Inclusive culture and being Queer at AB InBev

Jessica Reddy, FTL graduate and now a Key Account Manager within Travel Retail business, spoke to myGwork about the inclusive culture at the multinational drink and brewing company. She also provided a fascinating perspective of her experience identifying as a lesbian at University College London, and the efforts made by the university to ensure students felt respected.

 

 

Please introduce yourself, the name of your organization and the university you attended.   

I am Jessica Reddy, I am currently working as a Key Account Manager at AB InBev, and I attended University College London (UCL).   

 

Do you feel your university supported LGBTQ+ students?

Absolutely. To be honest, when I started university, I was still confused about my sexuality. However, I was very lucky that the University was a true advocate of the LGBTQ+ community, which took some pressure off my personal struggles. I chose to join the Hockey Team in my first year, and from the start, the Sports Community made a real effort to show their support for LGBTQ + rights. We had to sign a pledge in support of non-discrimination against any marginalized groups. Moreover, every PRIDE and PRIDE History month was celebrated in style e.g., specialized lectures, discussion groups and parties.

The positive attitude and inclusion of the students made the largest impact. Nonetheless, UCL ensured all students were respected and I personally believe the below highlights this: 

• Free psychological support for those in need 
• LGBTQ+ Networks 
• All clubs and society upheld diversity and inclusion standards 
• Appropriate measures were taken if there was any form of discrimination 

London as a city was very progressive, but unfortunately, it was not all rainbows and sunshine. As a lesbian sometimes you can be sexualized, which is very uncomfortable and doesn’t make you feel safe. Here you can also see the intersectionality with sexism. Therefore, having the University and Sports community around made me feel safer and more supported. Overall, I feel very privileged to say being LGBTQ+ was not only normalized for me but celebrated.  

 

How optimistic were you about LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace?

After University I was lucky enough to secure a graduate job at AB InBev, for which I had to move to Prague, Czech Republic. So, for me I had two matters to consider: 1) What would coming out in the workplace be like? 2) What was it going to be like being LGBTQ+ in the Czech Republic?

I was relatively apprehensive; I knew that Gay Marriage had not been legalized in the Czech Republic so I had the assumption it would not be publicly accepted either. Furthermore, going into the workplace as an ambitious young woman I had concerns if people knew I was LGBTQ+ and were not accepting that I could be discriminated against or not accredited for good work. Even though I knew it felt wrong to not be fully open about myself, I wanted to understand the new surroundings and culture before I felt comfortable opening up.

When I arrived, I was only aware of one openly LGBTQ+ high leader within the organization.  It was great to have one person to look up to, however, one person did not seem like an accurate representation of the general population. But this was enough for me to open up with my colleagues that I had built up a relationship. Everyone that I came out to was very supportive and this was a catalyst for me to be more open and proud.

Even though Gay marriage is still not legalized in the Czech Republic, it is more open-minded than I imagined, and you can feel very comfortable as part of the LGBTQ+ community. On top of this, there were many more amazing LGBTQ+ individuals and supportive allies than I first thought, and through networking, joining Diversity and Inclusion groups and interviews like myGwork I felt delighted to work in such an inclusive company. Now I don’t even ‘come out’ to people.    

 

Do you feel inspired by an LGBTQ+ role model?

There are lots of inspiring LGBTQ+ role models, however, what is the most inspiring to me, is every person that has the courage to be open about being LGBTQ+ and ensures they act in a way that might inspire others to do so. Representation really does matter.   

 

Are there any LGBTQ+ networks within your organization?

At AB InBev we have an extensive Diversity and Inclusion channel that filters through the whole organization. However, pioneering the way is ‘PROUD’ in the UK. I asked my Colleague Andrew Harrison, who is part of the group to explain more.

“In the UK, they have multiple Business Resource Groups (BRG’s) with the PROUD group focusing on LGBTQ+ inclusion through 3 focus areas: internal engagement, external engagement and diversity development. They have an annual partnership with the charity Stonewall who assess how inclusive they are, providing feedback on where the business can improve. This is relayed to the people team and the group builds an annual plan on how to improve based on this feedback. They have also just announced an official charity partner, Not A Phase, who they hope to be working with more closely in 2023, supporting the trans community.”

 

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