National LGBT Chamber of Commerce: New York (nglccNY) Networking Event

Join the AIANY LGBTQIA+ Alliance and the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce: New York (nglccNY) at a networking event hosted by B-KD. Learn how you can engage with the Chamber of Commerce to grow your network with other LGBTQIA+ professionals and learn how to register your firm as a Certified LGBT Business Enterprise® (Certified LGBTBE®).  

nglccNY helps LGBTQ+ business owners by strategizing with corporate partners, businesses, and the community at large to strengthen opportunities and equality for LGBT businesses and professionals in the tristate region. nglccNY also provides education and mentoring to LGBTQ and allied businesses and professionals, partners with the financial services sector to improve members' access to capital to start or grow their business, and provides marketing platforms for LGBTQ and allied businesses. Outside of assisting business development, nglccNY is also stays on the forefront of legislative issues, providing advocacy for LGBTQ business causes and non-discriminatory affairs.

Please join us with Kellie Parkin (she/her), Executive Director of nglccNY and Gunner Gardner (they/them), Senior Membership Manager and Regional Certification Associate to learn more about this important organization. 

Speakers: 
Kellie Parkin, Executive Director, nglccNY (she/her/hers)
Gunner Gardner, Senior Membership Manager and Regional Certification Specialist, nglccNY (they/them/theirs)

About the Speakers:
Kellie Parkin is the Executive Director of nglccNY's and leader of our regional LGBTQ economic equality movement. An award-winning photographer and writer, as well as an insatiable learner, she works tirelessly every day, using her extensive experience in business development and journalism to make our world a better, inclusive, and equal place for all humans, and specifically her rainbow tribe, whom she loves dearly. A puzzle solver, pattern reader, and team builder, Parkin has the ability to see the big picture, understand other viewpoints, and seek new ways and solutions that lead to consensus and action. She has a global perspective and an individual approach. Some of her recent recognitions include Business Equality Network’s National Top 40 LGBTQ Leaders Under 40, Watermark’s Most Remarkable People, and the inaugural Chamber Leader of the Year Award by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Under her transformative leadership, The Pride Chamber was honored as Chamber of the Year in 2017. Parkin was honored during the 2020 pride month by U.S. Congressman Darren Soto as a distinguished leader in Central Florida. Most recently, she was recognized as a 2021 Social Justice Game Changer by the Orlando Magic. Parkin spearheaded the effort that led the City of Orlando and Orange County to be the first in Florida to embrace and recognize LGBT businesses in their procurement processes. She serves on the Orlando Mayor’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, and the Board of the Central Florida Freethought Community, a non-profit dedicated to the separation of state and church. In the wake of the Pulse Tragedy, she served on the taskforce to formally establish the One Orlando Alliance, a coalition of non-profits unifying Central Florida’s LGBTQ+ community. She believes every moment counts, and that together we can create positive change if we show up, speak out, and act with love, which she strives to do daily for the community at large, and also for her family, where she is a proud and fierce mama bear.

Gunner Gardner (they/them/theirs) is a new resident of New York City as of 2020. Originally from Austin Texas, Gardner served as the Programs Director for the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce and an LGBTQIA+ Community Liaison for the City of Austin and State of Texas. A graduate of Sul Ross State University in Alpine Texas, Gardner played Division III NCAA Men’s Tennis and was the recipient of the NCAA Community Service Athlete of the Year Award in 2017. Gardner has since made their home in NYC and enjoys the numerous food choices the city has to offer along with performing as their drag persona Robin Rose Quartz and many of New York’s vibrant gay clubs.