With over 3% of the UK’s population identifying as LGBTQ+ (ONS, 2022)—a number that continues to grow—it’s crucial that our workplaces evolve to become truly inclusive and supportive environments. Despite it being 2024, LGBTQ+ employees still encounter significant barriers and discrimination at work, a reality that urgently needs to change.
Creating an inclusive, safe workplace for everyone isn’t just a goal; it’s a necessity. But how can we achieve this? In our upcoming online session, we’re excited to feature ISS, one of Heart of the City’s Ambassador companies. Their Pride Employee Resource Group (ERG) will share first hand experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace and offer practical advice on how you can be an effective ally.
This session is an important opportunity to better understand the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ colleagues and learn actionable steps to champion diversity and inclusion within your organisation.
What to expect
ISS is a leading workplace experience and facility management company, operating in over 30 countries and with a workforce of 350,000+ people. We’re delighted to have members from ISS Global and UK ERG join us for this online workshop to share the extensive experience on LGBTQ+ and fostering diversity in the workplace.
In this session, the Pride ERGs will explore what it’s like to be a LGBTQ+ person in the working environment and give guidance on how to be an effective ally.
“Celebrating Pride is a strategic activity within our approach to diversity and inclusion (D&I) which is integral to our business purpose. We look forward to sharing with you our experience of what’s we can collectively do as businesses to support LGBTQ+ colleagues including our successes and learnings.” ISS Pride ERG
The Lunch and Learn will cover:
- Why it’s important to celebrate Pride
- Ways businesses can champion a diverse workforce
- Tangible actions all businesses can take, especially small businesses
- How a business can support the LGBTQ+ movement further
Agenda
- Heart of the City introduction (5 minutes)
- Presentation from ISS’ Pride ERG (25 minutes)
- Q&A and wrap up (15 minutes)
Speakers
Kat Parsons, Head of Diversity Inclusion and Belonging at ISS
Kat champions gender balance, pride, abilities, generations, culture, race and ethnicity as part of an inclusive and progressive workforce at ISS. As Diva Magazine’s Head of Diversity and Inclusion of the Year Award, one of WIHTL’s Women to Watch 2022, and one of Hive Learning’s Most Influential DEI Leaders in EMEA 2022, Kat’s experience and innovations have earned her a reputation across both the facility management industry and among D&I experts.
Arno Leijten, UK Pride ERG co-chair
Arno leads the UK Pride ERG alongside his role as Governance & Strategy Manager in the UK for one of ISS’ Global Banking Customers. The ERG brings together a diverse range of people and works to influence policy and culture in the UK and raise awareness of LGBTQ+ topics.
Ben Bolt, Global Pride ERG co-chair
Ben is the co-chair of the Global Pride ERG, alongside her day job as sustainability manager in the ISS UK Supply Chain & Procurement team. In her role as co-chair, she focuses on measuring ISS’ commitment as a business to creating an inclusive culture for LGBTQ+ colleagues and supporting teams in countries operating within challenging legal contexts.
How to Sign-up
You can sign-up for this Lunch and Learn via our Eventbrite page here.
Accessibility
We’ll be recording the session, and Foundation for Responsible Business members will be able to access a sub-titled video on the learning platform once published. If you’d find live closed captioning helpful on the day, please let the Heart of the City team know.
Find out more about Heart of the City via our website here, and take a look at our free Climate Action Toolkit, specifically designed to guide SMEs to net zero with practical resources.
