Pride Panel: The Power of LGBTQ+ Representation in Marketing

Event Details

🗓️ Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2025

⏰ Time: 5:30 - 7:00 PM MST

📍Location: Greater Phoenix Equality Chamber - 1101 N Central Ave #108, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Event Overview

Join AMA Phoenix for an inspiring in-person panel and networking mixer exploring how authentic LGBTQ+ representation can transform your marketing and build lasting connections.

Representation matters - and it has the power to shape culture, build trust, and drive business results. In this thought-provoking panel, three influential leaders will share their personal journeys, discuss why LGBTQ+ representation is critical in brand storytelling, and offer actionable strategies for creating inclusive, omnichannel marketing that resonates.

You’ll walk away with:

• Real-world examples of effective, inclusive campaigns
• Insight into avoiding performative allyship and building authentic connections
• Practical tips for creating culturally competent marketing teams and partnerships
• Strategies for embedding equity and inclusion beyond Pride Month

Our Panelists:

Nate Rhoton – CEO, one-n-ten

Sheila Kloefkorn – Founder & CEO, KEO Marketing

Angela Hughey – Co-Founder & President, ONE Community

Whether you’re a marketer, business leader, or advocate, this event will equip you with the tools to lead with authenticity and make an impact.

ABOUT THE PANELISTS:

Nate Rhoton serves as the CEO for one-n-ten, an LGBTQ non-profit delivering youth services in Arizona. Joining the team in 2015, he served as the Director of Development followed by Director of Finance & Operations, before assuming his current role in January of 2018. Following a career of fifteen years in corporate management and finance, Rhoton chose to serve the community with his nonprofit fundraising and development expertise. Before one-n-ten, Nate worked for twelve years as the operations director and then CFO of a local construction company, he worked to expand corporate community involvement and non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ employees. Born and raised in Arizona, Nate graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics. Over the last decade, he has committed himself to nonprofit service, working with the Arizona steering committee of the Human Rights Campaign, the board of the Greater Phoenix Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, The Melonhead Foundation and as co-chair of the board of directors for Equality Arizona. Currently he serves as the chair of the Human Relations Commission for the City of Phoenix, vice chair of Leading for Change, and on the LGBTQ Advisory to the Chancellor of Maricopa County Community Colleges.

Angela Hughey is the Co-Founder and President of ONE Community and ONE Community Foundation. She co-founded ONE Community in 2008 with the goal of engaging socially responsible businesses, organizations and individuals who support and promote diversity, inclusion, equity and equality for all Arizonans. In 2013, Angela and the ONE Community team launched the UNITY Pledge, a concerted effort by Arizona businesses and individuals to advance workplace equality and equal treatment in housing and public accommodations for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBTQ) individuals and their allies. More than 3,300 businesses and 20,000 Arizonans have taken the UNITY Pledge; the largest equality pledge in the nation. Angela has won multiple awards for her work on inclusion and awareness including the Human Rights Campaign Individual Equality Award, Echo Magazine’s Woman of the Year and the Anti-Defamation League’s Al Brooks Community Leadership Award. Angela is a 2021 Phoenix Business Journal, Most Admired Leader.

Sheila Kloefkorn is a seasoned business growth and marketing expert with over 30 years of award-winning experience helping hundreds of mid-sized and large enterprises drive millions in revenue growth. As the founder and CEO of KEO Marketing, a top B2B marketing and advertising agency established in 2000, Sheila specializes in delivering innovative, results-driven strategies that help companies achieve and exceed their marketing and sales goals. Her commitment to economic development and job creation fuels her passion for growing businesses and strengthening communities.

Before launching KEO Marketing, Sheila played a key leadership role at the world’s largest youth marketing agency in the late 1990s. Today, she leads a team that provides comprehensive services in B2B marketing strategy, lead generation, SEO, SEM, digital marketing, and more. Her deep expertise spans the full marketing lifecycle—from strategy and creative to analytics and execution—making her a trusted partner for Fortune 1000 companies and ambitious enterprises alike.

Host or Publisher AMA Phoenix