Building Inclusive Workplaces for Queer People of Colour

Understanding intersectionality to drive meaningful change in DEI policies.

Queer People of Colour (QPOC) face unique challenges in the workplace, often navigating both racial and LGBTQIA+ biases. While many organisations have diversity and inclusion programs, they rarely address the specific experiences of QPOC employees. Workplace Pride’s PoC Community is committed to bridging this gap by developing intersectional solutions that create truly inclusive workplaces by creating a Vision Paper.

This Vision Paper represents a collaborative effort—bringing together experiences, insights, and strategic actions to drive systemic change. Through research, discussions, and direct engagement with QPOC professionals, we aim to empower individuals and equip organisations with the tools to foster belonging, representation, and equitable opportunities.

Stimulate awareness and communal understanding of intersectionality and structurally embed an intersectional approach to QPOC workplace inclusion.

Key Challenges We are Addressing:

Lack of Intersectional Awareness – Many DEI policies address race and LGBTIQ+ issues separately, but overlook employees who embody both identities.
Workplace Representation Gaps – QPOC employees often struggle with career progression and leadership visibility.
Safe Spaces & Support Networks – Many organisations lack dedicated spaces for QPOC employees to connect and thrive.
Regional & Cultural Differences – Global policies often fail to account for local socio-cultural nuances affecting QPOC individuals.
Lack of policy instrument: There are limited resources to put intersectionality-informed DEI policies into practice

Sign Up for a Focus Group

We invite QPOC professionals, DEI leaders, and allies to be part of this initiative. Your voice matters. Together, we can create workplaces where intersectionality is not just acknowledged but actively embraced.

The POC community was initiated in 2024 with the purpose of attending to our intersectional needs at the workplace. Multiple minority stress significantly impacts workplace experiences, as individuals face heightened microaggressions and exclusionary behaviour due to their intersecting identities not aligning with the majority. Creating an inclusive workplace requires concerted efforts from both leadership and employees, and by understanding and addressing multiple minority stresses, workplaces can become more supportive and welcoming for all individuals.

Workplace Pride is at the forefront of bringing intersectionality into workplace DEI initiatives. As the leading global foundation for workplace inclusion, it has a diverse membership that spans the corporate sector, government, and research institutions. This broad base allows the POC community to influence hundreds of organizations and thousands of QPOC employees.

Given the increasing political threats to DEI, the significance of the intersectional approach will not diminish but will increase in the near future. In this context, promoting QPOC workplace inclusion requires an awareness of intersectionality, a community-based approach to engagement, and the development of new visions, goals, and research agendas that pave the way for intersectional inclusion in the workplace.

Thus, the core mission of the POC community is to: Stimulate awareness and communal understanding of intersectionality and structurally embed an intersectional approach to QPOC workplace inclusion.

Our Goals for 2025:

Developing a Research Agenda: Defining concrete actions based on insights.

Learning & Mapping: Research, community dialogues, and expert discussions.

Stimulating Awareness: Bi-monthly meetings, international conferences, and collaborations.

Thank you for your interest in participating in the POC community dialogues.

Your involvement will allow your voices to be included in the POC community vision paper we plan to publish in Q4 2025. By participating, you can help the Workplace Pride POC Community establish its vision and goals, leading to actionable steps to enhance inclusion and belonging for QPOC in the workplace.

Consent is essential for your participation. For more information about consent, please refer to the last section.

We plan to conduct the dialogues in a hybrid format. Please indicate your preference on the registration form.

The date for the dialogue has not yet been scheduled. Once we have enough participants, we will contact you to arrange a date (via Doodle).