The Independence Business Alliance (IBA) — the local LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce — was recently named National Affiliate Chamber of the Year by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).

The annual award, which the IBA also won in 2014, recognizes local chapters for excellence in community leadership, advocacy initiatives and innovative programming. Although NGLCC didn’t offer an explanation for the win, Zach Wilcha — the IBA’s CEO — believes it has a lot to do with the Philadelphia chapter’s strong commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

“While a lot of entities — and not just chambers, but entities overall in America — are sort of retreating from what they once held as values in terms of DEI and supporting the most marginalized people within queer communities, that’s something that we’ve really doubled down on,” he explained.

Wilcha is especially proud of Philadelphia’s Diverse Chambers Coalition — a partnership among the chambers of commerce that serve marginalized groups in the area, which builds community and helps them harness collective power. The IBA helped found the group, which has been working together for about a decade and signed a memorandum of understanding, formalizing the commitment to each other, in 2021.

The success across those chambers is just as palpable. The African American Chamber of Commerce of PA, NJ & DE (AACC) — theregional chapter for Black and African American business leaders —was recognized as its national chamber of the year by the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. too.

Wilcha said the most impactful work is often the “less sexy” stuff — such as collecting data as a coalition to present leaders at City Hall who can learn about their experiences and challenges. Philadelphia has a lot of small business owners and solo entrepreneurs, he explained, who are less likely to speak up for themselves. But the coalition’s advocacy has resulted in tangible outcomes that support LGBTQ+ and otherwise marginalized people.

“The work that we do there is intersectional — not just in name,” he explained, noting that they work together to understand their shared goals, differences, and how to support each other’s needs and interests.

Intersectionality is crucial to Wilcha, who also said the IBA takes the same approach as it develops its leadership within the organization — ensuring that a variety of people with a broad range of personal and professional experiences are reflected. To him, it’s one of the things that makes the IBA sustainable, relevant and full of useful resources.

“In this political climate. I think there are some folks that are really racing to catch up — but this is work that we’ve been doing for at least over a decade,” he said. “A lot of business entity organizations can end up being a place where the majority parts of our community assemble and don’t think about the most marginalized — and for us, it was really important that we tried to represent folks from all parts of our community.”

Wilcha said it’s offered him the opportunity to reflect on their recent successes and reach out with gratitude to the organization’s 300+ members and supporters, who lead businesses and offer services across all industries. It’s their support and participation that makes the IBA what it is.

“It’s been a great excuse to connect a lot of the stakeholders of the IBA and let them know this is not an award that Zach won,” he said. “This is not an award IBA staff won. It’s an award that our entire community won.”

The award was presented to the IBA at NGLCC’s annual conference — the largest gathering for LGBTQ+ business matters, which connects leaders from small businesses, nonprofit organizations, corporate entities and local chambers of commerce from across the country. It’s a good space to meet for collaboration, he explained, but also to learn from each other.

Collaborating with other chambers of commerce has also helped Wilcha learn about how Philadelphia’s chapter can develop new goals. He noted that leaders in Cleveland have put together an impressive initiative that teaches allyship to business leaders. Dallas has a program that helps LGBTQ+ people serve on boards and employee resource group teams. Houston’s approach to bringing together corporate leaders is another initiative to watch, and Minneapolis has been able to leverage a relationship with the state government to better resource marginalized business leaders.

Wilcha said many of the regional chambers of commerce are learning the IBA’s participation in Philadelphia’s Diverse Chambers Coalition and from the IBA’s TransWork program — which aims to address economic disparities facing trans people by connecting them with affirming mentors for entrepreneurship and workplaces for employment. The program, which was launched by the IBA in 2018, is now being replicated in other regions.

The IBA hasn’t celebrated this year’s award with an event yet — but Wilcha promises a celebration is coming.

He underlined that the community and resource-sharing that happens through LGBTQ+ chambers of commerce are crucial for the queer community.

Entrepreneurship, he emphasized, offers not only a path toward economic success but also provides more autonomy to live authentically. Finding employment in an affirming or queer-owned workplace, he added, can do the same.

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