Lanaya Irvin

Lanaya Irvin is a business executive, DEI expert and member of the LGBTQ+ community, who understands the experience of being “the only” in many corporate spaces. As CEO of Coqual, she leads a global think tank that conducts research and advises corporate companies on diversity, equity and inclusion. Coqual’s mission is to bring visibility to the barriers and inequity faced by women and other underrepresented groups in the workplace, delivering data-driven insights combined with concrete actionable recommendations for real change.

Previously, Irvin spent more than a decade at Bank of America Securities, where she led strategic initiatives in global equities, managed global client relationships, and led multinational teams.

Irvin is a member of Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Inclusion Advisory Board and is co-chair of the Human Rights Campaign’s Business Advisory Council. She also sits on the board of directors for Outright Action International, an LGBTQ advocacy organization with permanent presence at the UN. Irvin was a founding executive member of OPEN Finance, a consortium of LGBTQ leaders advancing inclusion across Wall Street. In 2015, she mobilized more than 30 financial services firms to sign onto a US Supreme Court amicus brief in support of federal marriage equality.

Irvin is a sought-after speaker for wide-ranging audiences on authenticity, race, gender, LGBTQ inclusion, and inclusive leadership in the workplace. Her thought leadership has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The New York Times, the Financial Times, Newsweek, Business Insider, Forbes, Marketplace, Bloomberg Businessweek and CNBC. She was named one of Crain’s New York Business’ 2022 Notable Black Leaders and Executives and in 2021, to the Yahoo Finance top 100 OUTstanding LGBT+ Executives list.