AMSTERDAM, 18 August 2026 — After 20 years of building Workplace Pride, founder and Executive Director David Pollard is stepping down and handing over the leadership of the organisation to Javier Leonor.
Leonor will become Executive Director on 5 October 2026, bringing extensive international experience in inclusion, belonging, technology and organisational leadership.
The leadership change marks an important moment for Workplace Pride. What began two decades ago as a Dutch initiative has grown into an international platform for LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion, with more than 100 member organisations across the corporate, public, NGO and academic sectors.
From global inclusion to Workplace Pride
Leonor joins Workplace Pride from Accenture, where he most recently led global inclusion and belonging programmes across 60 countries and more than 750,000 employees.
His work has focused on turning inclusion strategies into programmes that reach people at scale. At Accenture, he built a global allyship platform that grew from 40,000 to 120,000 active members, helped introduce same-sex and transgender-inclusive benefits in more than 30 countries, and grew employee resource group chapters to more than 90 across 45 countries.
He also led inclusion-focused leadership development for more than 1,000 senior leaders.
With nearly two decades of experience in technology consultancy, Leonor has worked with international teams and organisations throughout his career. He also spent four years as a member of Accenture’s Works Council in the Netherlands.
Originally from Spain and long based in Amsterdam, Leonor holds an MBA from the University of Amsterdam and a degree in telecommunications engineering. He works in Spanish, English and Dutch.
For Workplace Pride Board Co-Chairs Michiel Kolman and Bianca Nijhof, his experience makes him well suited to the organisation’s next chapter.
“In Javier we found the combination this next chapter demands: someone who has delivered inclusion at global scale, who understands how digital platforms multiply impact, and who speaks the language of the boardroom without ever losing sight of the people this work is for. The Board is confident that Workplace Pride’s future is in the right hands.”
Building on 20 years of progress
Leonor says he sees his role as building on what Workplace Pride has already achieved, while finding new ways to reach people and organisations around the world.
“Workplace Pride has spent twenty years proving that inclusion is not a statement but a practice — something you measure, build, and defend.”
For Leonor, the organisation’s Benchmark, thought leadership and business community provide a strong foundation. His ambition is to bring these resources to more workplaces and more countries, using digital tools to extend Workplace Pride’s reach while keeping the personal relationships that have always been central to the community.
“My ambition is to bring that value to many more workplaces, in many more places, through the digital reach this moment makes possible — without ever losing the personal connection that makes this community what it is,” Leonor said.
Pictured from left to right: Michiel Kolman, David Pollard, Javier Leonor and Bianca Nijhof.
A founder hands over the organisation he built
For David Pollard, the transition brings an end to an extraordinary 20-year chapter.
Since founding Workplace Pride, Pollard has helped grow the organisation into a recognised international voice for LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion. Over that time, the organisation has brought together employers, public bodies, NGOs and academic institutions around a shared goal: making workplaces where LGBTIQ+ people can belong and thrive.
Pollard will work closely with Leonor during a structured handover period to support continuity for Workplace Pride’s members and partners.
Reflecting on the transition, David Pollard, founder and outgoing Executive Director of Workplace Pride, said:
“Twenty years ago we put on our suits and got on a boat to show that our community belongs in every workplace, at every level. What grew from that day belongs to the members who built it with us and the LGBTIQ+ community around the world who it serves. Javier understands both where this organisation comes from and where it must go — I hand it over with pride and with complete confidence.”
Looking ahead
Leonor takes over at a time when workplace inclusion is facing renewed pressure in several parts of the world.
So what does the next chapter look like? Javier’s focus will be on taking Workplace Pride further — reaching more organisations and countries, making its digital services more accessible, strengthening the Global Benchmark and ensuring the organisation continues to have a strong voice when LGBTIQ+ inclusion is under pressure.
The transition is therefore about more than a change in leadership. It is about taking what Workplace Pride has learned over the past 20 years and using it to reach further.
For Pollard, it is the opportunity to hand over an organisation with a strong foundation. For Leonor, it is the opportunity to help shape what comes next.
Javier Leonor begins his role as Executive Director of Workplace Pride on 5 October 2026.
