EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Pride in Exile
As Pride Month comes to a close, learn from two absolute LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion titans: former EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum and former EEOC Judge Karen Ortiz, and build on their legacies.
Congress established the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It exists to prevent & address unfair treatment in the workplace, ensuring that employers don't discriminate against individuals based on race, gender, religion, or age in hiring, firing, or promotions.
Essentially, the EEOC attempts to create a level playing field in the job market by investigating complaints and enforcing anti-discrimination laws. Yet today’s EEOC, led by acting chair Andrea Lucas, is rapidly changing, especially as it enforces—or instead fails to enforce—protections for LGBTQ+ employees.
Pride in Exile, a volunteer organization initially created to fill the absence of an LGBTQ+ employee resource group for federal employees in early 2025, rapidly evolved into a support network for LGBTQ+ employees and their allies in the United States workforce. The organization now offers actionable ways both employers of choice and employees can resist the weaponization of the EEOC as it threatens the hard-earned rights and protections of LGBTQ+ employees.
In this exclusive interview, I was honored to host two absolute titans in the fight for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion: Chai Feldblum, a renowned legal scholar, activist, and former EEOC Commissioner under President Barack Obama, and Judge Karen Ortiz, a former administrative law judge at the EEOC’s New York District’s Office who bravely challenged the current EEOC’s leadership over policies adversely impacting LGBTQ+ employees.
Together, we explored the following topics:
Our Guests’ Career Journeys. The guests' journeys to EEOC leadership positions and the significant advancements in LGBTQ+ workplace protections made over the past two decades.
Threats to LGBTQ+ Workplace Protections. An in-depth look at current threats to LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion and concrete strategies to counter them, including the vital role of the all-volunteer organization, Pride in Exile.
Vision for a Belonging Society. A forward-looking discussion on envisioning and building a future of work where belonging is truly inclusive for all, especially the most vulnerable within our LGBTQ+ communities.
Our conversation is designed to support people like you—visionary leaders and those on their way to joining us. If you want to gain the essential skills necessary to apply this learning to your work, then consider joining the Belonging Movement today!
After you join, you'll receive exclusive access to complimentary workshops, group coaching sessions, and 1:1 somatic coaching offers designed to help you lead with your values and build groups that center team safety, trust, and belonging.
Sneak Peek!
While the polished audio version of the podcast won’t be available until mid-July, the content we explored in this video was too important to delay in sharing. As subscribers of the Imagine Belonging Substack, you are receiving an exclusive sneak peek of our unedited video podcast recording. Savor the conversation, share it with a colleague, and be sure to support one of Pride in Exile’s upcoming actions.
Take An Act of Allyship!
Do you want to keep Pride alive, year-round, by taking an act of allyship?
Then, please express your objection to the U.S. EEOC's attempt to remove gender identity and sexual orientation as protected bases on EEO Complaint Forms. Send your objectionable comments to the Treasury PRA Clearance Officer, 1750 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 800, WDC 20220, or email PRA@treasury.gov.
To read more about this proposed change, go here, and to learn more about the incredible leaders pushing back against such changes, like Chai and Karen, learn about Pride in Exile here. These LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion titans have our backs as we continue to build workplaces prepared for an inclusive future of work.
Thanks for growing our Belonging Movement!