Houston announces LGBTQ economic empowerment coordinator to connect youth, seniors and businesses to city resources

Councilmember Castillo announced the creation of a new role in the City of Houston's Office of Business Opportunity aimed at supporting economic opportunities for LGBTQ Houstonians. "This is an exciting day for the city as we are announcing a new role within the Office of Business Opportunity to help support economic empowerment for LGBTQ Houstonians," Castillo said.

The liaison, described as an LGBT Economic Empowerment Coordinator and liaison, will focus on economic mobility by connecting LGBTQ youth and seniors to workforce programs, small-business resources and city services. Director Hort of the Office of Business Opportunity said the position will "go out and bridge the gaps between communities to provide services, support, mentorship opportunities, and small business support" and will be housed in the office's external affairs division so it can integrate with existing workforce and procurement programs.

Councilmember Castillo said he allocated dollars from a council district service fund to create the position and that Councilmember Julian Ramirez contributed additional budget dollars to make the pilot possible. The announcement described the role as a part-time pilot that will be evaluated at the end of the year with the goal of converting it to a full-time position in the next budget cycle; no dollar amounts were specified in the meeting.

Tammy Wallace, president of the Greater Houston LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, praised the role's focus on economic inclusion, saying, "At the Chamber, we often say that economic inclusion is smart business." Wallace and other partners said the coordinator will create a bridge between community organizations and city programs to improve access to existing resources and to make taxpayer dollars work more efficiently.

Avery Beaulieu, CEO of the Montrose Center, highlighted the center's youth and senior services and said the coordinator could help ensure services are both accessible and affirming. Beaulieu noted the Montrose Center serves more than 55,000 Houstonians a year through programs including HATCH and senior services such as the Law Harrington Senior Living Facility.

Councilmember Castillo said the role is citywide and open to collaboration across offices and community organizations; he also said the position has already been filled and the person has begun stakeholder meetings, but the hire's name was not specified during the announcement. There was no formal council vote recorded during the remarks; funding was described as allocated directly from council district and councilmember budgets.

Next steps specified in the announcement include data collection and an end'of'year impact evaluation to "demonstrate all the impact a part time position has had," with the intent to pursue full-time funding in the following budget cycle. Community organizations and other city offices were invited to partner on outreach and program integration.