Claudia Brind-Woody

Claudia Lavergne Brind-Woody[2] (born January 30, 1955)[3] is an American business executive. She is the Vice President and Managing Director of intellectual property at IBM.[4] In 2011 she won the Out & Equal Trailblazer award and was named as one of GO's 100 women we love.[5][6][7] In 2012 Brind-Woody was named in The Guardian's 100 most influential LGBT people of the year.[8] In 2013, 2014, and 2015 she was named in the Financial Times's Top 50 OUTstanding list, then in 2016 she entered in their hall of fame.[9][10][11] In 2019 she was named one of the most powerful LGBTQ+ people in tech.[12]

Claudia Brind-Woody
Born
Claudia Lavergne Woody[1]

(1955-01-30) January 30, 1955
Virginia, U.S.
EducationMary Baldwin College (BA)
Georgia State University (JD)
University of Tennessee-Knoxville (MS)
University of Texas at Austin (MBA)
OccupationBusiness Executive

Early life and education

Early years

Around 1956 Brind-Woody was a toddler in Southern Virginia.[13] On being asked when she first knew that she was LGBT:

I was about 12 when I knew I was different, but I didn’t have a word for it. The local library in my small factory town in Southern Virginia didn’t have much in the way of resources on the topic, but I knew I was different, and looking back, I could tell that absolutely I was lesbian.[14]

College

Brind-Woody attended Mary Baldwin College, graduating (Phi Beta Kappa) summa cum laude in 1977.[15]

University

Brind-Woody entered the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, earning a master's degree in administration.[14][16] During this time she shared an apartment with coach Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team, who was - upon retirement - the most successful college basketball coach in history.[14][17]

After completing her masters, Brind-Woody worked as assistant basketball coach for the women's team at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Following this, she served as Assistant Women's Athletics Director.[17]

Those of us who were lesbians and working in college athletics were very circumspect. We wanted opportunities for all women in athletics, and we made the assessment that being out wasn’t worth jeopardizing opportunities for other women.[14]

Brind-Woody was also the Assistant Women's Athletics Director at the University of Texas at Austin. She earned an MBA from the University of Texas where she was awarded the Kozmetsky prize.[15] Brind-Woody gained a JD degree from Georgia State University where she graduated magna cum laude.[15]

Professional life

Early in her career Brind-Woody spent three years as the Assistant Dean of the College & Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.[15] It was in this role where Brind-Woody first came out at work.[13] She also worked for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.[7]

IBM

Brind-Woody joined IBM in 1996.[15] She leads the IBM Global Intellectual Property Licensing division.[18] Brind-Woody leads a source code licensing team, IBM's Divestiture Practice, the IP Partnership program, and IP Management Solutions.[19]

LGBT & diversity

Brind-Woody is the Global Co-Chair for the LGBT Executive Taskforce at IBM.[11] This taskforce has sponsored initiatives to make IBM a more welcoming place to LGBT employees. For example, IBM rolled out Straight Ally Training and Certification to 440,000 IBM employees worldwide.[11] IBM was one of the founding members of the Stonewall Global Diversity Champions Programme and sponsors the Stonewall Leadership program.[11]

Brind-Woody has been the keynote speaker at numerous global forums: European Commission on LGBT Rights in Brussels (2008), International conference on LGBT Human Rights in Copenhagen (2009), Europride Business Forums in Zurich and Warsaw (2009, 2010), Company Pride Platform (2010), L-Women at Work conference in Amsterdam (2011), Out & Equal Executive Forum in San Francisco (2012), Prague Pride Business Forum, and the Slovakia Business Forum.[11] She has been a keynote speaker for Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, WorkPlace Pride, and the Danish Trade Council.[11] She was a panellist for The Economist Pride and Prejudice event in London.

Brind-Woody has also served on the board of directors or advisory board of[11][20]

  • Out & Equal Workplace Advocates (US)
  • Lambda Legal (US)
  • Workplace Pride (Netherlands)
  • OUTstanding (UK)
  • Wybernet (Switzerland)
  • Stonewall Global Diversity Champions Programme (UK)
  • GayStar News Advisory Board
  • The Economist Pride & Prejudice Advisory Board

Awards and honors
  • Out & Equal Trailblazer Award (2011)
  • GO Magazine's 100 Women We Love (2011)
  • The Guardian's World Pride Power List Top 100 (2012)
  • The Financial Times's Top 50 OUTstanding list (2013, 2014, 2015)
  • The Daily Telegraph's Top 50 list of LGBT executives (2015)[18]
  • The Financial Times's Hall of Fame (2016)
  • Diva power list (2016)[21]
  • Business Insider The 23 Most Influential LGBTQ+ People in Tech[12]

References
  1. Virginia, Birth Records, 1912-2015, Delayed Birth Records, 1721-1911
  2. https://www.martindale.com/austin/texas/claudia-lavergne-woody-2494926-a/
  3. United States Public Records, 1970-2009 (Texas, 1992-2007)
  4. UK, Lianna Brinded, Business Insider. "An IBM chief explains how the tech giant has influenced the wider business world on LGBT+ diversity". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  5. "Congratulations to Claudia Woody — Winner of the Trailblazer Award". Out & Equal Workplace Advocates. 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  6. "100 Women We Love 2011 | Page 15 of 90". GO Magazine. 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  7. "Claudia Brind-Woody". Lesbians Who Tech + Allies. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  8. Jolin, Lucy; Delgado, Chance (2012-07-07). "World Pride Power List 2012: 100 most influential LGBT people of the year". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  9. "2013 Top 50 LGBT+ Executives | Outstanding". www.out-standing.org. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  10. "2015 Leading 100 LGBT+ Executives | Outstanding". www.out-standing.org. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  11. "2016 Hall of Fame | Outstanding". www.out-standing.org. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  12. Leskin, Paige. "The 23 most powerful LGBTQ+ people in tech". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  13. Berry, Selisse. (2016). Out & equal at work : from closet to corner office. Out & Equal Workplace Advocates. OCLC 965271686.
  14. "Claudia Brind-Woody". Out Leadership. 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  15. "Claudia Brind-Woody to Speak at Mary Baldwin". Mary Baldwin. 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  16. "Influential LGBT leaders in Tech". Diversity in Tech. 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  17. Archambeau, Kathleen. (22 June 2017). Pride & Joy : LGBTQ Artists, Icons and Everyday Heroes. ISBN 9781633535510. OCLC 994207280.
  18. Macleod, Eilidh (2015-01-16). "Out at Work: The top 50 list of LGBT executives". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  19. "IBM Careers Blog". www.ibm.com. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  20. "Claudia Brind-Woody". Lesbians Who Tech + Allies. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  21. "THE LIST 2016". DIVA POWER LIST. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
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