(January 9, 2025) — Lathrop GPM has received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s (HRCF) 2025 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. In 2025, Lathrop GPM joins the 765 U.S. businesses that will be honored with HRCF’s Equality 100 Award, recognizing companies who received 100 out of a possible 100 points, as Leaders in LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion.
“At Lathrop GPM we are committed to inclusion at every level, and in all aspects of our firm,” said Lathrop GPM Managing Partner Cameron Garrison. “We expect this commitment to be evident in the professionals who make up our teams and in the way all members of our firm interact with our clients, our communities and one another.”
In 2024, the firm continued to prioritize equity and inclusion efforts. Among other initiatives, last year the firm sponsored multiple equity and inclusion events for clients and community members to foster growth through education and communication. Speakers led sessions on gender identity, cultural competence and other topics of equity.
“The firm has been highly ranked in past CEI reports, and we are proud to have achieved a perfect 100 score in this year’s report. We remain dedicated to further excellence in our inclusion efforts,” said Vanessa Vaughn West, Lathrop GPM’s Chief Culture, Diversity and Engagement Officer.
Vaughn West, the Culture, Diversity & Inclusion (CD&I) Committee, and the LGBTQ+ Allies Inclusion Network work collectively and diligently with many others throughout the firm to champion diversity and inclusion efforts. In addition, the firm is a member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, the Center for Legal Inclusiveness, CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance and Twin Cities Diversity in Practice, among other diversity and inclusion-focused organizations, and sponsors and participates in numerous diversity and inclusion initiatives across the firm’s markets. More about the firm’s diversity and inclusion initiatives can be found at www.lathropgpm.com/diversity.
The results of the 2025 CEI showcase how U.S.-based companies are promoting LGBTQ+ friendly workplace policies in the U.S. and abroad. The first year of the CEI included 319 participants, and the 2025 CEI now surveys 1,449 participants, further demonstrating the tremendous growth of the CEI. A record-breaking 98 percent of CEI businesses have non-discrimination protections specific to gender identity.
The CEI rates employers providing these crucial protections to more than 22 million U.S. workers and includes Fortune magazine’s 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses.
The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars:
- Non-discrimination policies across business entities;
- Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families;
- Supporting an inclusive culture; and,
- Corporate social responsibility.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei.