Philadelphia Business Journal will stage its annual best of the best of LGBT business event next week.
PBJ has recognized LGBT business excellence with an annual leader list since 2012. With the 2016 incarnation, organizers decided to rank LGBT-owned companies based on annual revenue as opposed to number of employees, the system used in the past.
“The idea was that this way was more accurate,” said PBJ editor Craig Ey, who noted that the publication is also shifting toward that model in its other top-25 lists, like for the best family-owned or tech companies.
In addition to the companies ranked by revenue, IBA will also honor 25 companies that received a perfect score on Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, which rates businesses on the LGBT inclusivity of their programs and policies.
Also receiving a nod will be 16 employees from 18 companies. PBJ held an open-nomination process for those honorees, with judging assistance from LGBT chamber of commerce Independence Business Alliance.
The individual honorees are: Chip Alfred of Philadelphia FIGHT; Rachel Stevenson of OutWord Today and LBGT Equity Alliance; Brian Seaman of Stradley Ronon; Danielle Ryan of Fox Rothschild; David Huting of PNC Wealth Management; Jason Derstine of Alura Business Solutions; Jade Gasper of Mark It Alternatives; Angela Giampolo of Giampolo Law Group; Rosalind Sutch of Drucker & Scacetti; Sean Montgomery and Todd Bavol of Integrity Staffing Solutions; Scott Gray of Gray Consulting International; David Schellenberg of LinguiSearch; David Jefferys of Altus Agency; Cecilia Isaacs-Blundin of Comcast; Marc Coleman of Tactile Group; and Tracy and Mia Levesque of Yikes Inc.
The Nov. 10 awards ceremony will be held at a different location: the Ballroom at the Ben, 834 Chestnut St.
“We started doing events there last year and it’s a great space, a really neat location,” Ey said.
About 200 people attended the reception last year, a number Ey again expects this year.
Tickets start at $145 or $130.50 for PBJ subscribers. For tickets, visit www.bizjournals.com.