“The event with Mary Ann went incredibly! That was a very special talk that I know we and the other ~50 attendees really appreciated.”
In the 1990s, the "industry standard" for a transgender professional was to pass, quit, move, and start over. That expectation ended in 1997, when Dr. Mary Ann Horton persuaded Lucent Technologies to become the first Fortune 500 company in history to add transgender-inclusive language to its corporate nondiscrimination policy.
In this powerful keynote, Dr. Horton shares the inside story of how that change happened—the strategy, the data, the resistance, and the moment Lucent said "yes." Tracing the ripple effect from Lucent to Apple, Avaya, and eventually 95% of the Fortune 500, Dr. Horton connects this history directly to the challenges HR professionals and ERG leaders face in 2026. She opens with a provocative question and ends with an empowering challenge: "Can one person change the world? Yes. And you can too."
Key Takeaways:

Trailblazer: Lighting the Path for Transgender Equality in Corporate America
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