Greater Seattle Business Association
Encyclopedia
The Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) is a Seattle, Washington
(United States
) based lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT
), and allied chamber of commerce
. The majority of the organization's membership are small business
es located throughout the Puget Sound
area. The association counts a few large corporations as members, including: Microsoft
, Starbucks
, Wells Fargo
, Washington Mutual
(now JPMorgan Chase, Safeco Insurance, and American Family Insurance
. The association's mission is to combine business development, leadership, and social activism to expand economic opportunities for the LGBT community and allies.
and gay
business community. At the time of its incorporation, the board of directors consisted of 9 men. Since its inception, the board of directors has grown to 25 positions. The association's membership reached 1,000 in 2006. The following year the GSBA opened its first independent office in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.
, Mexico
, in the south. With the establishment of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
in 2004 (of which GSBA was a founding member), GSBA's current executive director, Louise Chernin, was appointed National Chair on the Council on Chambers and Business Organizations (CCBO), a position she held for four years. The following year, the WBA voted in favor of folding into the NGLCC’s CCBO structure as the Pacific Regional Council.
State is a primary goal of the organization, however it undertakes many public policy issues through its Legislative Agenda.
, the organization that lead the campaign to approve Referendum 71.
was criticized for his "rude" treatment of GSBA staff members while attending that year's event. Subsequently he won the 2009 election.
At the 2008 event, Collaboration for Social Change honorees included Anne Levinson, Ginny Gilder, Lisa Brummel and Dawn Trudeau (Force 10 Hoops, LLC). In a sale approved by the WNBA in late February 2008, Force 10 Hoops became the new owner of the Seattle Storm
. The change in ownership will allow the Storm to remain in Seattle in the event the Seattle Supersonics
move to Oklahoma City.
(3-time Olympic Gold Medalist, 3-time WNBA MVP, and recent addition to the Seattle Storm), as well as former University of Washington
Huskey/NFL player David Kopay
, who after his retirement from professional football came out
in 1975.
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
(United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) based lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
), and allied chamber of commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
. The majority of the organization's membership are small business
Small business
A small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships...
es located throughout the Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
area. The association counts a few large corporations as members, including: Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
, Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
, Washington Mutual
Washington Mutual
Washington Mutual, Inc. , abbreviated to WaMu, was a savings bank holding company and the former owner of Washington Mutual Bank, which was the United States' largest savings and loan association until its collapse in 2008....
(now JPMorgan Chase, Safeco Insurance, and American Family Insurance
American Family Insurance
American Family Insurance is a private mutual company that focuses on property, casualty and auto insurance, but also offers commercial insurance, life, health, and homeowners coverage, as well as investment and retirement-planning products...
. The association's mission is to combine business development, leadership, and social activism to expand economic opportunities for the LGBT community and allies.
History
The GSBA was founded in 1981 for the purposes of visibility and to create a unified voice for the lesbianLesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
and gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
business community. At the time of its incorporation, the board of directors consisted of 9 men. Since its inception, the board of directors has grown to 25 positions. The association's membership reached 1,000 in 2006. The following year the GSBA opened its first independent office in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Female leadership
In the organization's second year (1982), accountant Harley Broe became the first woman elected to the board of directors. The first female board President was Mary Kay Wright, elected in 1986. In 2001, GSBA's hired Louise Chernin as their Executive Director, and she still serves in that position.Regional activities
In 1992, GSBA formed the Western Business Alliance in partnership with the Greater San Diego Business Association and the Camelback Business Association of Phoenix. In 1997, the WBA brought together 21 LGBT-and-allied organizations—from Vancouver, British Columbia, in the north; to TijuanaTijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, in the south. With the establishment of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce is a U.S. not-for-profit advocacy organization specifically dedicated to expanding the economic opportunities and advancements of the LGBT business community. The NGLCC headquarters is located at 729 15 Street, NW in Washington, D.C...
in 2004 (of which GSBA was a founding member), GSBA's current executive director, Louise Chernin, was appointed National Chair on the Council on Chambers and Business Organizations (CCBO), a position she held for four years. The following year, the WBA voted in favor of folding into the NGLCC’s CCBO structure as the Pacific Regional Council.
Gay Wedding Show
GSBA was the presenting sponsor of the first Gay Wedding Show in 2004. Held at Seattle's Swedish Cultural Center, the event hosted 50 vendors and was the first of its kind in Seattle.National Recognition
In November 2008 GSBA was awarded "Chamber of the Year" by the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) in Washington, D.C. recognizing its leadership among more than 45 other regional LGBT and Allied chambers. In 2009, GSBA played host affiliate chamber to NGLCC's Sixth Annual Out for Business Conference, held in Seattle. That year GSBA received the "Community Outreach Award" for its scholarship program.Advocacy
Same-sex marriage in WashingtonSame-sex marriage in Washington
Same-sex marriage is not recognized as marriage in Washington state. The Washington Supreme Court would have made Washington the second U.S. state to recognize these unions if it had decided differently in two cases that had been consolidated for appeal...
State is a primary goal of the organization, however it undertakes many public policy issues through its Legislative Agenda.
Marriage equality
In 2006, when efforts were undertaken to repeal Washington's non-discrimination law through public referendum, GSBA stood alongside other organizations in support of Washington Won't Discriminate, a group opposing the referendum. After passage of three separate domestic partnership bills in the Washington State Legislature access to full marriage is still denied to Washingtonians. In 2009, enough signatures were obtained by put Referendum 71 on that year's general election ballot. This referendum would have overturned the state's third and final expansion of domestic partnership law passed by the legislature earlier that year. GSBA was a leading voice of 282 coalition partners of Washington Families Standing TogetherWashington Families Standing Together
Washington Families Standing Together was founded in 2009 to preserve domestic partnerships in Washington State by urging voters to approve Referendum 71....
, the organization that lead the campaign to approve Referendum 71.
Candidate Forum
Every September the organization holds a debate-like program, The GSBA Candidate Forum. The event is billed as "the region's only LGBT candidate forum". The forum has featured candidates from local races such as city/county councils to larger office including Washington State Governor and US House of Representatives.Controversy
In 2009, then mayoral candidate Mike McGinnMichael McGinn
Michael "Mike" Patrick McGinn is the mayor of Seattle, a lawyer, Greenwood neighborhood activist and a former Sierra Club state chair...
was criticized for his "rude" treatment of GSBA staff members while attending that year's event. Subsequently he won the 2009 election.
Scholarship Program
In 1990, two teachers saw a need for LGBT and allied students who needed financial assistance with higher education expenses. At the time it was the nation's first LGBT and allied scholarship fund. Six years into the program, the organization had granted five scholarships totaling $10,000. In 1998, Richard C. Rolfs (a Wenatchee-native and longtime gay rights activist) bequested $200,000 to the GSBA Scholarship Fund, establishing an endowment in his name. By 2001, the program was granting more than $50,000 each year in undergraduate scholarships. By 2010, a cumulative 350 or more individual scholarships totaling in excess of $1,000,000 had been granted.Record Breaking
In May 2010, at the Annual Scholarship Awards Dinner, GSBA gave out its one millionth dollar ($1,000,000) in cumulative scholarship grants. The following November the primary fundraising event for the program, The Taste of GSBA smashed all previous records, grossing $345,000 from the dinner auction. More than $130,000 of the gross was direct donations to the fund.Events
The association holds a variety of monthly and annual events—the three largest of which are formal evening functions, held annually.Awards dinner
The Business & Humanitarian Awards Dinner is generally held in March and honors business leaders in various areas; such as Business Person of the Year, New Business of the Year, and Employee of the Year.At the 2008 event, Collaboration for Social Change honorees included Anne Levinson, Ginny Gilder, Lisa Brummel and Dawn Trudeau (Force 10 Hoops, LLC). In a sale approved by the WNBA in late February 2008, Force 10 Hoops became the new owner of the Seattle Storm
Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm is a professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2000 season began...
. The change in ownership will allow the Storm to remain in Seattle in the event the Seattle Supersonics
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
move to Oklahoma City.
Scholarship dinner
The Scholarship Awards Dinner honors the current group of recipients with their scholarships. Each recipient is given the opportunity to speak and express themselves after receiving their award. At the 2008 dinner, the GSBA Scholarship Fund awarded $137,000 to 37 undergraduate students. The event was also host to two celebrity presenters, including Sheryl SwoopesSheryl Swoopes
Sheryl Denise Swoopes is an American professional basketball player who, subsequent to being waived into free agency, signed to re-join the WNBA to play with the Tulsa Shock in 2011. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA when it was created. She has won three Olympic Gold Medals and...
(3-time Olympic Gold Medalist, 3-time WNBA MVP, and recent addition to the Seattle Storm), as well as former University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
Huskey/NFL player David Kopay
David Kopay
David Marquette Kopay is a former American football running back in the National Football League who in 1975 became one of the first professional athletes to come out as gay....
, who after his retirement from professional football came out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
in 1975.
The Taste of GSBA event
The Taste of GSBA is the organization's annual gala event, with approximately 600 people in attendance. The "Taste" (as it is referred to in short) is a black-tie fundraiser for the GSBA Scholarship Program. The event also serves as a showcase of member restaurants and caterers, and hosts a silent and live auctions.Participation in Seattle Pride
The association participates each year in Seattle's Pride festivities. In 2006 graphic designer Andrea Rouleau designed a birthday cake float to celebrate GSBA's 25th anniversary.External links
- Greater Seattle Business Association — official website
- GSBA Scholarship Program