What started as a business association for Vancouver’s LGBTQ+ community has since spawned a more broad social networking resource and a community foundation, says newly elected LOUD co-chair Blair Smith.
“It’s growing into an organization of people who want to support the foundation as well as to network,” he says. A number of members “who have retired actually have time and resources and knowledge to give back and they really enjoy meeting younger business people,” he adds.
Formerly the Gay and Lesbian Business Association, LOUD supports business people with networking and advertising opportunities, and its philanthropic arm provides scholarships for people making a difference in the LGBTQ+ community.
Individual business owners, employees, students and non-profits can register for the LOUD business association, with some of their membership fees going toward the LOUD foundation, a separately registered charity.
And you don’t need to identify as LGBTQ+ to join or to receive a scholarship.
“We’re a non-partisan association. I can’t think of anything we discriminate on, which makes sense – leadership by example,” Smith says. “For our scholarships we don’t ask anything to do with sexual orientation or preference. We ask people how they contribute to building their communities, and it’s up to them to describe what their community is.”
For example, Smith says he’s sure the foundation has “given scholarships to people who don’t identify on the spectrum, but they helped start GSAs [Gay-Straight Alliances] in their high school.”
Smith, a real-estate agent, helped establish the organization’s foundation in 2009, and since then he has sat on the board most years.
“I’ve always been a strong believer in community and supporting businesses that support your community, and shopping local ... it’s kind of a natural fit.
“It’s a way for the business community to be involved with the not-for-profit and non-profit charitable aspect of our community, whose needs are many.”
Gina Best, the other newly elected LOUD co-chair, runs a mortgage brokerage and is a business coach. With a knowing chuckle, she describes herself as “the token straight girl” on the board.
She says she first got involved with LOUD nearly a decade ago, because most of her friends were gay men, and supporting the
LGBTQ+ business community made sense to her.
“The question is why wouldn’t I [get involved], rather than why!” she says. “I’m a woman in business, I know what it’s like to be a minority.”
With its printed business directory (available for free at stores throughout the city), LOUD has provided an important resource to Metro Vancouver’s
LGBTQ+ community for many years, Best says. She wants to see that continue.
“I would like to see more of the business side of it come back. I think they [the previous board members] have done a tremendous job doing great things with the scholarship and the foundation... I would like to see the business side come back, and that’s the message I’m getting from the membership as well.”
Smith and Best’s election as the new co-chairs comes on the heels of Graeme Boyd stepping down from the board, after more than a decade of service.
Despite their differing focuses, Best says that her and Smith’s plans for LOUD are complementary.
“There hasn’t been a focus on the business side for the last few years as much as the philanthropy side, so it’s just time to shift it a little bit, so that’s kind of where my focus is, and Blair [Smith] is taking care of the philanthropy side,” Best says.
Ever passionate about the LOUD foundation, Smith says that during its first year in 2009, it gave away $7,000 in scholarships; in 2017, that amount has more than tripled. This year, a panel of community members reviewed more than 90 applications and selected 14 winners, awarding a total of $24,000.
• The LOUD Business Holiday Drinks Party takes place on Wednesday December 13, from 6-9 p.m., at CRAFT Beer Market (85 West 1st Avenue) and non-members are welcome. Tickets $25-$30.
