If support for LGBT employees doesn’t seem obvious, this new chamber leader would like a word 

Kansas City’s LGBTQ+ community shouldn’t have to face its battles alone, said Tracey DeMarea, emphasizing the impact of allyship and the growing need for stronger support from the region’s business community — regardless of whether a company considers itself LGBT-owned.

“Equity isn’t just an issue for businesses that know they have LGBT leadership or employees,” said DeMarea, who began work as the new executive director of the Mid-America LGBT Chamber of Commerce on Monday. “Companies need to be showing that they offer a welcoming, safe place for members of the LGBT community to come and work.”

“They should be communicating these values from the top — not just for recruiting; but because they don’t necessarily know how all their employees privately identify themselves,” she continued. “They don’t know how their children, family members and friends identify; they don’t know what challenges people might be facing at home in their family unit — and how their choices as a business can either help or hurt them.”

Click here to learn more about the Mid-America LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

DeMarea — who comes to the LGBT Chamber with a wealth of experience serving non-profit professional organizations — acknowledges her own privilege as a straight, married, white woman, she said. The key is to embrace that perspective with honesty and open eyes to see contrasts with the life experiences of members of the LGBT community, DeMarea added.

Tracey DeMarea speaks during the Turning Dreams Into Reality Gala for Miracle of Innocence in 2021

“They face concerns that straight white people just don’t think about — that they never even have to think about,” she said, noting that the empathy required of true allyship doesn’t end with understanding, but demands vocal advocacy.

“We must not stand by silently while equity is being challenged,” said DeMarea, who succeeds former Independence mayor Eileen Weir, the chamber’s interim leader after the departure of Suzanne Wheeler earlier this year.

Click here to read more about DeMarea’ non-profit experience, including her role as executive director of the Johnson County Bar Association.

As the LGBT Chamber’s new leader, DeMarea plans to work with its team of volunteers to boost membership from within Kansas City-area businesses whose owners or executives might not consider themselves an obvious fit.

“I’m here to tell them that prioritizing joining the chamber is about prioritizing people,” DeMarea said. “And as much as we want them to understand that standing alongside the LGBT community is brilliant and will bring immense value to their business — whether it’s a small company or corporation — it also brings value to their employees and their families.”

“We have massive room to grow,” she added. “And the more we grow, the greater value we’ll bring to Kansas City.”

During her seven years at the Johnson County Bar Association — a 501(c)(6) organization with more than 1,200 members — DeMarea is credited with helping increase member benefits, as well as networking and social events; developing a business partnership program that generated additional non-dues revenue; leading the creation of a DEI five-year strategic plan; and raising more than $100,000 for a capital campaign to move the bar association’s offices to Overland Park.

Andy and Tracey DeMarea at the Chiefs Super Bowl Parade in 2020

Tracey DeMarea after gaining her U.S. Citizenship in May 2021

DeMarea, who immigrated to the United States in 2007 from England, is married to Andy DeMarea, a trial lawyer and partner at Forsgren Fisher McCalmont DeMarea Tysver LLP, and has two stepchildren: Alex, an industrial engineer with Deloitte, and Mia, an accounting student at the University of Kansas.

Beyond her newly announced work at the LGBT chamber, DeMarea volunteers and cooks for 60 people twice a month for Uplift, a mobile street outreach organization for the homeless in Kansas City. She also is a member of the Central Exchange board of directors, a 501(c)(6) that supports and encourages women in all sectors of business.

She became a U.S. citizen in May 2021, finding inspiration in the Black Lives Matter movement and social justice causes where her vote and voice could help move the needle, she said.

“I had been missing my vote,” DeMarea said. “And I thought, ‘If I come in, and you’re going to give me citizenship, then I’m coming in loud!’ Because these are issues I’m incredibly passionate about.”