“Our Chamber is uniquely poised at the nexus of business, advocacy, and the LGBTQ+ community. We provide many of the same services other area Chambers of Commerce provide, with the added focus of creating an inclusive and equitable business environment for our businesses and their employees,” said Executive Director Suzanne Wheeler. The Chamber counts 487 businesses among its members. It hosted 262 events during the past year. A highlight is the LGBTQ Business Enterprise program, which is growing rapidly. The Chamber also created Our Town’s first LGBTQ+ coalition of wedding and events vendors, known as WECo, which has provided diversity training to industry employees, published an LGBTQ+ wedding guide, and hosted something new in Kansas City: a wedding show dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community. The Chamber provides personal and professional development programming, including training on LGBTQ+ diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition, it serves as the voice of advocacy for LGBTQ+ and allied businesses in both Missouri and Kansas. Ways in which the Chamber helps members connect with each other and the larger community include the membership directory, job board, events calendar, Business Pride magazine, and community discounts with Chamber members. Learn more at MidAmericaLGBT.org.
Godrey Riddle, Jeff Harris, Jeff Dutzel, and Andrew Dutzel
Jay Bohannon provided training during the 2023 Transformations in the Workspace event.
