Rotman Commerce student Christopher Morello has been awarded this year’s HSBC LGBT Student Award.
A third-year management student currently on exchange at the University of Hong Kong, Christopher is also completing minors in urban studies and economics. Born in Vienna and raised between Miami and Toronto, he has been actively involved in the LGBT youth community as a leader, mentor, and organizer. Christopher has been the Director of Corporate Relations for the Rotman Commerce Pride Alliance, where he increased financial sponsorship by 50 per cent and launched the first ever LGBT mentorship program between a Canadian university and corporation; a Data Intern at the YES Institute, a non-profit specializing in communication and education around gender and orientation; and the President of Miami Palmetto Senior High’s Gay Straight Alliance. He has also been an active participant of the Queer Straight Alliance (Hong Kong) and Out on Bay Street (Toronto), where he and his team won first place in HSBC’s LGBT-centred case competition. Currently, he is a Research Fellow with Out Leadership, a strategic advising firm that works with senior leaders in addressing LGBT business opportunities and inclusion.
For Morello, however, the award is about much more than his own achievements — it speaks to the importance of publicly recognizing the importance of the LGBT community in building organizational success. “When a global firm like HSBC has the courage to publicly come out and champion LGBT inclusion, it signals to the broader LGBT and ally community that it is essential to come out as well. This has significant impacts on both culture and the bottom line,” he says.
Open to first-, second-, and third-year students, the HSBC LGBT Student Award recognizes outstanding academic achievement, leadership, and community service through participation in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organizations or initiatives at that University. It carries with it a cash prize of $5,000 and priority consideration for a summer internship with HSBC, as well as consideration as a candidate for the bank’s Management Trainee Program following graduation.