Being LGBTQ+ and Disabled at Work – Leadership at the Intersections
Drawing on personal insight and professional experience, Toby Mildon leads a candid conversation about what it means to show up as your full authentic self, and the barriers that still exist for doing so.
This interactive session explores the lived experience of navigating professional life at the intersection of disability and LGBTQ+ identity. Drawing on personal insight and professional experience, Toby Mildon leads a candid conversation about what it means to show up as your full authentic self, and the barriers that still exist for doing so.
The session is designed for LGBTQ+ leaders, aspiring leaders and proactive allies. It creates space for reflection, shared learning, and practical ideas to improve inclusion across sectors. Attendees will be encouraged to think about how intersectionality affects visibility, representation, and leadership development, and how to take meaningful action in their own roles.
What we’ll cover
- Intersectionality and identity
How overlapping identities shape experience at work, and why visibility matters for disabled LGBTQ+ people in leadership. - Double discrimination and invisibility
The extra hurdles faced due to ableism and queerphobia — from being underestimated to having to constantly come out and explain.
- Lived experience in leadership
Toby’s personal journey as a gay disabled man, including challenges in career progression, confidence, and workplace culture.
- Workplace barriers
What gets in the way of inclusion — from inaccessible environments to leadership blind spots — and what it means to design out those barriers.
- Inclusive leadership and allyship
Practical strategies for supporting disabled LGBTQ+ colleagues, including how to create psychologically safe environments and be a visible ally.
- Redefining success
How LGBTQ+ leaders can shape careers on their own terms, build inclusive cultures, and lead authentically from the intersections.
- Open dialogue
Safe space Q&A with honest reflections, respectful language, and discussion around terms, experiences and ideas.
What you’ll take away
- Better understanding of how disability and LGBTQ+ identities intersect
- Strategies for leading more inclusively from your own position
- Greater confidence discussing identity, access and inclusion
- A deeper sense of connection with others leading from the margins
This session reflects Pride in Leadership’s mission to elevate and connect LGBTQ+ leaders. It invites you to show up, speak up, and lead change — starting from where you are.
About Toby
Toby is a Diversity & Inclusion Architect and founder of Mildon, a consultancy and advisory business. Toby works with businesses to devise diversity and inclusion strategies, re-engineer processes and systems to minimise the impact of bias and build a culture of inclusion. Toby is the author of the Amazon bestselling books Inclusive Growth and Building Inclusivity. Prior to setting up his business, Toby worked as an in-house diversity and inclusion manager at the BBC and Deloitte.
