1999 CompaqPLUS Eboard

Bob Kennon, Houston
I joined The Compaq Workstation Division in '97 as a System Engineer after having my own computer graphics company for over 10 years. I have lived in Houston for 25 years after moving here to attend Rice University. One of the major factors influencing my decision to come work at Compaq was the prospect of Domestic Partnership Benefits for my partner of 17 years. Working at Compaq has been a very positive experience for me. I would like to work with 'CompaqPLUS' help make sure that all people from our community have the opportunity to work in an environment that truly values diversity. I think our efforts to work with HR can help Compaq benefit from the high caliber of people it will be able to attract and retain.

Lan Norwood

Richard Taft, Secretary NJO
My biggest challenge will be to carry on the good work of the current eboard from way far away in New Jersey. That's a pretty tall order.
Most importantly, I'd like to insure that all employees are free from harassment and discrimination based on gender status or sexuality (whether proclaimed or perceived). I'll do whatever is needed to support the victims of harassment and discrimination and to educate the company and fellow employees about the value of diversity. The first step towards this end is to keep the lines of communication with management and HR established by the current eboard open and functioning.
In addition, I'd like to see the social component of DECplus continue and thrive. Having a large and visible gay social organization really does a lot to make people feel comfortable enough to be out at work. Once again, I'm not sure how to do this from New Jersey, but I'll do what I can to help.
We're all Digital employees. We all want to do the best job we can, advance within the company, be ourselves and feel safe when at work. Just like any other employee. I'll try to make that possible for the BGLT community.

Kenneth Lewallen

Tom Evans, Newsletter TAY1
My name is Tom Evans. I have been a Digital employee for a little over three years now. I work for the Alpha Migration Tools group on the FX!32 product (AMT is technically part of Digital Semiconductor, but we were not assimilated).
DECplus has played a part of my own coming out and self acceptance. DECplus has allowed me to have a sense of community at work and expanded the bounds of my ar work associations.
As a member of the DECplus e-board, I want to continue the excellent work of DECplus in providing a safe and comfortable at work community. I hope to give back to DECplus what has been given to me - an opportunity to be myself at work while making Digital a better place for all people to work.

Mark Herdeg, GBBC Contact TAY1
I've been a DECplus participant for the past couple years, enjoying many of the social events, marching in the Gay Pride parade last year, and taking advantage of the new domestic partnership benefits. I am grateful to the organization and, more mportantly, the people who make it up, for being a big and positive part of my personal coming out process.
With the unfortunate departure of so many good people and the continuing uncertainty of what Digital's future will look like, it's going to be challenging to keep DECplus active and moving forward. As a new eboard member, I look forward to working with the other members to meet that challenge. I am neither radical nor militaristic. I do believe that most people are reasonable and that gaining and maintaining equal treatment, acceptance, and comfort for BGLT people comes largely through awareness, education, and open lines of communication. We need to make sure that Digital policies and culture reinforce that.
I would also like to see DECplus establish ties to other BGLT employee groups, both for sharing ideas on workplace issues and for opportunities to get together and meet new people in the community. I'd also like to explore ways to better include employees outside of New England in DECplus activities.

Danny Lee

Kenneth Maher NYO
While a relative newcomer to Digital (just over 1 year) I am extremely proud of the accomplishments that our community has made here over the last year, and am eager to contribute in any way possible to our continued success. While I have for the better part of my adult life been completely open with anyone who knew me, I consider my official outing to be an event associated with the Gay Games. I was at a weekly meeting of about 30 members of Senior Management at my former company. The duty of hosting the meeting alternated among all the members. I was asked by the current Chairman to host the following week's meeting. I announced that I could not, as I was taking the week off to compete in the Gay Games. The only voice to break the sudden silence in the room was one less than brilliant attendee who actually asked "Aren't you afraid people will think you're gay?"
I used my newfound status as the company's only openly gay Vice President to successfully lobby for more corporate recognition of diversity issues. I captained, with corporate sponsorship the Company's Annual AIDS Walk Team. I convinced the Charitable Contributions Committee to include God's Love We Deliver in the list of charities to receive annual donations, and organized an employee food drive which collected close to 400 turkeys to donate to the same organization. For those of you not familiar with the group, they are New York based and deliver over 2000 hot meals daily to home bound persons with AIDS and their families. In addition to my work on the corporate level I have been actively involved in several gay sports organizations, most notably NAGVA (North American Gay Volleyball Association). I've organized annual tournaments here in New York and served on the committee to identify venues for the Gay Games.
I am honored to join Eboard. What I would most like to see in the coming year is our success at achieving goals like DP benefits become a blueprint for other companies' successes. I would like to achieve more public recognition of Digital's pro-diversity environment through expanded media attention in the Gay press and in the mainstream press as well. I hope to serve as a link between DecPlus and the vast information resources available from the Gay Community here in New York.