LGBTQ+ Forum

The LGBTQ+ Forum exists to educate marketers on best practices for inclusion of LGBTQ+ in advertising, provide support for LGBTQ+ marketers, and drive more meaningful community-brand connections. As more brands embrace targeted advertising to the LGBTQ+ community and feature community members in their advertising, it is more important than ever that the industry learn how to meaningfully engage the LGBTQ+ community and their purchasing power.

The LGBTQ+ Forum meets virtually every other month.

• Co-Chair: Katie Levesque (she/her), VP and supplier diversity director, Truist Financial Corporation
• Co-Chair: Suresh Raj (he/him), Global Chief Growth Officer, McCann NY

Contact the ANA staff managing the LGBTQ+ Forum:

• Greg Wright (he/him), Senior Vice President
• Peter Kenigsberg (he/him), Director

Discussion Topics:

The LGBTQ+ Forum is open to all client-side marketer and solutions provider members.

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Resources

• 2023 ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards Winners
• Presentations and recaps from the 2023 ANA Multicultural Marketing and Diversity Conference
• ANA's Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing
• List of Certified Diverse Suppliers for Marketing/Advertising

Thought Leadership

• LGBTQ+ Marketing Inclusion Report (March 2024)
  In a pivotal era of cultural shifts and heightened awareness, the 2024 ANA LGBTQ+ Marketing Inclusion Report emerges as a beacon for advertisers aiming to navigate the complex landscape of diversity and inclusion authentically. With comprehensive insights derived from ANA members, this report illuminates the progress, challenges, and untapped opportunities in LGBTQ+ advertising, presenting a compelling call to action for brands to champion inclusivity beyond mere tokenism. It underscores the transformative power of embracing LGBTQ+ communities year-round, leveraging targeted media, and fostering an inclusive corporate culture.
• A Diversity Report for the Advertising/Marketing Industry (November 2022)
  This fifth annual report from ANA and ANA's Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM), based on three separate studies among ANA members, concludes that finally, there has been progress in increasing ethnic diversity in the advertising/marketing industry. The report reveals that representation of women in the industry overall and in leadership positions continues to be strong. Further, there has been an increase in the ethnic diversity of the marketing teams of ANA member companies — the most significant growth of ethnic diversity in the five-year history of this report! The overall ethnic skew of the marketing/advertising industry is now 32.3 percent diverse, up from 30.8 percent a year ago.
• The Power of Supplier Diversity (May 2020)
  A supplier diversity program is a proactive business program which encourages the use of women-owned, ethnic/minority-owned, veteran-owned, LGBTQ-owned, disability-owned, and small businesses as suppliers. This report covers the findings from quantitative and qualitative research conducted by the ANA. The purpose was to gain an understanding of the incidence of supplier diversity programs as well as benefits, challenges, spend, goals, measurement, influence, and more.