Recognizing his commitment and significant contributions to advancing workplace equality, Out & Equal Workplace Advocates recognized Howard Ungerleider, chief financial officer and executive vice president, The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), with the Champion Award at the 2015 Out & Equal Workplace Summit in Dallas, Texas, on October 8.

The Champion Award, one of Out & Equal’s annual “Outie” awards, recognizes a person who has played a pivotal role in championing equal treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees on the job and has shown a unique commitment to LGBT workplace rights. Throughout his nearly decade-long tenure as the executive sponsor of Dow’s LGBT and ally employee resource group, Ungerleider’s vision, leadership and influence has resulted in significant progress both inside and outside of Dow.

“Since assuming oversight of the industry’s longest-standing LGBT employee resource group, Howard has led the way towards full inclusion of our colleagues both on the job and in the communities where we operate,” said Andrew N. Liveris, Dow‘s chairman and chief executive officer. “He leads with absolute resolve – removing barriers, rallying those around him and setting the standard for all to emulate.”

Under Ungerleider’s leadership, Dow has positioned itself as a national leader on LGBT issues, working with the public and private sectors in advocating for greater inclusion at both the state and federal level, including continued support for federal employment non-discrimination and standing in opposition of recent discriminatory state legislation in Indiana, Louisiana and Texas.

“An inclusive workplace, and for that matter an inclusive society – that welcomes and respects everyone – is one that enables its citizens and families to thrive, businesses to prosper and economies to grow,” Ungerleider noted in his acceptance remarks at the event. “Inclusion is the true catalyst for success – and quite frankly, it is just the right thing to do.”

Dow offers best-in-class practices for LGBT inclusion in the workplace, including equal benefits to same-sex partners for everything from health, dental and life insurance to bereavement leave, relocation and dual career assistance. Dow also recognizes survivor benefits for LGBT colleagues under its pension plan and provides transgender benefits.

The company has maintained a 100 percent rating on Human Rights Campaign’s corporate equality index, a national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices related to LGBT employees, for 10 consecutive years and last year was ranked by Amsterdam-based Workplace Pride Foundation as one of the world’s “Top-5” LGBT-inclusive employers.

Dow was previously recognized by Out & Equal in 2013 and 2010 with its Workplace Excellence and Significant Achievement awards, respectively.

Out & Equal Workplace Advocates is the world’s premiere nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving LGBT workplace equality. The annual Outie Awards recognize individuals and organizations who are leaders in advancing equality for LGBT people in workplaces globally.

Other finalists for the 2015 Champion Award were Michael DeAngelis, Intel Corporation; Cynthia Armine-Klein, First Data Corporation; and Beth Brooke-Marciniak, EY.

For more about the Outies, please visit outandequal.org.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from the intersection of chemical, physical and biological sciences to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's integrated, market driven, industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 180 countries and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture. In 2014, Dow had annual sales of more than $58 billion and employed approximately 53,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 product families are manufactured at 201 sites in 35 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

®TM Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow