Proudly Forward
Written by Melissa Karen Sances
Article published in Northampton Living (June 2023)
Grace Moreno is a force, and she’s the force behind the ever-expanding Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Of its 465 members, more than a quarter are based in the western part of the state – and last November the chamber opened an office in Easthampton to take even better care of them.
Moreno never imagined that she’d be the executive director of a chamber. Five years ago, she had just sold a business of her own and was planning to take time off. A friend and fellow entrepreneur asked for her help, so she reluctantly accompanied her to a small business meeting. In the room were corporate leaders, state representatives and small business owners who wanted to support LGBTQ+ businesses. The governor had just issued an executive order to give those businesses “the prospect of full participation in all areas of state procurement.”
Simply put, says Moreno, “For the first time, LGBTQ+ businesses actually had an incentive to come out.” But no one knew how to support them when they did.
She saw so much potential – and she couldn’t let it go to waste. “Alright, guys, I’m going to volunteer,” Moreno told them. “You’re the small business owners – I need a board.” That night she called 5 friends she’d known since her 20s. “I need $25,000 from each of you to sponsor this chamber,” she told them.
“Are you going to be able to recruit talent?” they asked.
“Sure, we’re going to have job fairs and a job board,” she told them.
“What’s all this business with the pronouns?” they asked. “What’s the ‘Q’ in LGBTQ+?”
“We’re going to have workshops,” Moreno said.
By the time the chamber launched in September 2018, Moreno had 32 corporate sponsors and 3 staff members. She was clear that supporting LGBTQ+ businesses was in everyone’s best interest. “Let’s forget about what your god believes,” she would tell the skeptics. “Let’s not talk about those things, because it doesn’t matter. Let’s talk about the impact we have on the community and the economy. If you are ignoring the LGBTQ+ contribution, you’re really leaving out a big piece of the pie.”
But despite her clarity, she realized that in some ways, she was also catching up. “The corporate sector was seeing young people out of college choosing where they were going to work based on inclusiveness. Even from the straight kids, there was an empathy. What this did to us dinosaurs – it was a whole new world.”
By the time the pandemic hit, the chamber had 150 members. Moreno and her 3 staff split the businesses four ways and called each one to find out what they needed. Through a corporate sponsor, she set up a low-interest line of credit for them, and not one business went under.
Today the organization has the only LGBTQ+ job board in New England. It holds 3 job fairs and multiple trainings each year. It is brimming with talent.
From the beginning, Moreno spent 1 or 2 days per month in western Mass. “I would just drive out there and sit at a coffee shop or the mayor’s office to meet people,” she says. That’s how she met Mayor Nicole LaChapelle and “saw a a vision of really anchoring ourselves in western Mass.” Every detail of the Easthampton space was curated by chamber members.
Moreno credits the community for the chamber’s overwhelming success. “The LGBTQ+ community is a family. Many times, we’ve been abandoned by our blood families and we’ve had to rely on our chosen family to survive. So even with all of our rough edges and all of our thorns, we show up for each other. And that creates a harmony that’s really beautiful.”
It is the force behind her.
