How we selected this year’s Queer 50 winners

The fifth annual Fast Company Queer 50 was compiled by Fast Company writers and editors, with input from a number of trusted sources. We’d specifically like to thank our founding partner, Lesbians Who Tech & Allies, and all of our nominating partners—Out in Tech, the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors, LGBT+ VC and The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative—who helped us identify new names this year.

We considered five criteria in compiling this list:

• The size and growth prospects of each person’s business or organization
• Their place in the broader business and social conversation
• The impact of their contributions during the past 12 months
• Their career trajectory over the past 12 months, and potential for growth
• Their activism and advocacy for the queer community

As always, this list was put together with a strong eye toward inclusion—20% of honorees are trans and/or nonbinary and 46% are people of color, including 34% who are Black, Latinx, or Indigenous. Forty-two percent of the honorees are new to the list this year.