WorkPride day five: panel recap and best bits

The last day of WorkPride 2024, day five, brought together professionals, graduates, inclusive employers, and allies for a transformative day dedicated to advancing workplace diversity and inclusion.

Attendees engaged in discussions on inclusive leadership, the impact of immigration on the workforce, and bisexuality in the workplace, and many more topics. Read on to find some of the insightful, engaging quotes from the final day of WorkPride 2024.

Inclusive Leadership: Strategies for Success

Paul Wheeler, Kellanova:“It’s using your voice and the privilege that you have in the room to speak up and make it better for other people. But it’s also helping other people understand that just because I’m a gay man doesn’t mean that I represent everyone in the queer community.”

Luca Simonazzi, luluemon: “An authentic leader is also someone that is really himself or herself at work and is the same person at home... so they don’t show up with a mask and able to open their home to their team.”

The Impact of Immigration on the Workforce

Luiza Wilson, FINRA: “Immigration has long been a cornerstone of cultural and economic development. It shapes the dynamics of societies worldwide. It brings a myriad of skills, experiences, and perspectives to the workforce.”

Tim Barnden, Bates Wells: “One of the things that trans and non-binary people encounter is the difficulty where you have a disparity between someone’s documents and their gender identity. These are the kind of practical issues that trans and non-binary people are struggling with day in, day out, and an example of how complicated it can get when you add migration to the filter.”

Diversity in Media and Entertainment: Authentic Representation

Ben Hunte, VICE News: “The media has reach and impact. I know that the stories that I tell have the potential to create social change, and to help someone out there to at least acknowledge that they’re not alone.”

Char Bailey, Birmingham Pride UK (Ltd): “A lot of the time we’re hidden. We’re not amplified, we’re not promoted. But we do exist and it’s our job as people who hold intersectional identities to go out and find each other, to collaborate and connect, because we are here, and we do exist.”

Data-Driven Diversity: Utilizing Metrics for Progress