After helping found Pride in Our Workplace 16 years ago and serving a three-year term as President of our organization, John Basile shares his transition to PIOW’s new Advisory Board and announces Cheryl Katon, Bryan Vermes, and Dimitri Makris as central members of PIOW’s leadership team. Read John’s full letter to our partners and community below.
To our partners in LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion:
Pride in Our Workplace has been a labor of love for me these past 16 years. In 2006, with my friends Wendell, Michael, Tim, and Matt, we started this organization as a means of connecting the LGBTQ+ employees in our respective organizations. Looking back on this modest beginning, I never could have imagined the growth and impact we have experienced at PIOW today.
Our team worked diligently to elevate the voices of LGBTQ+ professionals during a time when voices in our community often went unheard, helping organizations create safer, more inclusive spaces for all employees. It has been a great point of pride to watch employee resource groups unite around this shared purpose and utilize PIOW as a resource to learn, share, and empower each other.
At the end of the year, I will step away from my role leading this amazing organization. While I will miss this work, I am heartened by the strong and talented Board of Directors we have built, and I am confident in this team to take PIOW into its next chapter during a time when our work is proving to be more important than ever.
I am pleased to announce that Cheryl Katon, LGBTQ+ community leader and VP of Resource Development & Donor Engagement at Fenway Health, will step in to lead as President of PIOW. Bryan Vermes will serve as our new Vice President. Dimitri Makris, a longtime Board member and valued friend, will round out the leadership team as Treasurer. I will remain involved in PIOW as a founding member of our Board of Advisors and look forward to continuing my journey with PIOW in this new way.
Thank you all for your partnership. To the PIOW community, our volunteer Board, each of our sponsors, and ERG members who I have seen grow into accomplished leaders, your support and attendance of our events over the years have transformed this once small networking group into an LGBTQ+ nonprofit capable of driving bold change and inclusivity in each organization we touch.
All my best,
John Basile
John Basile
Diversity Inclusion Leader and Executive Coach
Founding PIOW Advisory Board Member
Learn more about John.
John Basile (he/him) brings over thirty years of human resources management expertise including his most recent role as Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Fidelity Investments. Throughout his career, John has led teams focused on talent acquisition, business unit HR support, talent management, organizational effectiveness, and employee engagement.
John has proven success in coaching at all levels of an organization to help leaders achieve greater success in their professional development, business acumen, and inclusive leadership competence. He is skilled at creating and sustaining effective D&I strategies, building and engaging employee resource groups, and creating education and awareness programs in support of fostering a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
John is also a founding partner and President of Pride in Our Workplace. PIOW is a forum for executives and professionals to share diversity and inclusion best practices, promote stronger networks, develop professional skills, and promote and build employee/business resource group capabilities.
John is a skilled facilitator, moderator and emcee and has been a frequent keynote speaker and panelist.
Recognition:
2014 – “National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)” – Corporate Leader of the Year for promoting diversity and inclusion in the financial services sector
2015 – “Boston Spirit Magazine” –Top 25 LGBT Power Players of New England
2017 – “Elevate ERG Academy” – Corporate Executive of the Year
2019 – Certified Executive Coach – “Center for Executive Coaching”
John is a graduate of Boston College, Carroll School of Management
