We are delighted to announce that Travers Smith’s Partner and Head of Pension Daniel Gerring has, for a fourth consecutive year, been ranked in OUTstanding’s worldwide 100 LGBT+ Executives List, which has this year been published by Yahoo Finance. Placed in the top 25 internationally and in the top 10 in the UK, Daniel is also the highest ranked practising lawyer on this prestigious list, which has, over the years, grown to be truly international in its scope, to comprise leaders from all over the world.
The list profiles 100 high performing LGBT+ individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to promoting LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace and society. Listed individuals were nominated by peers and colleagues and selected by a judging panel consisting of: Lord Browne, Executive Chairman of L1 Energy; Ashok Vaswani, Global Consumer and Payments Head at Barclays; Harriet Green, CEO & Chairman Asia Pacifica at IBM; Dawn Airey, Independent Director, at Grosvenor Estates GBI; Suki Sandhu OBE, Founder & CEO at INvolve & Audeliss, and Lianna Brinded, Head of Yahoo Finance UK. Each person was scored on their impact on LGBT+ inclusion inside and outside the workplace, their business achievements, and the seniority and influence of their role. They also needed to be visibly out, or a vocal ally, actively working to create an environment where LGBT+ people can comfortably bring their best professional selves to work.
Daniel is a senior partner at Travers Smith, heading up its award-winning pension funds practice. He has been Travers Smith’s senior champion for LGBTQ+ equality since 2012. He chairs its LGBTQ+ Network Group and sits on its Diversity & Inclusion Board. This year at Travers Smith Daniel has been instrumental in embedding surrogacy leave for all; developed more LGBTQ+ inclusive recruitment practices; acted as senior sponsor for new trans/non-binary best practice guides and associated training and sponsored a series of seminars involving speakers from diverse backgrounds, including chairing a session examining the multiple identities of LGBTQ+ people. He also secured sponsorship for one of the Counsel in India’s landmark decriminalisation case to travel to the UK to deliver events in partnership with Give Out. In addition, Daniel led teams providing significant pro bono advice to LGBTQ+ organisations.
Externally, Daniel is a board member of Just Like Us, the charity for young LGBTQ+ people, and co-runs a mentoring programme for JLU Ambassadors moving from education into employment. He also sits on the boards of Refugees At Home, which he helped found in 2015 and which has since provided close to 150,000 nights free accommodation to refugees and asylum-seekers, and City YMCA - supporting young homeless people in London, of which 25% are estimated to be LGBTQ+. He speaks regularly on LGBTQ+ and broader D&I issues and has a particular interest in intersections between faith and sexuality. As Head of Pensions at Travers Smith, Daniel undertakes extensive work to champion diversity and inclusion across the pensions industry. Under his leadership, Travers Smith Pensions has been recognised as a leader in this field – including winning the inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Award at the UK Pensions Awards 2018.
Daniel was appointed a Leadership Fellow of St George’s House, Windsor Castle in 2018 and is a founding member of McKinsey’s LGBTQ+ ‘Alliance’ initiative.
Daniel Gerring said: "It is a real privilege to be included in the OUTstanding 100 LGBT+ Executives List again this year. The list is a testament to the unwavering commitment of so many inspiring LGBTQ+ leaders to standing up for LGBTQ+ equality both in the business environment and beyond. There is still much to do to achieve full LGBTQ+ inclusion across the UK and further afield and I am very pleased to be able to play a part in helping to drive positive change at organisational and individual levels."
Founder & CEO of INvolve, Suki Sandhu OBE, says, “We are delighted to be celebrating another fantastic group of people from across the globe who are collectively driving cultural change and creating workplaces where everyone can succeed. LGBT+ discrimination is still prevalent in a lot of the world’s biggest economies, but highlighting the work of successful role models changes people’s perceptions. They demonstrate that you can be successful and out at work, but most importantly inspire the next generation of LGBT+ leaders.”