Social Driver CEO and Co-Founder Thomas Sanchez was selected by Business Equality Pride Magazine (BEQ Pride) as one of its annual 40 LGBTQ Leaders Under 40. 

BEQ Pride’s mission is to achieve a more equitable future, and the 2020 class of 40 leaders is representative of the young talent, innovation, passion and courage in the LGBTQ business equality community. The award highlights young LGBTQ  leaders  across  the  country  who  are demonstrating exceptional leadership and major contributions in government, corporate,  academia, nonprofit or small business.

“As the CEO of a Certified LGBTQ-owned Business Enterprise, I am honored to be selected as one of BEQ Pride’s 40 LGBTQ Leaders Under 40,” Sanchez said. "From growing up in rural Missouri to becoming a successful business owner, along with my husband and co-founder, we have run our business and our philanthropic efforts with diversity and equity top of mind.” 

Sanchez is an advocate for innovation in education, diversity in business, and inclusion in technology. Through his leadership, Social Driver has given to and helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for The Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBT+ people under 25. Sanchez serves on The Trevor Project’s Board of Directors and is Secretary of the nonprofit corporation. He is also the Vice Chair of the Innovation and Technology Inclusion Council for the DC Mayor’s Office, which aims to grow the District’s tech economy in an inclusive manner and increase the number of jobs and high-technology businesses in the District.

As part of the award, honorees shared their predictions, hopes and dreams for what our world will look like in 2030, shining a spotlight on issues facing the LGBTQ community. 

Sanchez predicts that “by 2030, the majority of publicly traded companies will have at least one LGBTQ member of their board of directors because of training and leadership I’m participating in.”  

Learn more about Sanchez’s leadership in the LGBTQ community and about the other honorees.