Event report
Edition III : LGBTQIA - Social Acceptance and Inclusion in the Workplace
IFCCI organized the 3rd Edition of our Annual webinar on LGBTQIA - Social Acceptance and Inclusion in the Workplace in co-partnership with Capgemini
The Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI) organized the 3rd Edition of our Annual webinar on LGBTQIA - Social Acceptance and Inclusion in the Workplace. We were very pleased to partner with Capgemini and had strong support from the Consulate General of France in Mumbai and Alliance Francaise de Bombay.
To welcome the participants and to kickstart the event, Ms Shweta Pahuja, Regional Director (w.e.f 1st April), IFCCI mentioned that a diverse workplace with an inclusive culture has become a business imperative and it is great to see how many of our member companies here have adapted and are willing to share the steps taken to make a workplace more inclusive and safe for the community.
Mr Sami Buakaze, Deputy Consul General, Consulate General of France in Mumbai give an introduction on LGBTQIA and the steps taken in France to make the environment for them more inclusive. He mentioned how important it is to recognise the rights of the LGBTQIA people, Facilitate access to their own rights, Fight against discrimination/violence and anti LGBT groups and making more informed ways to improving their lives. He concluded saying the the community is here to stay and sexuality is not a choice, its who we are.
Mr Sanjay Chalke, Executive Vice President & India Head Sogeti - Capgemini Group Company mentioned how important it is to talk more about LGBTQIA and to promote awareness within organizations. He said that in his organisation they are even reviewing even job descriptions to make it sound more inclusive by gender-neutral language and make sure that they have days to celebrate the community. They also give medical support not only for the employee but also their partner.
The event had 2 panel discussions with a great line up of speakers :
Panel 1 # : LGBTQIA: Transformation towards social acceptance.’
- Payal S Kanwar, Director General, IFCCI (moderator)
- Adv. Siddharth Batra, Advocate-On-Record, Supreme Court of India
- Sameer Samudra, Petitioner of same sex marriage
- Radhika Piramal, Executive Director & Vice Chairperson, VIP Industries Limited
In this panel discussion, there were speakers from the community that work relentlessly towards helping the society become more inclusive and creating awareness within their workspace. We also spoke about the legal framework and the difficulties faced by the community despite of Section 377.
Panel 2#: Equal Opportunity and Inclusion of the LGBTQIA community in the Workspace
- Veena Gopalakrishnan, Partner, Trilegal (moderator)
- Swati Sharma, Assistant Director - Talent & Culture, Operations Support, Accor Group
- Diego Miranda, Founder, Bombay Nazaria
- Aarti Srivastava, Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) India, Capgemini Megha Goel, Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO), Godrej Properties Ltd.
- Bhawna Khurana, Country Human Resources Manager, Louis Vuitton
In this panel discussion, the focussed on the social responsibility for the people within the LGBT Community & shed light on what organizations are doing to help foster more visibly welcoming, safer, supportive, and promising environment for every individual to be themselves and feel inclusive in their space. It evoked new ideas and innovative thoughts on a range of opportunities and policies that companies can adopt for the LGBTQIA community.
This session was extremely interactive and appreciated by all.
