About last night

This “new normal” is really amazing – these days you can work around the globe without leaving the house. Last night I had the pleasure to hold an online Trans And Nonbinary Awareness session at global law firm Dentons. It was night-time for me since we broadcasted live to HR and D&I teams in Australia and New Zealand. Great turnout, great allies and enthusiastic faces on the call. I am very sure that these people will be fantastic in supporting transitioning persons at their firm in the future. Go ahead and keep being fabulous!

Unconscious Bias im Vertrieb – Workshop bei Vodafone

Unconscious Bias im Vertrieb… (k)ein Thema? Warum es absolut okay ist, Biases zu haben, aber wie man Schubladendenken überwinden kann, das habe ich gestern und heute gemeinsam mit meiner Kollegin Anna Engers und zwei großartigen Teams von Vodafone erforscht. Dankeschön an Kirsten Steinke, Rebecca Mattick und Ioana Ogreanu für die Einladung und die super Organisation! Es hat richtig viel Spaß gemacht mit Euch! 

How to create a safe and LGBT+ inclusive workplace – my session at Worldline Global

What a pleasure to speak about creating an LGBT+ inclusive workplace at Worldline Global today. It’s always fun and exciting to discuss gender inclusive language and terminology with diverse language backgrounds in the audience. This was quite a diverse 2-hour ride today, ranging from the history of diversity and inclusion in business to LGBT+ and trans-specific workplace topics. Thank you to Jennifer EVORA (She/Her) and Nathalie Ska for the invitation and thanks to the wonderful people at Worldline for their great contributions!

My first truly global speaking engagement

I’m very excited to be speaking live at the HLB International Global Summit tomorrow, talking about the business case for #diversity. 

What will happen during my session?

➡️ We will look at the history of diversity and inclusion in business (spoiler! It’s nothing new!).

➡️ I’ll provide an overview of the various dimensions of diversity (and yes, there are more than you might have thought!).

➡️ We’ll then look at the (business) drivers for diversity and inclusion. And there are plenty.

➡️ And finally we will look at possible solutions to overcome typical (maybe just perceived) barriers to ‘real’ diversity and #inclusion.

Marina Kooijmans (she/her), Julia Schneider, Petra Paulsen, Susanna Spada, and many more: many thanks for having me tomorrow (and on Friday!) and looking forward to a smashing session!

Some thoughts on ComingOut Day 2021

Today marks #ComingOutDay. Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans people who dare to do be out with regard to their sexual or romantic orientation and/or gender identity, either for the first time or as a repeated act for #LGBT+ visibility. But why is #ComingOut still important? Don’t we (LGBT’s) have what we want and need? Yes, in many countries LGBT+ rights are well advanced but not all of us around the globe have equal rights and equal treatment, whether by law or by society. 

A few facts:

❌ Homosexuality is still illegal in 35% of UN member states and fewer than 30 countries recognize same-sex marriage.
❌ Same-sex acts can still carry the death penalty in at least a dozen countries.
❌ In the EU one in five (20%) who were employed and/or looking for a job in the 12 months felt discriminated against for being LGBT+ in the past year. 

On the plus side:

✅ Eighty-one countries prohibit discrimination in employment because of sexual orientation
✅ 96% of Fortune 500 companies have LGBT inclusion policies that include sexual orientation; 94% have non-discrimination policies that include gender identity; 57% include domestic partner benefits and 71% include transgender-inclusive benefits.

But:

🏳️‍🌈 Fewer than 0.3% of Fortune 500 board directors were openly LGBT+ in 2020.
🏳️‍🌈 Almost half (46%) of LGBT+ workers in the United States are closeted in the workplace.
🏳️‍🌈 Nearly two thirds (59%) of non-LGBT+ employees believe it is “unprofessional” to “discuss” sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace – although they do exactly that when they mention their opposite-gender spouse or their own gender.
🏳️‍🌈 Employees report feeling exhausted from spending time and energy concealing their authentic selves: 17% from hiding their sexual orientation; 13% from hiding their gender identity. 
🏳️‍⚧️ And remember: living stealth is not an option for trans employees who wish to begin transitioning, unless they leave their current employers. For some trans people living stealth will never be possible.

So, coming out and being visible as LGBT+ is a significant statement and act against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. Because those who are out can pave the way for those who are not yet out but wish to take this step into the freedom of being their true selves. Let’s support them, all of us and everywhere.

Do cyclists have unconscious biases*? – Great live-and-in-person session with European Cyclist Foundation in Brussels

What a ride! Not only because of my excitement to get out of my home for a business occasion after a long time (and a tricky train journey with lots of unpleasant surprises, but hey, I don’t fly anymore, unless I really need to) for a live presentation in Brussels!

Many thanks to European Cyclist Foundation‘s CEO Jill Warren for the invitation to facilitate a session on Unconscious Bias and Gender Roles with ECF’s entire team in Brussels! Planned for 90 minutes, we ended up with over two hours of lively discussion which was especially exciting thanks to the multi-diverse backgrounds of your people. Keep on what you’re doing (and not only promoting cycling)!

(*) to answer the question: yes, they have, because we all have biases, and that’s totally ok. The question is what we do with them 😉

Dentons Celebrates International Transgender Day of Visibility – and I had the honor to make this video with them

Watch the video here.

Thank you, Dentons for celebrating #TDOV. This is a day to show that we are here, and that we are, in all our #diversity part of the (business) world and firms like you help make the (employment) world a better place for trans and nonbinary people. It was a great pleasure to make this video together with you, Romana Bruderer-Schwab and Nick Mott.

Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) 2021

On 31st March the world (well, hopefully at least as many people as possible), celebrate TDOV, the international transgender day of visibility.

TDOV is a day to show your support for trans and non-binary people. It aims to bring attention to the accomplishments of trans and non-binary around the globe while fighting discrimination and transphobia by spreading knowledge. TDOV is a day of empowerment and getting the recognition trans and non-binary people deserve.

What does this have to do with the workplace? What is trans anyway and what role does it play in professional contexts? Spoiler: a lot, and I invite you to learn about what trans is and how you can be an ally or how an employer can be trans and non-binary inclusive by – talking to me, or booking one of my workshops 🙂 

Geschlechtergerechte Sprache

Was ist eigentlich geschlechtergerechte Sprache? Ein Aufreger, “Gedöns” für viele, selbstverständlich noch für wenige. Aber was ist das nun genau? Und was ist geschlechtergerecht, -inklusive und -neutral und warum ist das wichtig?

Wenn auf Englisch jemand sagt “Draw a pilot”, werden die meisten einen männlichen Piloten malen. Der #genderpaygap besteht unter anderem, weil Frauen häufiger geringerbezahlte Berufe ergreifen als Männer. Wenn schon Spielzeug Rollenklischees zementiert (der rosa Puppenherd ist für “die kleine Hausfrau”, der Bub spielt mit Autos und Flugzeugen), wird das Fundament für #unconsciousbias gelegt. 

„Aus Gründen der besseren Lesbarkeit wird die männliche Sprachform verwendet. Sämtliche Personenbezeichnungen gelten für alle Geschlechter.“ – ist eine Kapitulation. Oder schlicht Faulheit.

“Über 100 Spitzenvertreter der Wirtschaft waren auf dem Gipfeltreffen”. Frauen? Sind mitgemeint. Aber gibt’s ja in der Vorstandsetage auch gar nicht. Höhö.

Eine Stellenanzeige muss heutzutage für “m/w/d” ausgeschrieben sein. Und dann steht im Text “Wir wünschen uns Damen und Herren, die…” 

Sie machen sich Gedanken über das Thema? Super, sprechen wir doch mal drüber!

Weltfrauentag 2021

Heute ist Weltfrauentag, oft höre ich “Wozu das Ganze?!”, deshalb hier ein wenig Historie:

1958 – Frauen dürfen ohne Zustimmung des Mannes Autofahren
1962 – Frauen dürfen ein eigenes Konto eröffnen
1977 – Frauen dürfen ohne Zustimmung des Mannes arbeiten 
1980 – Gesetz zur Gleichbehandlung am Arbeitsplatz
1986 – Bundesfrauenministerium wird eingerichtet
1993 – Heide Simonis wird erste Ministerpräsidentin
1997 – Vergewaltigung in der Ehe gilt als Straftat
2005 – Angela Merkel wird Bundeskanzlerin
2010 – Die Deutsche Telekom führt eine Frauenquote ein
2013 – #aufschrei
2016 – #frauenquote von 30% in DAX-Unternehmen
2016 – #neinheißtnein
2017 – #metoo
2020 – Mehrwertsteuersenkung für Menstruationsartikel

Und heute? Alles erreicht? Nein, denn…

…so lange Frauen die Angst vor sexuellen Übergriffen immer mitdenken,
…so lange bei einer Sexualstraftat die Rocklänge des Opfers diskutiert wird,
…so lange Frauen sich für ihr Äußeres rechtfertigen müssen,
…so lange das gleiche Verhalten einer Frau negativ und einem Mann positiv ausgelegt wird,
…so lange Frauen für gleiche Arbeit nicht das gleiche Geld verdienen wie Männer,
…so lange berufstätige Frauen sich sowohl fürs Kinderkriegen als auch für Kinderlosigkeit rechtfertigen müssen, und vieles mehr,

so lange brauchen wir den #weltfrauentag.