Thank you to everyone who joined us in person or virtually for the 2021 Pride in Business Awards on Friday. We wanted to give everyone an in-depth wrap-up of the event now that we have our pictures from the event!

The Nashville LGBT Chamber held its annual Pride In Business Awards on Friday, June 4th, to honor members and the community for their work on advancing LGBT issues through the workplace and in society. The Awards were a hybrid event with 40 guests in person at Play bar and over 140 watching on Airmeet, a virtual events platform. The awards were also streamed live to the Chamber social media on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and you can watch the whole event there.

The Pride in Business Awards is an inspirational day for the LGBT Chamber and our community. This unique and exciting event attracts our largest, most attentive, and most influential audience. It is a great crowd in front of which to share these powerful LGBT-inclusive success stories. We had to do things a little differently this year due to COVID19 restrictions, but we did not want to go another year without celebrating.

The 2020 awards ceremony was postponed last June during the height of the pandemic. Plans were made to bring a small, safe and responsible event to the community and chamber members. Finalists and presenters were given an option to attend the small gathering in person or submit videos to be shown during the program. When COVID restrictions were lifted the Chamber remained with the smaller event but looks forward to expanding back to the 700 person crowd sizes from years past.

We would like to take another opportunity to thank our sponsors. Titanium Member, Dell Technologies was the presenting sponsor, with HCA Healthcare/TriStar Health as a title sponsor for the 5th year in a row. Award sponsors were Amazon, Comcast, MediCopy Services, Nashville Area Chamber, and Waller.

Thank you to our virtual table sponsors: AllianceBernstein; Bass, Berry & Sims; Culture Shift Team; Dollar General; Melo Green Botanics, Music City PrEP Clinic, and Nashville International Airport.

A special thanks to our event partners: Play Nashville, Liberty Party Rental, STF Catering & Events, and Tonda McKay Photography.

Over 100 individuals and organizations were nominated across seven categories. Nominees completed questionnaires describing their accomplishments over the last twelve months. Questionnaires were scored by an awards committee made up of a diverse group of LGBT Chamber members and former award winners. The nominees who receive the top three scores are the finalists in that category. All current LGBT Chamber members voted for one winner in each category to add to the judges’ scores of each finalist. Winners were announced at the event. The 2021 finalist and winners were:

Corporate Diversity

Bass, Berry & Sims

Small Business Diversity

D'Andrews Bakery & Cafe

Entrepreneur of the Year

Christopher Lester,

Clifton + Leopold

Business Leader of the Year

Hal Cato

Thistle Farms

Ally Award

Donna Drehmann

Community Service Award

Rev. Dawn Bennett

The Table

Leadership in the Arts

Nashville Children's Theatre

President's Award

Ron Snitker

Here are the presentations for each award:

Welcome

CEO Keynote - Joe Woolley

Presidents Award - Ron Snitker

Community Service Award - Rev. Dawn Bennett, The Table

Ally Award - Donna Drehmann 

Membership Manager Report - Lauren Bland

Leadership in the Arts Award - Nashville Children’s Theatre

Entrepreneur Award - Christopher Lester, Clifton + Leopold

Business Leader Award - Hal Cato, Thistle Farms

Small Business Award - D’Andrews Bakery & Cafe

Corporate Diversity Award - Bass, Berry & Sims

Closing

Thank you to member and LGBTBE Tonda McKay Photography for photographing this year’s awards! Please check out the photos below. Make sure to like and share!