Out for Undergrad(O4U)Announces 2023 Leadership
Out for Undergrad(O4U), leading not-for-profit provider of personal and career development experiences for LGBTQ2+ and otherwise diverse undergraduates today announced that Heath Clayton (Hinoshi Himmita Pisachi) Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Consumer and Community Bank, JP Morgan Chase has been named Chair of their international Board of Directors. Clayton is a tenured O4U Board Member and served as Board Advisor to O4U’s Early ID Mosaic Program and Anti-Racism Strategic Initiative. Clayton is joined by three new Board Members, Tara Cullerton, Senior R&D Sustainability Scientist at The Clorox Company, Jose Pablo “JP” Torres, Co-Founder and CEO at Vertebra and Derek J. Horn, Senior Designer at Beardwood&Co.
Clayton has more than 15 years of management experience, beginning his career at The White House in 2007 in the offices of Strategic Initiatives and Presidential Correspondence for President George W. Bush. He also served in staff roles in the US House of Representatives and the US Department of Energy before transitioning to the private sector at Deloitte where he led the Military Veteran Transition programming and was Chief of Staff to the Chief Inclusion Officer. Clayton also serves as Expert in Residence at Carnegie Mellon University and Chair of the Board of Trustees for Texas Native Health. Clayton is a member of the Chickasaw Nation and brings a unique perspective regarding inclusion of indigenous voices in corporate and social structures in the world.
“Heath is the right leader at the right time for O4U,” said Cindi Love, Executive Director. Heath’s extensive senior policy, communications and corporate DEI background will help O4U strengthen partnerships, develop strategic alliances and expand our presence. We believe Heath’s strong leadership experience will help laser focus O4U on what matters most — the realization of full potential for our students — during one of the most disruptive times in American history.”
Clayton said, “It’s an honor to serve. O4U has helped thousands of students across the last two decades, and it’s our responsibility to carry that momentum forward to future generations.”
Tara Cullerton has been a sponsor representative for the Out for Undergrad Engineering Conference since 2016. Cullerton also served as an O4U Engineering Conference volunteer from 2017–2020, leading as the national Conference Director in 2019. “After attending the inaugural O4U Engineering Conference as a student, it has been an honor to give back to the community as both a sponsor and a volunteer organizer. I am very honored and excited to be able to leverage my experiences in all of those roles to serve the organization in this new capacity.”
JP Torres has served as an O4U Business Conference volunteer since 2012 as a student participant, recruiter, sponsor, mentor, panelist and Admissions Director. He led the largest equity-only Series A round in FinTech in LatAm during his tenure as Chief Investment Officer at Crediclub. JP is a former JP Morgan private banker in the LatAm and US platforms and most recently became an entrepreneur by launching Vertebra, a proptech startup based in Mexico. “O4U changed my life; now my purpose as a board member is to continue working on changing as many lives as possible”.
Derek Horn has volunteered in various roles within O4U since 2016, including Strategic Brand Advisor as well as Programming and Sponsorship for the O4U Marketing Conference. He is a Senior Designer at Beardwood&Co. where he has collaborated on creative projects for clients including Colgate, Danone, S’well and Sperry. Derek has had bylines in industry publications Ad Age and Dieline and is the Creator and Host of “In These Uncertain Times” podcast. “O4U has given me a profound sense of confidence and purpose as a Queer professional. I’m energized by this new opportunity to pass it forward to our students and volunteer directors.”
O4U was founded in 2004 at Cornell by gay MBA students. 50 students gathered that year to meet with LGBTQ2+ professionals in banking, finance and consulting. Since that time, O4U’s 7000+ alumni have come to represent one of the most diverse cohorts of high-achieving LGBTQ2+ professionals in the world. More than 201 of the world’s leading corporations underwrite the work of O4U including Goldman Sachs, host for the O4UB Conference in New York, Horizon Media and Wunderkind as hosts for O4U Marketing in New York and Emerson, host for O4U Engineering in Minnesota. O4U and Out Leadership (OL) recently signed an agreement to co-produce Out to Succeed 2.0, the largest research study of LGBTQ2+ employees and undergraduates in the talent pipeline in existence. PWC and OL produced Out to Succeed 1.0 in 2018. O4U also partners with Hive Diversity and WayUp to bring the highest level of visibility to LGBTQ2+ potential hires to employers dedicated to inclusion in the workplace.
