Todd Sears is the founder and CEO of Out Leadership, the first company in history whose sole product is LGBTQ+ equality. Out Leadership connects leaders across the world’s most influential industries to foster business growth, cultivate talent, and drive equality forward, and currently counts 95 of the world’s most powerful companies in the world as its members. Sears has spent over 20 years working at the intersection of finance and equality. He began his career as an investment banker before joining Merrill Lynch, he created the first team of financial advisors on Wall Street focused on the LGBTQ+ community and brought almost $2 billion of new assets to the firm from LGBTQ+ couples and nonprofit organizations. Subsequently, Todd pioneered award-winning diversity initiatives as Head of Diversity Strategy at Merrill Lynch and then at Credit Suisse as Head of Diversity and Inclusion. Sears started Out Leadership in 2010. A Duke University graduate, Sears serves on various nonprofit boards, including the Williams Institute of UCLA, the Global Equality Fund of the U.S. Department of State, Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, The North Carolina Community Foundation, and the National Advisory Council of the Stonewall National Archives & Museum. Originally from Tarboro, North Carolina, Sears is driven by his confidence that businesses have the power to advance LGBTQ+ equality and generate a high return on equality. He currently lives in New York City.