference’s campus outreach strategy. As the primary contact for OUBC at your college or university, you will be responsible for representing the conference to key campus stakeholders and for promoting the conference to top LGBT student talent.   In thanks for your service, you will receive a scholarship to cover the cost of travel to and from the event, a hotel room for the weekend, and increased exposure to our corporate sponsors.

In addition to submitting a recent resume, student applicants are asked three questions:
1) Why do you want to become an OUBC campus ambassador?
2) How are you involved in your school's LGBT and pre-professional communities?
3) What are your OUBC marketing goals and how do you plan to achieve them?

Please see the attached description of the role and ambassador application.  All applications must be received via e-mail to info@outforbusiness.com no later than Friday, February 12, 2010 at 12 noon.

Thanks, and we look forward to working with you on OUBC 2010!