Heather Brydie Harris Named Person to Know: Pride
We’re excited to announce Louisville Business First has named our Director of Diversity Initiatives, Heather Brydie Harris, as a “Person to Know: Pride!” Congratulations, Brydie! We’re so proud to have you on our team.
Louisville Business First’s 20 People to Know connects the Louisville-area business community with up-and-comers and new leaders in various industries. These influential businesspeople are in key roles that are crucial to their businesses, which is why Brydie made the list!
About Brydie
Brydie joined Seven Counties Services in 2022. Their presence — both internally and throughout the Louisville community — has been abundantly impactful with an immediate contribution of launching and leading our internal employee workgroup, known as the Pride Workgroup.
Our Pride Workgroup is for all LGBTQIA2+ employees, as well as other individuals who actively support their rights. The Pride Workgroup was designed to advocate, educate, increase visibility, and to provide an environment of belonging for staff and for our clients. This Pride Workgroup has since contributed by introducing pronouns into employee signatures, celebrating and acknowledging the accomplishments of the LGBTQIA2+ community through recognition and education across our All Staff email platform, internal workspaces, locations, and website reaching over 1,500 employees regularly and thousands of current and future clients.
Thanks to Brydie’s efforts, Seven Counites Services has also undergone a culture change that directly impacts the behavioral health of our community. As a member of our organization, they work with community partners such as The Louisville Pride Foundation and Sweet Evening Breeze in order to connect the LGBTQIA2+ community with mental health, substance use, crisis, prevention, and developmental disabilities resources. Additionally, Brydie is launching an effort to have staff onsite at the Louisville Pride Center to connect them with these resources and is actively out in the community searching for more connection opportunities.
Before arriving at Seven Counties Services as our first ever Director of Diversity Initiatives, Brydie pursued their B.A. in Women and Gender Studies, M.A. in Social Justice and Ethics, and PHD in Pan-African Studies. With education as a priority, Brydie has taught several different gender, sexuality, and race studies courses and has been doing equity and justice adjacent work since 2011. Throughout their career, they’ve served as an LGBT Student Advocate, QTPoC Founder, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Consultant. Brydie’s professional content has also been published over nine times. They’ve received over ten honors, awards, and fellowships, and have held over nine leadership positions throughout the community.
In an interview with Louisville Business First, Brydie stated Louisville’s best kept secret is its people. “Louisville is full of young LGBTQIA2+ people who are energized and ready to act to change the city for the better,” they said. “These are the people who need to be nurtured, invested in financially and through social networking and supported, as well as lifted into positions of leadership to help guide Louisville into a more just and progressive future.”
Byrdie’s dedication to serving the LGBTQIA2+ community, heart for giving individuals a voice, ambition for change, and boots on the ground effort to connect this population with mental health, substance use, crisis, prevention, and developmental disabilities services absolutely make them one of Louisville’s Top 20 Individuals to Know: Pride, and an integral part of our community.
Get Involved
In addition to Byrdie’s boots on the ground efforts and attending community events such as the Kentuckiana Pride Parade, Seven Counites Services also hosts many community-based events. Our events range from site tours and mental health summits to storytelling events and recovery celebrations to provide opportunities to learn, participate, and celebrate a stronger and healthier community.
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