We started the month with Allen Kaddish; what better way to conclude than with TMA Global CEO, Scott Stuart, to close our celebration of #PRIDEMONTH at TMA?
Long before becoming CEO, Stuart was a volunteer member of TMA. It was a way to network, meet people, and keep up professional credits. “I found that TMA was most rewarding for professional diversity, and I always gravitated to TMA for all the opportunities it provided. There was always someone willing to mentor and assist in the level of engagement you wanted to be involved with,” he said.
When discussing how many professional connections made in TMA have grown into personal friendships, Stuart shared, “That’s not something you get through many other associations. Many relationships have crossed, professional and personal.”
When discussing how many of the professional connections he made in TMA have grown into personal friendships, Stuart shared, “That’s not something you get through many other associations. Many relationships have crossed, professional and personal.”
Stuart considers himself one of the most fortunate people in his role at TMA. He is often asked, “What juices you about the role of CEO at TMA?” His reply is always, “That’s the easiest question I get to answer; I get to give back to a community I love. Every day I get to wake up and help make the professional lives of people that much better for the love of a profession, a career, and an organization that I’m fully committed to and has been such an integral part of my life.”
In New York, along with several other LGBTQIA+ restructuring professionals, Stuart was a founding member of WorkOUT, a place for LGBTQIA+ professionals to have a safe space in the restructuring community. “Back then, it (WorkOUT) was much more of a safe space because of stigmas that didn’t allow professionals to be as open professionally as they would have liked.” The leaders of WorkOUT wanted to assure that the restructuring professionals who were part of the LGBTQIA+ community were supported. Members mentored each other to help create a better community of acceptance in firms that, in large part, today have become accepting of not only the LGBTQIA+ community but of all underserved professionals.
Stuart came out in the late 1990s after being married to a woman and having two children. He pledged himself as an advocate for the community. “If this was who I was, then I was going to lead and assure that anybody who needed a resource, a person, or a hand to hold, to be supported, I would be that.”
Stuart feels that we are in a very good and strong place for the LGBTQIA+ community in business. “The advocates of the last several years have opened the door for greater acceptance, especially for the trans community. And it’s opened a necessary and important dialogue about gender fluidity. Because of the painstaking path the LGBTQIA+ community has taken, honest and open discussions about issues are taking place, and that’s a very positive thing.” His hope, as much as fear, is that issues of the social divide don’t take us back in time and that we don’t regress.
When discussing how companies can show that they are welcoming and supportive of having members of the LGBTQIA+ community, Stuart replied, “The question applies to all underserved communities. Being open to what inclusive means goes beyond just LGBTQIA+; we try to be at the forefront of the conversation about diversity and inclusiveness.”
“Pride Month is not just about what we have achieved for the LGBTQIA+ community; it’s about what we do for and with the greater community of the world in terms of acceptance and inclusiveness of all communities. While Pride focuses on the LGBTQIA+ community, it sets the example and helps pave the way in leadership and partnership with other communities in acceptance and inclusiveness,” Stuart shared.
Stuart advises LGBTQIA+ professionals, “Being your authentic self and being comfortable with who you are are necessary for a foundation of acceptance and growth.”
To close the interview, Stuart shared, “I’m in a very fortunate position, as an LGBTQIA+ professional, to hold a role where my voice can be impactful. I hope in this Pride month, my message of Pride in who I am, the organization I represent, and that I champion inclusiveness is something others can look to embrace and take my lead as an example of how to make what they do next to better for themselves and others around them.”