Young@WorkplacePride Mentorship Program Kick-off

A 2018 study from Out Now Global found that 41% of LGBTQI+ 18-25-year-olds returned to the closet when starting their first job. Women aged 18-35 report being ‘out to all’ at work 29% of the time while men in the same age range are out 44% of the time. Young@WorkplacePride is a special program intended to target and support exactly this age demographic as they enter the workplace. Our team of enthusiastic Young members would like to make LGBTIQ+ mentors more accessible to young professionals. 

The first mentorship event got off to a great start on the 22nd of September with a large online international audience via Zoom as Mamta Gera (a leadership consultant and emotional well-being coach), gave a presentation on “The Power of Mentoring” to an enthusiastic audience of Mentors and Mentees alike.

Mamta is from the LGBTIQ+ community and has experience with being both a mentee and mentor. She has learned to be her authentic self through her own mentorship experiences. She definitely inspired the audience with her story and shared some practical tips on how to set up a successful mentor/mentee relationship.

 The second kick-off event on the 24th of September also with a live Zoom audience hosted Brand Berghouwer who gave a presentation on “Mentoring & Coaching LGBTIQ+ people to be more comfortable in the Workplace”. The brand is the chair of TNN and has a coaching practice for trans people. He explored practical ways to get the most out of a mentoring experience and building a good mentor-mentee relationship.

For more information about Workplace Pride write to [email protected]

For information about the Mentoring program write to [email protected]

WorldPride Copenhagen 2021 Re-Cap

Workplace Inclusion Day August 18th was kicked off with an empowering speech by the Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, Petra de Sutter, herself a member of the LGBTIQ+ community. With a keynote entitled “LGBTIQ Workplace Inclusion from the State level”, it really was a passionate call to action.

From Left to Right: Aron Le Fèvre, Director of Human Rights, Sara Louise Muhr, Professor at the Copenhagen School of Business, Moderator, Petra de Sutter, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and David Pollard, Executive Director of Workplace Pride

“We cannot be complacent, we must act!”

Petra de Sutter, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium

Michiel Kolman, Co-Chair of Workplace Pride felt that Workplace Inclusion day really shed light upon the fact that the “Workplace” is really at a tipping point as things are changing with younger generations coming in with fresh ideas about gender, gender identity, and sexual identity, etc.

“There was a very upbeat story today but at the same time, we do live in a world where it can be far more difficult for the LGBTIQ+ community”

Michiel Kolman, Co-Chair of Workplace Pride Foundation
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Michiel Kolman, Co-Chair of Workplace Pride

Michiel went on to note the interesting contrast and “tension” between the inner world of companies and organisations and the outer world with its political developments which aren’t always positive. All in all a great day with a highly engaged audience!


Ulf Hahnemam, CHRO of Maersk spoke about the journey his company has been on and how taking into account their LGBTIQ+ employees has totally changed their approach. Ulf gave a heartfelt speech touching on Maersk’s radical shift in philosophy and that Maersk has seen tangible improvements in employee efficiency and happiness as a direct result of this approach of embracing LGBTIQ+ inclusion in their workplaces around the globe.

Ulf Hahnemam, CHRO of Maersk

Bianca Nijhof, Co-Chair hosted a session about the ASEAN region and the difficulties faced there. Hanim Hamzah, based in Singapore, spoke about the state of legislation in 10 Asian countries and expressed how much work there is still left to do. The international panel looked at ways to collaborate,  convince and work with governments in these countries to enable deeper progress towards inclusion of the LGBTIQ+ community there.

Bianca Nijhof, Co-Chair of Workplace Pride

“With all the polarization, taking the younger generation onboard is key. Education between generations is important and certainly, educating allies is a vital part of raising awareness”

Bianca Nijhof, Co-Chair of Workplace Pride

With six concurrent breakout sessions in the morning, each “sphere” used an innovative system where speakers spoke via microphones using wireless technology. The audience, wearing wireless headphones, heard the presentation whilst following projector slides. This minimized distraction from neighboring sessions and kept each breakout audience focused on the content only they could hear. The conference hall was filled with silence and concentration!


Ali Buck, a member of the Young@Workplace Pride program presented a session on allyship within the LGBTIQ+ community from the youth perspective.

Ali Buck, a member of the Young@WorkplacePride

“56% of people within generation “Z” in the LGBTIQ+ community identify as trans or non-binary which is statistically a massive increase over previous generations”

Ali Buck
A Member of the Young@WorkplacePride

For Ali’s employer in the USA, these findings have influenced the policies they create to recruit, attract and retain young talent. This is something that other employers should consider for their office spaces as employees return to office-based employment again. Despite all the upheaval that COVID has brought, we have phenomenal opportunities to examine current and future workplace policies around LGBTIQ+ inclusion and diversity and how were share our workspaces.

A key moment for Workplace Pride at the conference was the pre-launch of a white paper on corporate advocacy via a sphere session presented by David Pollard, Exec. Director of Workplace Pride, Dr. Felicity Daly and Marijn Pijnenburg of IBM. The paper examines how corporations can have a significant impact on governments when it comes to influencing LGBTIQ+ legislation around the world. The final launching of the paper will take place this fall. 

With 12 interactive sphere sessions throughout the day, presentations and panel sessions plus live speakers dialing in from as far away as Asia, Africa and Latin America Workplace Inclusion Day at World Pride Copenhagen was as intense as it was inspiring!

Workplace Inclusion Day 2021

International Conference 2021 Re-Cap

In the wake of a tumultuous 2020 where countless social norms were deeply affected by the global pandemic, Workplace Pride made the difficult decision to hold a truly hybrid conference at the Amsterdam Theatre on the 25th of June, 2021.

With a global online audience of over 400 and a live in-house audience of close to 100 Workplace Pride members, the conference opened with a powerful montage of the struggles and solidarity of the LGBTIQ+ communities around the world where there is still so much work to be done. David Pollard, Exec. Director of Workplace Pride opened the conference by touching on the breadth of seismic societal changes that have occurred in recent times. The changes range from the Hungarian government banning any portrayal of homosexuality in education or on television to Poland creating “LGBT-free” zones where LGBTIQ+ people have no protection against hate crimes. In Brazil, legal attempts are even being made to remove “gender” and any talk of homosexuality or transgenderism from school curricula! 

We are truly at a crossroads in how societies react to these developments and the LGBTIQ+ community is part of this story as well

David Pollard

Aldith Hunkar, journalist and TV presenter was the moderator for the event and the first keynote speaker was Carla Grant Pickens, Global Chief of D&I at IBM. IBM thus far has been a trailblazer when it comes to LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion. Aldith and Carla discussed the challenges she is facing as chief of D&I at IBM and how IBM itself is dealing with the changes to the workforce and what its core values are.

Both physical and mental health is important. Workplace flexibility, putting yourself and your family first. The concept of “whole self” is going to be key in going beyond themselves to their broader lives and ecosystem”.

Carla Grant Pickens
Global Chief of D&I at IBM


Carla also spoke about the IBM Innovation Jam that was held recently which focused on the LGBTIQ+ community. With over 5000 participants worldwide it yielded insights and gave IBM actionable results around educating employees and regarding the LGBTIQ+ community.

Companies need to ensure they pay attention to LGBTIQ+ employees’ career growth and velocity

Carla Grant Pickens

The first panel of the day was hosted by Co-Chair of Workplace Pride, Bianca Nijhof. She spoke with Rodney Irwin, COO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. They were joined remotely by Marcia Balisciano, the Director of Corporate Responsibility at RELX. The discussion focused on the impact of LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion on investors.

There are three priorities businesses need to embrace. First the climate emergency, the biodiversity loss and its connections to COVID-19 and the third is inequality surrounding LGBTIQ+ people”.

Rodney Irwin

Marcia spoke to Rodney’s words about policies meaning nothing without action adding that RELX feels needs to have the right atmosphere across their organisation. This is accomplished through different training around topics such as psychological safety and allowing people to say what needs to be said.

Aldith was then joined by the CEO of Dow Inc., Jim Fitterling who spoke about the gains a company can have from being more diverse and inclusive. 

You can legislate numbers, representation, and diversity and try to get there fast but if it’s not sustainable and you don’t have an inclusive culture, people can end up unhappy and leave,” said Fitterling.  

There’s a lot of awareness in the world right now, but not enough action.

Jim Fitterling
CEO of Dow Inc.

To the question of the impact of the pandemic and if employees coming back to the office was an opportunity to re-launch diversity Fitterling noted that the motto at Dow throughout the pandemic has been  “Inclusion is not cancelled “. Dow’s ERG’s have been heavily relied upon to keep people connected and move forward. The pandemic provided the company with insights into life and work habits and for example, child care issues or taking care of older relatives.

Lisa van Ginneken, Member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands joined Aldith on stage to dive straight into Lisa’s efforts around giving transgender and intersex people more say in their medical procedures. She also urged for transitional leave to cater in a similar way to maternity leave and giving attention to the process.

Large companies have a large power to advocate and I urge them to use that power to enable low-threshold access to transgender healthcare worldwide” said van Ginneken, who added: 

Large companies have a large power to advocate and I urge them to use that power to enable low-threshold access to transgender healthcare worldwide” said van Ginneken, who added:

When someone goes through the transition it isn’t only them, it’s their environment and their support system as well. Partners, kids, friends and family all go through the transition too”.

Lisa van Ginneken
member of the house OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NETHERLANDS

Van Ginneken also explained that the Pandemic had affected levels of loneliness for transgender people as well. During the transition, your social circle can shrink and the Pandemic has only exacerbated those conditions along with depression. Also, since healthcare has been focused on COVID-19, transitional healthcare scope has shrunk meaning waiting lists have increased.

I hope that in the future, formerly challenged minorities keep reminding others how it was and take on the responsibility not to treat others in a divisive way,”

Lisa van Ginneken

For the next panel featured Martine de Vries, Professor in Medical Ethics and Health law and LUMC, Gera Sneller, Coordinator for D&I at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Javier Leonor, Global Inclusion & Diversity at Accenture. With the topic of “Leaders’ Strategies at a Crossroads”, the panel gave their thoughts on healthcare and the challenges in particular for the LGBTIQ+ community.

 “What we’ve learned is that we need to focus more on specific groups affected and that includes the LGBTIQ+ community,” said Professor de Vries.

For Accenture, the shift to working from home was around prior to Covid but mental health has become a key issue said, Javier Leonor. On a positive note, he also said that some employees had flourished in spite of the Pandemic. Also for transgender colleagues, some of the stress of being in transition in the office was alleviated by working from home.

Gera Sneller at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign affairs gave a very global perspective, highlighting how some areas or parts of the world moved forward with LGBTIQ+ rights but conversely other places saw things worsen during the Pandemic. 

Unfortunately we’ve seen communities, driven at the highest political level channeling the uncertainty into hatred said Sneller

For the final panel, Michiel Kolman, Co-Chair of Workplace Pride and SVP, Research Networks ELSEVIER spoke with Justus Eisfeld from Hivos, Yuli Kim, L+D Development Manager at Workplace Pride and Jeroen Haver, International Business Manager, NLinBusiness.

With a topic entitled “Intersectionality – A Catalyst for Change”, the discussion centered around the challenges of data representation and what that means for the intersex community in particular, and are we acknowledging that community’s significant difficulties in finding and having employment for example.

The discussion delved deeper into the “framework” of intersectionality beyond the obvious visual characteristics.

It’s time to apply a different lens when we look at intersectionality. Not just the LGBTIQ+ lens but also generation, race, culture and language, and many more invisible characteristicsconcluded Kolman.

This first true ‘hybrid event’ by Workplace Pride highlighted the advantages of being able to gather again in person, but at the same time showcased the ongoing challenges that many LGBTIQ+ people and their employees face in the workplace as a result of the societal changes we are all experiencing. Going forward, Workplace Pride will continue to challenge our members and the community to strive for more inclusive workplaces around the world: together with can choose the right path at this monumental turning point in our history. 

Conference Photo Recap click HERE

Striving For Authenticity

“My company or organization should take a more assertive public position on LGBT+ inclusion and belonging”

87% of the jammers agree

A new report by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, and Workplace Pride provides new information on workplace discrimination faced by the LGBTIQ+ community. It also provides tangible actions that employers can take to address the troubling findings.

“I will soon be entering the workforce and would definitely hope that there were fellow transgender employees at the company.

In fact, I will actively be looking to work for a company that has high rates of LGBTQ+ employment at all levels, including executive positions”


Jam Participant

The report is the result of a two-part study: (1) a survey of more than 6,000 United States-based professionals, and (2) a facilitated digital conversation – called an “Innovation Jam” – that included more than 2,000 business leaders, subject matter experts, and thought leaders from around the globe.

To capture valuable insights from individuals across this diverse community, the IBV teamed up with Out & Equal and Workplace Pride to host a Global LGBT+ Innovation Jam. Jam participants claimed identities across the spectrum, with 43% identifying as gay or lesbian, 33% as non-LGBT+, 9% as bisexual, and 8% as queer. Transgender and non-binary people made up 15% of Jam participants.

“[Pronouns] should never be required. Safety for trans/non-binary folks should be the highest priority.

Pronouns are part of the coming out process; making them mandatory would “out” us and take away our autonomy.

It is one of the few things we actually have control over”

IBM Jam participant

Some of the key research findings showed that LGBTIQ+ discrimination remains despite employers’ drive to further inclusion. The intersection of race, gender, and sexual orientation heightens discrimination, making it more pronounced. Non-binary and gender-expansive identities are common in workplaces. COVID-19 placed an outsized burden on caregivers from the LGBTIQ+ community.

“COVID is showing home-life much more realistically than the confines of the structured office. As much as this makes some more comfortable, it makes others feel threatened and endangered.”

JAM PARTICIPANT

To read the full report click HERE

(Acknowledgements to the IBM Institute for Business Value and Out & Equal)

Workplace Pride is very proud to announce the launch of our very own app!

Workplace Pride is very proud to announce the launch of our very own app! Regardless of whether you own an Apple or Android device, you will be able to access everything on our website on your phone or tablet. In addition, you’ll be able to take part in our forums, watch webinar videos and listen to podcasts. The New Horizons online is integral to the app and you’ll be able to get immediate access to the latest news and content from our member organisations. Having an app means you’ll get notifications as soon as new content is available.

Go ahead click on the App Store or Google Play icon and download our App now!

See you there!

Hungary LGBTI Workplace Inclusion Symposium Re-Cap

This conference which was hosted by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Hungary and took place on IDAHOT day (May 17th, 2021), addressed a broad range of issues when it comes to LGBTI inclusion in the workplace. 

The Symposium was opened by René van Hell, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Hungary. He emphasised the significance of IDAHOT and how united the European Union is in achieving the goal of raising awareness of human rights violations against the LGBTI community. The Ambassador also noted that Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union today had published a declaration on behalf of all EU member states to support this goal.

The Ambassador prefaced that today’s symposium on Hungary would focus mainly on the business rationale for creating LGBTI inclusive workplaces. It would demonstrate how both business and society could benefit from a more open and inclusive approach to this community.

Next, the Netherlands human rights Ambassador, Bahia Tahzib-Lie gave her inspirational thoughts on the importance of creating open and inclusive workplaces. On May 17th she had the honour of raising the rainbow flag at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hague and calling for equal rights for LGBTI people in all spheres of life.

“IT IS VITAL THAT EVERYONE REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL, BE THEIR AUTHENTIC SELVES, AND BE VALUED FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS, REGARDLESS OF THEIR GENDER IDENTITY, ORIENTATION, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, OR SEX CHARACTERISTICS. THIS IS WHY LGBTI RIGHTS ARE A TOP PRIORITY FOR THE NETHERLANDS.”

Bahia Tahzib-Lie
Netherlands human rights Ambassador

Next, David Pollard, Exec. Director of Workplace Pride and moderator for the Symposium spoke about milestones achieved globally with marriage equality. This issue directly and positively impacts the LGBTI community in the workplace and can usher in positive change in company policies.

Mr Pollard polled the live audience on Hungary. To the question “What is the most effective way to create LGBTIQ+ inclusive workplaces in Hungary?”. The majority voted (74%) that employers should take the initiative over other choices such as lobbying or Civil Society taking the lead.

“Employers across the world have begun to understand the economic advantage of creating workplaces where LGBTIQ+ people can openly be themselves. This is important for the recruitment and retention of new employees. Increasingly, younger generations, both LGBTIQ+ and non-LGBTIQ+ people, demand equitable workplaces from their employers – otherwise, they gravitate to employers where everyone CAN be themselves.”

David Pollard, Executive Director, Workplace Pride Foundation

Next Andrea Solti, Country Chair for Shell,spoke about “Corporate Priorities in a Challenging Market”. Ms. Solti explained how Shell has implemented its D&I standards in Hungary since 2002 and has had yearly D&I targets since then. These standards have helped create a workforce and board of directors that is gender-balanced. Shell has also signed the European Diversity Charter in Hungary as they feel support for this important agenda must also be external. In closing, Ms. Solti strongly emphasized visible leadership, being responsible for an open and safe work environment and being a role model, and intervening if needed. At Shell, the “learner mindset and psychological safety is the cornerstone of Shell’s leadership framework”.


Next, George Perlov from Open for Business gave a fascinating presentation of a recent study on LGBTI inclusion in Hungary, Ukraine, Romania and Poland. The biggest finding from this report is the cost of LGBTI discrimination in these countries. An estimate of 0.23% to 1.75% of annual GDP based on health iniquities (depression, HIV AIDS) and wage pay gaps. To give some financial context, Mr. Perlov explained that the cost of public broadcasting for a year in Hungary was equal to the loss in GDP due to LGBTI discrimination. LGBTI rights data showed that an increase in rights directly correlated to an increase in GDP gain per capita.

“Countries that support LGBTI rights are generally better off thus the financial opportunity is clear”

Mr. Perlov also showed evidence that national reputation around LGBTI rights can and does have an adverse effect on foreign investment which has been seen for example, in Poland with a backlash against their “LGBT Free” zones initiative and same-sex adoption. In the case of foreign reporting on Hungary on such discriminatory issues, the majority of reports are negative.

With data from Linkedin and the World Bank, “brain drain” is affecting LGBTI persons’ choices of where to work in the future in tech, finance, health, education, and science, etc., and are in fact more likely to move and take jobs in more open societies.


Topic: “The current situation for LGBTI people at work in Hungary” 

Panelists: 

Ines K Radmilovic: Partner, Baker & McKenzie Hungary
Roman Bojko: Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Leader, IKEA Hungary 
Borbala Czako: President of the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum
Tamas Dombos: Board Member, Hatter Society 

Each of the panelists gave their own unique perspectives on Hungary and what their organisations are seeing and doing to improve the situation.

“Multinationals do want to make a difference, do want to measure and quantify diversity. But there are limitations to achieving that in Hungary in terms of local law and GDPR(types of data and context etc.) but this is an ongoing discussion” Ms. Radmilovic

“IKEA has policies which are compatible with local laws. Encouraging your co-workers to be engaged, join activities/support etc. while representing the company. From there we go into the discussion with the customers. It’s easy in a way to communicate and ask a question but its important to be prepared in advance for the reaction be it positive or negative.“ Mr. Bojko

“A lot of companies need to have courage. Our role is to work against unconscious bias and simply never give up!” Ms. Czako 

“24% of Hungarian LGBTI people were discriminated against in the workplace in the past twelve months, for transgender people it was 42%” Mr. Dombos


For the second poll to the live international audience the question was :

“What next step do you feel would have the most positive impact for the LGBTIQ+ community in Hungary?”. The viewers voted in a majority that  Hungarian companies become more vocal over other options such as international businesses withdrawing their investment or EU institutions imposing sanctions.


The second and final panel :

Topic: “The business imperative for creating LGBTI friendly workplaces in Hungary” 

Panelists: 

Ambassador René van Hell: Netherlands Embassy
Chargé d’Affaires Marc Dillard : US Embassy
Deputy Ambassador Katarina Szecsi- Asbrink: Swedish Embassy 

“It’s not only about words but it’s about deeds and what implications those deeds have.”

“It’s not only about laws but how you reach the hearts and minds of people and do you interact and deal with your unconscious bias.” (René van Hell)

“When you live in the EU or a NATO country, we’re part of a value-based community, and standing up for diversity and LGBTI rights is part of that”

René van Hell, Dutch Ambassador to Hungary

It all comes down to doing recurring things. That diversity is smart, creates growth, cuts costs, innovates, and retains staff it just goes on with all these tremendous gains

Katarina Szesci- Asbrink, Embassy of sweden

In Sweden, we sharpened anti-discriminatory laws to have active measures to promote equal opportunities and rights”- Katarina Szesci-Asbrink

All employers, businesses, and organisations are obliged to work on these structural issues because there is no quick fix.” –Katarina Szesci-Asbrink

There is an LGBTI certification from Sweden’s oldest LGBTI NGO for organisations, businesses, municipalities, etc.” – Katarina Szesci-Asbrink


“This a long-term effort in the United States. The roots of our anti-discrimination framework goes back to the 1964 civil rights act. We need to go beyond the legal and regulatory framework and look at what is here in our own organisations.”

In terms of gender identity and sexual orientation, we need to find a way each person can live to his or her full potential in contributing to the workplace. And that’s a positive commitment”
Marc Dillard, Chargé d’ Affaires at the US Embassy in Budapest.
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LGBTI Workplace Inclusion in Hungary – May 17th

Creating workplaces where everyone can be themselves is a priority for modern businesses. People that feel included and have a sense of belonging at their places of work are more productive, better team players, and make a greater contribution. They are less likely to be ill or need to be replaced, all of which translates into financial impact for businesses.

Tremendous progress has been made in Europe in the past decade to create equitable workplaces for previously excluded or marginalised groups, including LGBTI people, but there is still much room for improvement. During this conference, we will discuss the barriers as well as the opportunities facing businesses in regards to their LGBTI employees, clients/customers. It will also explore how investors look increasingly at the breadth of a businesses’ engagement when it comes to equitable workplaces.

Participants will include (a.o) representatives from both multinational and Hungarian businesses, members of Hungarian LGBTI Civil Society, and members of the diplomatic community.

GOALS: The conference will address a broad range of issues when it comes to LGBTI inclusion in the workplace. It will focus mainly on the business rationale for creating LGBTI inclusive workplaces. It will demonstrate how both business and society could benefit from a more open inclusive approach to this community.

DATE / TIME: Monday, 17 May, 15:00 – 17:00 CET
ACCESS: Open to all, but registration required

Meet the 24 LGBTIQ+ Women to know

In light of Lesbian Visibility day (April 26th 2021), we are honouring Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Non-Binary, Intersex, Queer, and straight ally women role models. 

To see our 24 LGBTIQ+ WOMEN HERE

The women on this list are all nominated by colleagues and members from the Workplace Pride community. Some companies have shared many names, and in one particular company, there was clearly a team effort to nominate the same colleague multiple times!  

The list is inspired by initiatives such as the “DIVA 100” and similar initiatives. As this is our first year, we are certain there are many great role models missing. So we hope that next year we’ll have a much longer and even more diverse list as well as representation for as many of our member organisations as possible. Having said that, let’s honour these fantastic women!

We encourage you to think of the LGBTIQ+ women and allies in your organisation and honour them too this week!

There are also various activities this week. In recognition of Lesbian Visibility Week, Workplace Pride is joining forces with our strategic partner, Catalyst for our latest “Keeping Members Connected” webinar entitled “Intersectionality – Rising to the challenge to be yourself at work” on the 29th of April. 

For a list of other activities by many organisations see: LVW EVENTS 2021 | Lesbian Visibility lesbianvisibilityweek.com 

Later in the year, as part of our Workplace Pride Leadership Awards Gala, we will also pay tribute to the entire LGBTIQ+ community worldwide. We want to use the same formula then; further information will follow later in the year.

IBM and Workplace Pride collaborate in LGBTIQ+ innovation

Although LGBTIQ+ people are protected by laws addressing employment and other forms of discrimination in a growing proportion of countries, there remain far too many LGBTIQ+ people around the globe whose rights are not protected. In many countries, LGBTIQ+ citizens are breaking laws just by being themselves. Even in legally progressive nations, many LGBTIQ+ people still feel that they cannot reveal their authentic identity in many professional, academic, and social settings.

To continue advancing inclusion and belonging for the full spectrum of the LGBTIQ+ community at work, home, and society at large, the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) is collaborating with Workplace Pride and Out & Equal to host a Global LGBTIQ+ Innovation Jam.

Registration will open on 29 March here.

Starting at 8am ET on Tuesday, April 13th and running continuously through until 5pm ET on Wednesday, April 14th, the Jam is a virtual, text-based event where thousands of business leaders; D&I experts; academics; and other allies will come together to explore the solutions to the barriers that still slow the advancement of LGBTIQ+ individuals in the workplace.

The Global LGBTIQ+ Innovation Jam is an open and inclusive forum for discussion and sharing around 7 important themes:

  1. Corporate & individual championship
  2. LGBT+ intersectionality
  3. Mental health
  4. Transgender and non-binary belonging
  5. Allyship
  6. Visibility and development
  7. Impact of technology

Register for the Global LGBT+ Innovation Jam and join the discussion – for a few minutes or for all 34 hours! Input from Jammers will be analyzed by IBM’s proprietary Innovation Jam® AI-enabled technology and the results may be used to inform an upcoming LGBT+ Leadership study that is being published in celebration of Pride Month in June.