While many Americans are still anxiously and angrily debating the rights of qualified transgender individuals to serve in our military — or arguing about equal bathroom access — we seem to be overlooking the rise of many transgender leaders in the world of business. Thankfully, the recently launched LGBTQ Executive Leadership Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business is trying to change that. The only major initiative of its kind at an international business school, the intense week-long training program was designed to push already experienced LGBT business leaders to the next level.
Fortunately for a couple of lucky candidates, the David Bohnett Foundation, an organization dedicated to growing and cultivating LGBTQ business and community leaders, stepped in and offered a near-full scholarship to the program for the last two years. The foundation has its own in-house selection process (you can’t apply for it) and so far has awarded the scholarship to two transgender business leaders: Mara Keisling, founder and executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, and Danielle Piergallini, a corporate executive at American Airlines.