LGBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s LGBT Leadership Institute Puts Graduates on a Path to Success
2020 Institute grad Larry Nelson-Guillen is reaching his career goals after completing the program
When Larry Nelson-Guillen decided to pivot into human resources after a career in finance, he enrolled in the LGBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s LGBT Leadership Institute to help change his trajectory.
“When I was at the Institute, I had just graduated with an MBA,” Nelson-Guillen explains. “I worked in finance, business development and sales, all of which I enjoyed, but was looking to get into HR with a specialty in diversity, equity and inclusion.”
The LGBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s LGBT Leadership Institute not only taught him what his strengths were, but also about different communication styles, approaches and personality types.
Nelson-Guillen also took an intensive DISC assessment session as part of the Institute training. This self-evaluation tool measures people’s personality and behavioral styles based on the theory of psychologist William Marston. It identifies four personality traits, including Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. DISC assessments are used often in business to improve teams’ communication and performance.
“Sessions like that really gave me validation to move into a proper HR role,” Nelson-Guillen says. “In the midst of this, I was able to secure an HR position with an emphasis in DEI and moved into more senior roles in the last three years.”
The Institute lessons he gleaned in the DEI spaces helped Nelson-Guillen grow as an ally for the transgender community.
“There were Institute sessions with an organization called House of Rebirth that discussed the trans experience for women of color,” he says. Established in Dallas in 2019, this organization provides culturally competent community, housing, case management, HIV prevention and life-saving resources to black trans women. “Hearing their stories catapulted me on my ally journey, since I didn’t have prior exposure to anyone who was transgender or the community. That’s something I took away from the Institute that continues to be valuable. The workplace should be equitable for all individuals.”
Nelson-Guillen regularly brings up this topic with companies, ensuring that the transgender community is properly supported. He also tells people looking for organizations to support to keep the House of Rebirth in mind.
“I wouldn’t have run into that organization if not for the Institute,” he says.
Much has changed since he completed the LGBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s LGBT Leadership Institute program. Nelson-Guillen has now been married for three years, and he and his husband have grown their fur family to include two dogs and two cats.
“It changed our lives in a good way,” he says. “I never imagined getting up at 7 a.m. to walk dogs, but it’s going great.”
Nelson-Guillen encourages those interested in the LGBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s LGBT Leadership Institute to utilize the valuable information and connections it provides.
“When you look at the programming, it can seem overwhelming, but I would encourage people to look beyond that and focus on
what’s being offered,” he says. “There is lots of self-discovery that
you can take with you in your life, so take it as it comes, enjoy the moment and build relationships.”
He adds that he is still connected with many of those he met during the Institute program, and some fellow classmates have become colleagues in the industry.
“It’s great to have DEI champions you meet in the program and work together on projects,” he says. “Leverage the relationships you build, and bring those with you.”
As for his 2024 plans, Nelson-Guillen and his husband are planning to purchase a house and are excited to establish roots and be the voice of hope for DEI.
“This year, I wrote a goal to start a consulting business on DEI, and am working on getting the paperwork completed to create an LLC,” he says. “I want the opportunity to engage diverse communities and bring about awareness on different topics that I feel passionate about.”
This includes bringing transgender people to spaces to share their experiences, while also focusing on religious diversity.
“I have a Master’s degree in divinity, so I have an empathetic view or what I call my super power,” Nelson-Guillen says. “I want people to have the freedom to exercise their own religious beliefs.”
His goals also include working for a company where he has direct community impact.
“I also would love to get into senior leadership in these organizations, growing in my current career,” Nelson-Guillen says. “I want to look at where I can have a continuous impact on a broader space, complete professional certificates and continue to develop my leadership capabilities.”
Taking the Lead
Prism Health North Texas serves as “super-host” in its support of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s LGBT Leadership Institute
With four medical clinics and three dental clinics, Prism Health North Texas cares for more than 21,000 patients each year as it continues growing.
“We primarily are an unbiased healthcare system for primary care,” says PHNTX’s COO Dale Holdman. “We provide HIV/AIDS care, STI care and treatment, transgender care and telehealth, among our many services.”
In addition to its on-site lab, PHNTX provides financial assistance and has a large community presence to help its patients.
“I tell people we are a healthcare system that takes pride in our primary care focus,” Holdman explains. “We’re a not-for-profit, so every dollar goes back out to the community.”
Holdman spent more than 30 years as a nurse, and in his current role handles all the day-to-day operations of PHNTX.
“I have always worked in the chronic disease HIV/AIDS sector,” Holdman explains. “The LGBT arena has been my whole career.”
PHNTX is currently in the process of becoming a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center, which means it will receive additional government funding.
“We worked hard and scored very high on the application,” Holdman says. “Due to the number of patients we care for in our community, it is exciting for us and will change our perspective.”
As a result, PHNTX will offer pediatric and obstetric care for the first time.
“We will still be a primary care provider but will be able to expand our services,” Holdman says.
Since its start, PHNTX has partnered with the North Texas LGBT Chamber.
“I was on the chamber Board for a couple of years and helped develop its LGBT Leadership Institute,” Holdman says.
PHNTX has hosted leadership sessions in three different years as its “super-host.”
“It takes a village to take care of our community,” Holdman says. “The chamber and what it brings to the table, plus this leadership program, helps bring in new leaders to take over the next generation of our community. It provides a movement where we can educate leaders to have a vision and integrate in the community, while developing businesses that will foster taking care of our village in whatever capacity is needed. That’s why it is so great for us to be aligned with the chamber.”
Whether on the business or medical side, it’s beneficial for businesses to work together and help one another, while fostering new leadership to grow and develop the community as a whole.
“With the LGBT Leadership Institute, we can teach attendees leadership skills and move the needle to help them to be better than when they started,” Holdman says. “Why not partner to understand the movement we’re up against whether legislative, getting funding, developing new medicine; we love the partnership.”
Hosting these sessions has benefitted PHNTX by fostering future leaders and finding more volunteers looking to give back to the community.
“Through the leadership program, younger participants will understand the impact of how the chamber started, how the community started and has grown and what we used to have to do to band together,” Holdman says. “They get history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and what progressed in primary care and can ask questions about that and understand it and see where we are today.”
Through the LGBT Leadership Institute, participants will learn that, no matter what your beliefs or value system, you can be a good leader, which was not always the case.
“Our community hid in the past and didn’t tell people who they were or their value system and now it’s a different perspective,” Holdman says. “A person who identifies as LGBTQ can be a leader, direct a company and handle operations; you don’t have to be any different than you are, because there are companies that care about you and your leadership style based on you being your authentic self.”
Holdman adds that the LGBT Leadership Institute is a motivator, which is the main reason it continues to grow.
“The other side is we assess behavioral and personality traits, providing training to see how people make decisions and how they handle things under stress or collaborate with different groups,” Holdman says. “That’s of value, as participants get to learn how they make decisions.”
