Pride In Business: 10 years and counting

Connecting Calgary’s LGBTQ2S+ business community for 10 years and counting

As Pride In Business celebrates more than 10 years of connecting Calgary’s LGBTQ2S+ business community, the organization’s founders reflect on the decade-long journey.

As queer people, we have the unique opportunity to connect on shared experiences and grow together from these connections. For the co-founders of Pride In Business — Jarom Moriyama-Bondar, Fernando Vargas, and Eric Gooden — who bonded over growing up and coming of age as gay in Calgary, their shared experience helped set the vision for the organization that is celebrating more than 10 years of unique networking and community events.

“When Jarom and I first met, we were basically kids,” says Fernando. “For our demographic at the time, Friday and Saturday nights at a gay bar was more than just a ‘night out.’ For some of us it was the one time, for a few hours a week, where we could be in a safe space that would allow us to be completely ourselves and meet other people from our community.”

“The scene in Calgary in the aughts was something I had a hard time identifying with at first as a young gay man,” says Jarom. “I felt like there was so much more than what I was seeing in the club scene, but there wasn't a lot in Calgary outside of it that was visible.”

He says the trio felt like there was a successful future ahead of them in Calgary but, at the time, there were few options for members of the LGBTQ2S+ community to gather in an organized social setting.

“Back around 2008 to 2010, we attended a few ’meetup’ style LGBTQ2S+ groups that would get together occasionally, and that planted the seed for a more formalized approach to networking amongst our community,” says Eric. “As young professionals and entrepreneurs, we wanted to create a forum that was focused on facilitating connections amongst the LGBTQ2S+ business community and that would allow us to support each other’s professional endeavours.”

Since launching in 2011, accounts from the co-founders differ on what was truly the first event. However the group’s bread and butter networking format was in place from the start. According to Jarom, the first events were held at Sapien, a gay bar that operated on 10th Ave and 11 St. SW.

“Our friend who worked there would open the space up to allow us to hold ‘meetings’ in the back room before the club opened for the night,” says Jarom. “It was a sort of meet-and-greet and maybe 30 people attended.”

Eric recalls the first true networking event to be held at the now gone Ming’s Lounge on 17th Avenue. “We had about 30 attendees who got to know each other and heard from Canadian actor Gavin Crawford, who we had as a guest speaker.”

“At one point, I didn’t think anyone would even show up,” says Fernando. “If you ask the team, they will tell you that there’s always a point leading up to every event when I think nobody will show up. Some things just don’t change.”

No matter what the first event actually was, the trio built on their fast success and found they were filling larger venues and branching out into varied formats including speed networking and bringing in guest speakers from the community regularly.

“As our small-but-mighty volunteer team has grown, we’ve been able to do some amazing projects that would not have been possible with just the founders alone,” says Eric. “We've been able to work with some exceptional partners, many who've been with us for years. We wouldn't be able to reach as many individuals from our community as we do without the generous support of these valued partners, especially TD, BDC, and WCD.”

It’s the many partnerships and community connections that Jarom is most proud of when he looks back on a decade of Pride In Business. “I feel that we have provided a spotlight for businesses and professionals within our community, created a place for others to see role models, mentorship, and created avenues for our sponsors to showcase their efforts and even recruit from our community.” He also notes the creation of opportunities for recognition within the Calgary business community through the development of the first TD Inclusion and Diversity Award during Calgary Chamber of Commerce Small Business Week awards.

Now into their second decade organizing Pride In Business events, the founders have no desire to slow down. With their sights set on some big plans for the future, they’re thankful for the many supporters of their efforts throughout the years.

In a twist that is sure to surprise long-time attendees of Pride In Business events, networking events are not necessarily a favourite for some of the group.

“I actually hate networking events,” says Jarom. “However, when it is a queer one, there is something different about the crowd and about interactions, and Calgary’s LGBTQ2S+ community is always amazing. I am always proud of how our community always shows up and genuinely supports each other and look forward to seeing those connections for many years to come.”