Dear Out & Equal Tampa Bay Members and Supporters,

Nearly six years ago, Out & Equal Tampa Bay was founded to help bring workplace equality to the Tampa Bay area and has made great strides within the community by providing education to employees and human resource representatives on the value of workplace equality. Out & Equal Tampa Bay has also formed several partnerships over the years with other organizations in Tampa Bay that are dedicated to equality among all people.

I regretfully announce that Out & Equal will cease its operations in the Tampa Bay region as of January 14, 2013.

As Chair of the group, I want to thank all our current and past officers of Out & Equal Tampa Bay that have made our group successful, as well as their respective employers : Angie Gibbons (Raymond James), Angie Padgett (Morgan & Morgan), Anthony Chuchman (Verizon), Anthony Rivera (Pricewaterhouse Coopers), Anthony Virostko (JP Morgan Chase and Verizon), Cheryl Madelle (Raymond James), Curt Brown (Verizon), Dave Bauer (Bank of America), David Elsey (Nielsen), Jason Fromi (Blue Cross Blue Shield), Jeff Sterrett (Pricewaterhouse Coopers), Jen Green (Bank of America), Jim Casey (Tropicana/Pepsico), Joe Wiehagen (Raymond James), Jon Dixon (Jonny Edge Art), Frank Lycan (Raymond James), Michele Koehler (Nielsen), Nick Kouris (Blue Cross Blue Shield), Sal Davila (JP Morgan Chase), and Seless Emanuels (Nielsen). These officers have worked tirelessly with Out & Equal Tampa Bay and their respective employers to help grow the organization to where it is today.

In addition to our officers, I would like to thank these companies and organizations that have provided their support in our goal of workplace equality: Equality Florida, GE Aviation, Knowledge Gives Power, City Side, Metro Wellness and Community Center, Trans*Action Florida, St Pete Pride, Sarasota Pride, St Pete AIDS Walk, TIGGLF, Tampa Bay Business Guild, Tampa Museum of Art, and the University of South Florida.

I would also like to thank Linda and Karen Michelle Schrader, Michael Keeffe, Tonya Fletcher, Libby Shenk, Deb Wolf, Chris Rudisill, Karen Berkman, Brian Longstreth, Mariruth Kennedy, and Suzanne Noe (Pro Suzy) for their efforts and partnerships on past workplace equality projects.

If anyone is interested in rejuvenating Out & Equal Tampa Bay, with the existing groundwork in place, please contact our national headquarters in San Francisco at networks@outandequal.org.

Thanks again to everyone for their continued support and I wish everyone the best as we all continue our quest for equality.

Best Regards,
Cheryl Madelle