March 16, 20002000 LEAGUE Welcome Letter and National Accomplishments
Here's the letter that our National Co-Presidents Joe Gauss and Marcia Sommers wrote to welcome people to our 9th annual conference, followed by the 2000 national accomplishments.Welcome to LEAGUE at AT&T's 9th Annual Professional Development Conference in the "City of Brotherly Love." The theme of this year's conference is, "Work in Progress: Celebrating 25 Years of Equal Opportunity."
What better place than Philadelphia -- where the Liberty Bell rang, and where the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence -- to celebrate our freedom and our progress? This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the inclusion of sexual orientation in AT&T's EEO/AA statement.
Since our last conference in Minneapolis, we have continued to be filled with challenges and transformations for AT&T as well as the LEAGUE organization. We've seen changes in the corporation on how we, as a company, are changing directions in the local, cable and wireless industries. As opportunities have arisen, many of our AT&T employees and LEAGUE members and champions have moved on to new career opportunities both within and outside the company. One change that we are always delighted to see are new people stepping up to local and national leadership positions. We are especially thrilled to see the number of new members, the new and revived chapters that are being formed.
We are absolutely delighted with the work this year's conference Executive Vice Presidents and committee did for all of us in preparing significant experiences for us. We are confident that these experiences are a worthwhile foundation to your professional development. The conference's agenda committee has developed a slate of workshops pertinent to AT&T's employees.
Thank you to each of you who have made it to the conference. We are well aware that funding for conference attendance has become an even greater challenge for each of us. Thanks to all of you who helped LEAGUE be creative in getting as many people as possible to this important conference. Thanks to former AT&T employees who continue to be LEAGUE members and continue with us with our work for equity and fairness in our workplaces.
Thanks to our champions and allies. Your support paves the way for members of LEAGUE to contribute to the success of our business.
Special thanks to all the volunteers who worked toward this conference effort -- a conference is more than speakers, meetings, and workshops. There have been great amounts of work done in hotel and meal planning, registration, schedules, audio-visual equipment, entertainment, and creating an environment in which we able to not only network, but enjoy comraderie.
We are proud of all the work you do. We are proud of employees who are OUT in the workplace, even in the face of adversity. YOU make LEAGUE a strong part of the fabric of AT&T as well as the greater gay and lesbian community.
We wish you a successful conference.
Joe Gauss Co-President & Marcia Sommers
Co-President
LEAGUE NATIONAL
1999-2000 Accomplishments
- LEAGUE was represented at 1999 GLSEN's national conference in Atlanta in October
- LEAGUE was represented at the 1999 OUT & EQUAL Conference in Atlanta.
- Pacific Region AT&T Public Relations underwrote a portion of NGLTF's 1999 Creating Change conference in Oakland, Calif. LEAGUE President Ex-Officio Michael Albert and Randy Shields were presenters at the conference.
- AT&T was a Gold Corporate Sponsor of GLAAD's 10th Annual Media Awards
- AT&T was a Corporate Sponsor of the 4th Largest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival -- Reel Affirmations in Washington, D.C.
- This past year marks the first time AT&T purchased banner advertisements on a website with Gay & Lesbian content (Q T Magazine http://www.qtmagazine.com/)
- LEAGUE at AT&T made financial contributions to the following national LGBT Organizations:
- Gay & Lesbian National Hotline
- Lambda Legal Defense Fund
- Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
- LEAGUE at AT&T was listed as a supporter of the "AFTER STONEWALL" broadcast on PBS
- LEAGUE was named One of the Most Influential Employee Organizations by GFN.COM
- LEAGUE obtained a commitment from AT&T Metro Markets to target Gay & Lesbian small businesses
- We entered our second enrollment period under AT&T's Domestic Partner Benefit plan
- LEAGUE National Co-Presidents sent letter to Miriam Graddick communicating current DPB issues
- LEAGUE obtained the list of HMOs that provide DPBs from the Corporation. As a result, employees no longer had to call and track down which HMOs did or did not provide DPBs
- LEAGUE provided support during the October benefits open enrollment period, as well as the transition of TCI employees in July and August
- LEAGUE provided support during the period where tax withholding was inappropriately applied to employees exercising DPBs
- LEAGUE reviewed other corporations' diversity materials using AT&T's Safe Space* image/program as a guide. American Express, Prudential, IBM, and XEROX will be implementing similar Safe Space programs through each of their Human Resources departments.
- AT&T LEAGUE Foundation presented nine academicscholarships, two of which were given the name of Matthew Shepard. Judy Shepard joined us at our 8th Professional Development Conference to present the scholarships
- In September, LEAGUE's National Co-Presidents met with Ruth Eisenberg from Lambda Legal Defense Fund, as well as with Kerry Lobel from NGLTF, to communicate a "state-of-the-community" at our Mid-Year Leadership meeting in El Paso, Texas
Marcia Sommers and Joe Gauss
National Co-Presidents
* Safe Space and the Safe Space logo are registered trademarks of EQUAL! at Lucent, licensed to LEAGUE at AT&T.