Accenture shows LGBT Pride during month-long global celebration

Accenture’s commitment to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees is a year-round priority, and June marks the month where we join in the celebration of LGBT World Pride. Our involvement with World Pride reflects our core values by raising awareness and educating employees about the LGBT community while supporting our LGBT people worldwide. World Pride events help increase engagement of our LGBT employees where we sponsor a Global LGBT Network and offer a support system for transgender employees.

“At Accenture, we believe that our strength is in our diversity, with each person bringing their distinct experience, talents and culture to the table,” said Chief Executive Officer Pierre Nanterme. “Providing a workplace of equality is fundamental to our core values and to who we are as a company. In this spirit, we strongly support our LGBT employees and are committed to educating all of our people about the LGBT community.”

On a global basis, Accenture focuses on programs and benefits in the areas of recruitment, training, equal treatment policies and professional development. We strive to provide identical employee benefits to same-sex and opposite sex partners in all countries where we operate and where permitted by law. In the United States, we also offer comprehensive health benefits for U.S.-based transgender employees.

In the Accenture 2011 Global Employee Survey, more than 3,000 people self-identified as LGBT.

Accenture sponsors LGBT Summit

The highlight of World Pride events is the 2012 Global LGBT Workplace Summit in London, July 5-6, which brings together people from around the world to consider ways to build greater equality in the workplace for LGBT people and their allies. Tennis champion Martina Navratilova, IBM Europe Chairman Harry van Dorenmalen and organizational consultant John Amaechi will be among the summit speakers.

Nominated by their peers for their leadership and contributions to LGBT issues and initiatives, about 40 Accenture employees are expected to attend the London event. As a sponsor of the summit, Accenture will co-host a plenary session with Eli Lilly. Accenture will also host a two-day training session for select LGBT Network leaders representing their geographies and an afternoon event for LGBT Leaders Learning.

Nellie Borrero, managing director-Global Inclusion & Diversity, will provide welcome remarks and Accenture people will present two workshops, “Telling it Straight: Talking about Straight Allies” and “Accommodating Transgender Employees in the Global Workplace.”  Accenture will also host a networking event for our clients attending the summit.

Donovan Muller, senior executive-Technology, says that attending the summit marks a first-time major milestone in 25 years at Accenture.

“For me, this event truly demonstrates Accenture’s global commitment to our LGBT community, giving me the opportunity to learn from this group,” he said. “I can take back these key lessons to help build and grow our local LGBT community so that we can make a real difference in growing our local business.”

Accenture introduces LGBT Award

As part of the World Pride celebration, Accenture has introduced the Skills to Succeed LGBT Award. Accenture and the Out & Equal organization created the Accenture Skills to Succeed LGBT Award this year to honor a non-profit group or non-governmental organization working to equip people in LGBT communities with workplace and entrepreneurial skills.

The LGBT Award is part of Accenture’s global Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship initiative to equip 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The winner will be announced at the Global LGBT Workplace Summit in July and the award will be presented by Chief Leadership Officer Adrian Lajtha.

Locally aligned

Local offices will run complementary events throughout June. Accenture in France will host 100 clients, employees and students from universities and trade schools at a breakfast meeting to discuss the theme “Why talk about sexual orientation in the workplace?” Bringing in the students will broaden the discussion and help attendees understand the expectations and perceptions of the next generation workforce on the subject.

Companies expected to participate include Orange, Sodexo, Alcatel, EDF, Randstad, TF1, Bouygues Telecom, Veolia, Renault and a French recognized association l’Autre Cercle. To help raise awareness and share best practices, diversity leads at these companies will answer questions posed by a journalist to explain their priorities and actions they have implemented to educate their employees on topics of LGBT diversity in the workplace.

During a subsequent workshop, 10 groups of 10 people will debate about topics such as:

•	How to get past stereotypes?
•	What is the internal LGBT networks’ role?
•	What is the importance of role models?
•	Information and training: how to speak about this topic in a professional environment?
•	How companies can further support equality for LGBT employees?

This event combines new ideas and best practices and helps support the growth of the LGBT community.

More information
LGBT at Accenture
Global LGBT Workplace Summit