For the third consecutive year, Steve Jacques, Group Chief Executive Officer at Key Assets Group Europe – has been included in the OUTstanding leading LGBT+ Executives 2020 list, ranked 30th place, presented by Yahoo Finance.

The list seeks to highlight key industry role models who champion LGBTQ+ inclusion and diversity within their organisations. All 2020 Role Models were nominated by peers and colleagues or put themselves forward for consideration.

Each nominee was then reviewed by OUTstanding’s judging panel and was scored on the seniority and influence of their role, their impact on LGBTQ+ inclusion, their business achievements and contribution outside the workplace.

Steve Jacques uses his platform to champion LGBTQ+ inclusion. As the lead sponsor for Key Assets’ LGBTQ+ strategy, he has been a strong advocate and visible role-model for LGBTQ+ young people supported by or placed in the organisations care.

Honoured & delighted to be on the 2020 @OUTstandingiB LGBT+ Executive List supported by @YahooFinance. Let’s continue to work together to drive the charge for inclusion in the workplace & the community! https://t.co/34X4CBuyYO #OUTRoleModels2020 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 pic.twitter.com/7hZRopCSeJ

— Steve Jacques (@srjacques1) January 19, 2021

In 2020 Steve was involved in the development of a new employee diversity network, This is Us, and a diversity charter which introduces mentoring opportunities for LGBTQ+ employees. Steve has been the Executive Sponsor for company activities around LGBTQ+ History Month, Wear it Purple, National Coming Out Day and Pride Month.

Outside of work, he is a prominent speaker on LGBTQ+ inclusion, a Board Director for the National LGBT Federation, proud publishers of GCN and actively supports LGBTQ+ charities and initiatives.

Steve is no stranger to being recognised as a role model. In 2018, he was also included in the Asia Pacific Top 50 LGBTQ+ Executives List published by Deloittes and Google and in 2019, he was shortlisted for the Diversity Champion Award at the European Diversity Awards.

Speaking about his inclusion, Steve commented: “I’m delighted to be included, for the 3rd year running, in the OUTstanding 100 LGBT + Role Models list. It’s a massive honour and I am grateful to have been nominated. I’m fortunate that every day I get to work with an outstanding group of inclusive change makers too.

“LGBT+ people are represented in all walks of life and this list reminds us how important it is to have visible and proud role models. A recent conversation with a young person, who is a lesbian, reminded me just how critical it was for her to have someone like me in her life. LGBT+ people, around the world, still face discrimination and prejudice and we must continue to challenge and change this and I will continue to use my actions and voice for this.”

The team at GCN would like to congratulate Steve on this honour which is very much deserved.

Founder & CEO of INvolve, Suki Sandhu OBE, says, “I’m thrilled to be celebrating another amazing group of LGBT+ and Ally Role Models from across the globe who are championing inclusion and inspiring the next generation of talent. LGBT+ discrimination is still prevalent across the world and Role Models are essential to change perceptions and show everyone that you can be successful in business while also being your authentic self at work.”

Joining Steve Jacques, there were several other notable inclusions in the list representing Ireland.

Catherine Vaughan – Partner, Global Financial Crime Leader at EY (74th)

Catherine is Ireland Partner Sponsor for Unity at EY, in addition to being EMEIA Area Partner Sponsor, and Global Partner Steering Committee member. She and her team have implemented numerous training programs, an IDAHOT webcast, with a supporting art auction, and Pride-related web sessions on LGBT+ parenting and trans inclusion.

Noel Gavin – Senior VP, Global Head, Corporate & Institutional Learning at Northern Trust (56th)

Noel is the Executive Sponsor of Northern Trust’s LGBT+ resource Group, Pride Network, where he provides leadership to the Pride Committee to establish and deliver an LGBT+ inclusion strategy. Visibility of the network has grown year on year, and 10% of the Ireland headcount attended Pride in 2019 as a result.

John McNamara – Managing Director at Canada Life International Ireland (42nd)

John is an Executive Steering member of the Group Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which champions and funds the D&I program impacting over 3,500 employees across the Irish Life and Canada Life Group in Ireland. He has acted as Executive Lead for the Group program and is the most senior visible LGBTQ+ role model in the organisation.

Martin Shanahan – CEO at IDA Ireland (24th)

Martin has brought D&I in all its forms to the forefront at IDA Ireland. He has advanced the agenda since becoming CEO through appointing Executive Sponsors and Champions for key diversity and inclusion pillars of Gender, LGBT+, Culture, Socio-economic and Ability.

The full list is can be found at involverolemodels.org/outstanding