Susan Berland - Coach and Advocate - working with parents of LGBTQ+ youth

Susan Berland is a coach for parents of LGBTQ children.  She has been VP of PFLAG in the East Bay area, PFLAG is a national organization providing support and advocacy for parents, families and allies of the LGBTQ community.

Susan has been a coach for most of her life, and is the proud mother of a gay son. She has channeled her lived experience and her time at PFLAG to offer a comprehensive set of coaching tools for parents of LGBTQ+ youth.  

In our conversation she sensitively addresses the range of emotions that parents can feel – from concern for the happiness and mental health or even safety of their child, to processing the surprise at the adjustment, and some sense of loss which may come from a child transitioning.  While there is a sense of gain too, there is a journey in which support is paramount, and being the provider of that support can be draining and itself stressful. Susan’s coaching provides a method to fill one’s own cup in order to better provide the supports needed but also to allow the parent to remain thee best version of themselves that they can be. 

Our fourth Pride series is supported by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase has long been a supporter of equality in all forms, including for the LGBTQ+ community. Starting with the very first PRIDE business resource group in 1996, they recently strengthened their commitment by creating the Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs and a full-time, dedicated team to deliver on a global LGBTQ+ agenda. 

The Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs partners closely with stakeholders across the firm to promote intersectionality and leverage its combined resources to deliver equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees, clients, partners and communities, worldwide.