LGBTQ+ people in STEM get help to build careers

Members of the LGBTQ+ community don’t always have professional mentors or family members to lean on when entering the workforce. In such cases, Brian Redmond is happy to be their support.

As a workplace inclusivity advocate and Chevron university recruiting advisor, Redmond is on both a personal and professional mission to help marginalized early career professionals succeed.

“A lot of people, when they come out, lose the support structure they had before,” Redmond said.

Chevron supports Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (oSTEM), a nonprofit focused on LGBTQ+ students and professionals, through:

• oSTEM’s annual university recruiting conference, where we select candidates for intern and full-time roles.
• oSTEM’s annual Professional Development Summit, where we mentor attendees and present leadership workshops.

Redmond’s efforts at oSTEM include helping early career professionals write resumes, prepare for interviews and find scholarship or internship opportunities.

“It’s a small but mighty organization,” he said, “that impacts thousands of lives every year to help bridge gaps of professional opportunity and the disadvantages that a lot of LGBTQ+ folks face.”

Some of Redmond’s most rewarding work has been connecting talent with opportunities at Chevron.

Last summer, he recruited a transgender oSTEM participant who was assured that our workforce would be inclusive and welcoming. Soon after the candidate accepted the Houston-based internship, Redmond checked in to see how things were going.

“She said everybody had exceeded her expectations when it came to our culture of workplace inclusivity,” he recalled. “That was really reassuring and made me proud of the work we do.”