WorkPride Panel: ERGs and Their Work Year-Round
Join ERG leaders from across sectors to discuss the impact their groups have had on embedding inclusion culture within their businesses and the vital role they will continue to play in bringing employees together in these challenging times.
On this panel ERG leaders will discuss, on the one hand, how Employee Resource Groups are making the shift to support both individuals and the business within itself, and on the other hand, the importance of ERG in maintaining employee morale during a global pandemic.
In Partnership With
Speakers:
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Geff ParsonsManaging Director
Macquarie Group LimitedA Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, Geff has over a quarter of a century of experience in investment banking, based variously in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Amsterdam. He joined Macquarie in 2013 as a Managing Director in the EMEA region, and now focuses on structured risk mitigation and distribution, and key change management projects. Geff has also chaired the Pride (LGBTQ+) employee network group for over seven years, during which time it has grown to include (with allies) one-third of the ~2,000 staff in the EMEA region. Under his stewardship, Macquarie: • won the inaugural PinkNews’ Business Equality Award in October 2018, in recognition of its exemplary commitment to LGBTQ+ rights within its workforce, its customers and the business; and • has been named in the Top UK 100 Employers list by the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ rights charity, Stonewall, in each of its past four years of submission (2016, 2017, 2018, 2020). Individually, Geff’s passion for promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion and equality has resulted in his: • winning the award for ‘LGBT+ Inspirational Leader’ at the British LGBT Awards in May 2019; • being ranked in the top quartile of the global list of the Top 100 LGBT+ Executives in each of 2018 and 2019 (sponsored by the Financial Times and Yahoo Finance); and • being nominated for the award of 'Corporate Role Model' at the Pink News Awards in October 2018. Outside work, Geff acts as trustee for two important UK-based LGBTQ+ charities: GiveOut and Diversity Role Models. He is also a frequent speaker and writer on D&I-related matters. -
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Annie NewmanSenior digital content editor
GSKBeing able to make a difference to LGBT+ inclusion in the health & life sciences sector is of upmost importance to me. Having grown up identifying as gay, I like many in the LGBT community have had to deal with the challenges that that can bring but as an adult I am out and proud and passionate about doing what I can to help others. As the first female lead of GSK’s award-winning LGBT+ employee network group Spectrum, I feel privileged to be able to influence GSK’s LGBT+ agenda and to be in a position to support and be the voice for those within the organisation. During my involvement with Spectrum we have grown from strength to strength and I believe one of my biggest contributions to be enabling the community to connect better than ever before. I also see that through my day job as Senior digital content editor for GSK's internal and external corporate channels, I have been able to utilise my passion for bringing to life the diversity of employees across the company. As Company Director and Engagement lead for the Proud Science Alliance, a ground-breaking cross-company collaboration. I'm responsible for engagement across our member communities. To bring such a large and diverse group of LGBT+ employee groups together with one mission takes a robust strategy and great story-telling. It’s an honour to bring their stories to life and also to work across the organisations to ensure best practice is shared. I recently was named Role Model of the Year 2020 by Pink News. Over the past few years I have placed in the 2019 and 2020 OUTstanding LGBT+ Role Model list, LGBT+ future leader category and was a finalist in DIVA's Rainbow Honours LGBT Champion category. -
Lee PerryPrincipal Scientist | Leadership Team Member of Spectrum, GSK's LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group (ERG) | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion
GSKHello Everyone, I am a Principal Scientist at GSK with +30 years of experience working within the pharmaceutical industry – and have a strong background in Research and Development (R&D). In addition to my primary scientific role, I am an active Inclusion Champion and extremely passionate about driving Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace – and strive to create a safe environment where everyone feels empowered to bring their authentic selves to work. Through my DE&I work, I play an active role on our UK Leadership Team for Spectrum, GSK’s LGBTQ+ and Ally Employee Resource Group (ERG) – which aims to connect like-minded employees, provide support, and help our company shape a more inclusive environment for our LGBTQ+ community. I am also accountable as the corporate Lead for Pride & External Engagement, and through this role collaborate with organisations such as the Proud Science Alliance (PSA) who I have supported as their lead coordinator for public events, to facilitate an aligned approach for their partnership companies to be represented under one brand. For anyone unfamiliar with the PSA (www.proudsciencealliance.org); they are a collective of healthcare and life science sector LGBTQ+ networks, who work together to raise the bar on LGBTQ+ inclusion within their own organisations and in the sector as a whole. Externally, Caribbean carnival culture has always been a major part of my life – and for +10 years I was part of a team that managed one of the largest Trinidadian Mas Bands in Europe, in the parades at Rotterdam and Notting Hill Carnival; including the organisation of many cultural events, carnivals, parties, socials, live concerts and excursions. I now volunteer to support a smaller carnival charity group; sharing my experience to help them plan, promote and deliver fundraising events; and to raise their profile in the social events space. Please do reach out, should you wish to connect with me. For more information, visit: www.gsk.com/en-gb/responsibility/our-people/inclusion-and-diversity-at-gsk/ www.proudsciencealliance.org -
Pete HazellSupport Lead
Warner Bros. DiscoveryI've been working in the TV industry for over 25 years in various roles, including creating presentation schedules, writing continuity links and producing and editing programmes and trailers. Since June 2010 I've been working for Discovery, where I currently support the presentation scheduling department. I'm also one of the co-chairs for our UK Pride group. -
Victor GonzalezResourcing Officer
Fitch GroupVictor Gonzalez is a Regional Recruitment Leader with the Fitch Group/Fitch Ratings in New York. He partners with business leaders on talent acquisition; securing talented individuals for various businesses across the region and in multiple global locations, including the US, Canada and Latin America. Victor has experience in three core human resources functions: Executive Recruitment, Graduate/Campus Recruitment and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. He’s held various positions of leadership throughout his career spanning multiple industries, including financial services, consumer product goods and pharmaceuticals. He’s been a Diversity Leader for the Institutional Clients Group, Office of Diversity at Citi, Global Head of Campus Recruitment at MasterCard and Regional Head of Campus Recruitment at BNP Paribas, Unilever and Roche Pharmaceuticals. Victor is a graduate of New York University. -
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Laila (She/Her) HowardHead of Customer Success
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Kevin Brunk (he/him/his)Sr Financial Analyst
OracleKevin has worked in the tech industry for over 30 years in various roles relating to Accounting, Commissions and Finance. He was born and raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia but moved to Indiana where he graduated from Goshen College and thereafter began his professional career. He moved to Texas over 17 years ago to escape the cold weather of Indiana, where he now resides in Leon Valley (a suburb of San Antonio), with his partner Ruben, their three dogs, two cats and a raccoon. By day, he is a bi-lingual Financial Analyst for Oracle. But in his gay job, he is on the Oracle Pride Employee Network (OPEN) ERG Global Board as North America Region co-lead, and is also the OPEN San Antonio chapter co-founder and co-lead. He is also involved with all of Oracle's 8 other Diversity and Inclusion ERGs and holds the Treasurer role for 3 other local chapters. When not in a pandemic, he and his partner enjoy traveling, attending concerts and trying new restaurants. -
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Adam Martel (he/him)Learning Experience Designer
KlickFighting for amazing employee experiences by moonlight. Winning by creating diversity, equity & inclusion into all I do by daylight... I'm a builder by nature. First, of awesome experiences that empower employees to take charge of their development and career growth. With 10 years of experience in learning and development, I am a People expert who's created solutions for systems training, Customer Support functions, performance management, management skills, and DEI. I'm also a builder of spaces where everyone can be their authentic selves. It's important for me to be out and proud as a queer man, advocating for the development and fostering of an inclusive environment for the queer community in the workplace. I have experience creating an Employee Resource Group for members of the community, and promoting education on LGBTQ+ topics for all employees. While this may not be on the same level of a superhero who uses a fancy scepter to fight her enemies, it does mean I'm constantly curious and looking to collaborate with others - leaders, domain experts, HR professionals and DEI champions - to innovate and make work a better place to be for everyone. -
Ramses OlivaTransgender Inclusion Consultant
Lloyds Banking GroupRamses (ramses.uk) is a transgender educator, writer, and activist. His main objective is reshaping the way we talk about trans inclusion in the UK, and he's currently the Transgender lead of the Rainbow LGBTQ+ Network at the Lloyds Banking Group. He has been providing advice to several companies (including British Land, Khiel's, Hitachi) to improve transgender inclusion, championing LGBTQ+ equality in schools representing 3 million students, and his work has been featured on BBC, Gay Times, Metro, PinkNews, and BBC.
