Putting Pride In Your Workplace
Olympic hero Nicola Adams, rugby legend Gareth Thomas and the TV star Michelle Visage have been named among the UK most inspirational speakers.
The trio are among a number of celebs to come out on top in a new poll by the country’s leading speakers agency.
Diversity And Inclusion Speakers Agency compiled the list ahead of Pride Month in June which offers an ideal annual opportunity for business leaders and their teams to reflect on how diversity and inclusion is handled and whether enough is being done.
Research on inclusion shows that there are still major issues with acceptance in the workforce, with Stonewall Scotland reporting, for instance, that 31% of LGBTQ+ employees do not feel they can be
themselves at work.
Some 53% report having experienced discrimination, such as being subjected to verbal or physical abuse or exclusion, with 12% believing that they were fired or dismissed because of their sexual orientation.
Similarly, a report published by the TUC in August showed that 19% of LGBT+ people had experienced verbal abuse at work – 5% said they had experienced physical violence.
Jack Hayes, founder and director of the Diversity and Inclusion Speakers Agency said: “It’s easy to pay mere lip service to subjects like inclusion and update policy documents, but sometimes action is required to inspire people into action.
“Booking an expert on diversity and inclusion can light a fire under the topic by challenging the prevailing thinking within an organisation’s workforce and bring it to life.
“We have a huge roster of experts available who are ready and able to relate their own experiences and offer techniques that can lead to powerful solutions to issues that might have been existing for too long.”
Based on extensive feedback from hundreds of events, the poll by Champions Speaker found the top 20 speakers on the issue are:
- Nicola Adams – first British boxer to defend their Olympic title in 92 years
- Kate Richardson-Walsh – Olympic Hockey gold medallist
- Mark Foster – former professional swimmer for Great Britain
- Matt Lindley- one of the first openly gay RAF pilots
- Gok Wan MBE – presenter of How to Look Good Naked
- Jonathan Lovitz – one of Business Equality Magazine’s ’40 LGBTQ Leaders Under 40’
- Charlie Martin – first professional transgender motorsport driver
- Gina Battye – psychological safety consultant and author of How to Beat the Biscuit Tin Blues
- Paris Lees – first trans columnist at Vogue
- Will Young – first ever winner of Pop Idol
- Gareth Thomas – for rugby player voted most influential gay person in the UK
- David Hull-Watters – national diversity award-winner and author of Never Blend In
- Martin Stark – founding CEO of World Gay Boxing Championships
- Yasmin Benoit – leading black British model and aromantic activist
- Bobbi Pickard – first openly transgender person at BP
- Jude Guaitamacchi – founder & CEO Trans+ Solidarity Alliance
- Urooj Arshad – leading Muslim LGBTQ+ rights advocate
- Micah Eames – former strategist at Accenture, delivered TED talk ‘How to Come Out at Work’
- Keegan Hirst – first British professional Rugby League Player to Publicly Come Out as Gay
- Tate Smith – legal secretary at Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher LLP
- Michelle Visage – Emmy-Winning Producer of RuPaul’s Drag Race
For more information, visit: https://lgbt-speakers.com/topics/pride-month-speakers
Image Source: Unsplash
