tommie network
JOHN SULLIVAN ’80: A CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVER By BRETT JOHNSON
In the mid-1990s, he was invited by Elizabeth Birch, a former attorney for Apple Computer and executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, to help create and then co-chair HRC’s Business Council. “There were probably 10 (publicly open gay and lesbian) executives she could find at that time,” Sullivan said, adding that he was one of them. The council launched the Corporate Equality Index in 2002 to measure how corporations treat gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees and consumers. Sullivan said domestic partner benefits and other equality measures for people who are LGBTQIA+ began to resonate with corporate leaders once “executives understood that treating employees equitably also impacted the bottom line.” Sullivan supports St. Thomas students who are LGBTQIA+. He gave the address at the inaugural Lavender Graduation and pays for students to attend the annual HRC Twin Cities dinner. “At the dinner students would look around and see every major employer in town had a table. They would say, ‘you mean, I could be out at work?’ That’s right, absolutely you can,” he said.
It was the insight of a St. Thomas professor that propelled John Sullivan ’80 to a legal career – and ultimately gave Sullivan the means to change how corporations understand equality. Sullivan, who is now general counsel for Carlson, Inc., in turn, returns the favor by supporting St. Thomas programs and initiatives that enhance equality, belonging and inclusion for faculty, staff and students. Sullivan combined his skills from his St. Thomas bachelor’s degree in quantitative methods and computing with his University of Notre Dame law degree to specialize in intellectual property law. He rose to general counsel for computer manufacturer Cray Research, high-end digital imaging firm Silicon Graphics, and data products creator Imation. He also joined the board of several organizations alongside heavy hitters from the Twin Cities corporate, nonprofit and philanthropic worlds. Early in his career he joined the board of the Children’s Theatre Company and eventually became chair of The Minneapolis Foundation, the Regions Hospital Foundation, and was a board member and leader for the Minnesotans United for All Families campaign. He also is on the board of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, serving longer than any other member apart from Matthew’s mother, Judy.
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