Rob Wiley
The Law Office of Rob Wiley, Jeremy Bradford, Cooper Smith Koch, Kristopher Parker and Southwest Airlines have been named recipients of the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce 2012 Business Excellence Awards.
The awards will be presented during the eighth annual Business Excellence Awards Dinner: A Tapestry of Business Equality on April 25 at eM The Venue.
“The Awards Review Committee had the nearly impossible task of choosing only six honorees from many excellent nomination; they did an outstanding job,” said Ron Watterson, chairman of the North
Texas GLBT Chamber Board of Directors. “Each year the Chamber awards are said to ‘recognize the best of who we are as business and community leaders.’ I believe that this year’s recipients have defined a new standard of excellence in business and service to the community.”
Here’s more on the recipients:
The Business of the Year Award, recognizing accomplishments in business and service, is awarded to the Law Office of Rob Wiley, PC. Since starting the firm in 2000, Rob Wiley and his staff has been the ‘go to’ firm for the LGBT community on labor and employment issues. The firm has offices in Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin making it one of the largest plaintiff’s employment law firms in Texas.
In 2012 Wiley was recognized by the National LGBT Bar Association as a Best Lawyer Under 40 and Texas Super Lawyers as a Rising Star. Additionally, Rob serves as Chair of the National Employment Lawyers Association’s Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination.
The Member Service Award, honoring an individual, organization or business that has made a substantial contribution of time and service to the Chamber, is awarded to Jeremy Bradford. For three years Jeremy has served on the Chamber’s Volunteer Committee; he is a staple at Chamber events.
From setting up early morning programs to tearing down after hours programs Bradford is often the first to lend a hand. As the Director of Estate and Planned Giving for the American Cancer Society Bradford has lent his expertise in the area of planned giving to other nonprofit organizations and business members to show how they can incorporate planned giving in their business practice.
The Community Service Award has recognized individuals, organizations and businesses that have provided outstanding service to the GLBT community. The 2012 Community Service Award is being presented to Cooper Smith Koch. As founder and publisher of Gay List Daily, Cooper assists in promoting dozens of local organizations. For a number of years Cooper has been a Ruby Sponsor of the Black Tie Dinner and was a founding member of the HRC Family Project, providing a comprehensive resource for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families.
First introduced in 2009, the Emerging Leader Award seeks to recognize GLBT and allied individuals under the age of 39 who actively participate and serve in the North Texas GLBT community. Kristopher Parker, our 2012 Emerging Leader Award recipient, joined Resource One Credit Union in December 2011, since then he has used is leadership skills and cheery personality to connect the credit union with the local GLBT community. Parker created a new ally for the community.
The Corporate Ally Award, honoring a major employer in North Texas that has a proven track record of outstanding support for its GLBT employees and community, is Southwest Airlines. Southwest Airlines has a strong track record of outstanding support for its LGBT Employees as well as the greater LGBT community. The micro-site www.southwest.com/gaytravel provides great travel information and shares the Company’s latest initiatives. In addition to being a long-time member of the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce, Southwest Airlines supports many national organizations including Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF).
Business Excellence Awards Dinner: A Tapestry of Business Equality, eM The Venue,1500 Dragon St., April 25 from 5:30 to 9 p.m.
