Out & Equal hosted the Global Forum: Pride & Resilience on June 17 – a shared forum in light of Pride month which took the opportunity to merge our Brazil, China and India Forums to bring together leaders from all over the world. As the second installment of Out & Equal’s quarterly global forums, this quarter’s forum focused on Pride and Resilience and included simultaneous translation in Portuguese and Mandarin. The event brought together hundreds of LGBTQI+ and ally professionals from national and multinational companies, local advocacy groups, and non-profits from over 30 countries.  

The forum began with opening remarks from Out & Equal CEO, Erin Uritus, who spoke about the paths that LGBTQI+ leaders forge, the resiliency they have, and the future they are creating for more inclusive workplaces. Following Erin’s opening remarks, three keynote speakers from Brazil, India and China – Ana Flávia Silva Bezerra, Accenture; Pruthvi D R, Nokia; and Justine Hsu, Nike – shared their personal stories of their journeys and what it means to be resilient and live authentically. Out & Equal’s Managing Director and Chief Program and Partnerships Officer, Deena Fidas, hosted a session on storytelling and how LGBTQI+ people can harness the power of their own narratives as a tool for inclusion. Utilizing these learnings, attendees broke out into small groups to engage in peer-to-peer workshopping of how our stories fit into the workplace, what we need to feel safe to share those parts of ourselves, and what impact we can create by fostering connection and empathy through storytelling.  

The Global Forum presentation can be downloaded here.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FORUM