Nashville’s GLBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLBTCC) will be sending two of its board members to the 2007 National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) International Business and Leadership Conference in Miami, Florida.

NGLBTCC President John Wade and Board Member David Lazarus will be attending the three day event, networking and promoting Nashville’s growing GLBT business community.

Held at the Hyatt Regency Miami May 31 to June 2, the conference will bring together hundreds of GLBT business owners, corporate leaders, state and local GLBT chambers, experts and entrepreneurs.

Wade said the NGLBTCC board of directors approved the $2,500 expenditure to send he and Lazarus to the meeting to network with officials from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and to learn other business initiatives and insights they can bring back to Nashville’s gay business community.

“We’re very excited to be going,” Wade said. “It’s just one of the many ways that shows Nashville’s GLBT business community that we want to be visible to the nation and learn from other communities how to grow and attract more GLBT businesses.”

The conference features a breadth of speakers from a wide array of large corporations, with representatives from Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, American Express, Lehman Brothers, Motorola, Intel, Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, American Airlines Rainbow TeAAm, Ernst & Young and LOGO.

Former NBA star and author John Amaechi will open the 2007 International Business and Leadership Conference.

“I am very excited to be attending on behalf of the chamber,” said Lazarus, “I feel that the experience will help make our upcoming expo be the best that it can be.”

Lazarus sits on the chamber’s event planning committee, which is preparing for the Oct. 25 Nashville GLBT Life, Business and Career Expo.

Wade has been a member of the GLBT Chamber for five years and on the Board of Directors for two years serving first as Treasurer and later as Executive Vice President. He was elected President and Chairman of the Board in December 2006. He's been active in the Nashville community for a number of years, serving on the Boards of Directors for the Tennessee Equality Project and Nashville Pride, among other community activities. He is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and a financial advisor for UBS Financial Services, Inc.

Lazarus, who joined the NGLBTCC board this past year and sits on its event planning committee, holds a Masters Degree in public administration and also a specialist certificate in health care administration and planning. He has been working in the healthcare and related industries for more than 20 years, most recently for American HomePatient, one of the nation's largest suppliers of medical equipment, as both an internal compliance auditor and regulatory compliance analyst.