Aviva Pride

Aviva Pride – being yourself at work

Recently celebrating its 10-year anniversary Aviva Pride is our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community which encourages an inclusive culture where everyone can bring their whole self to work and realise their potential. Our community of LGBT colleagues and straight allies gain opportunities to build their professional and support networks at Aviva, collaborate and share best practice with external partners and customers across a number of industries and help to recruit, develop and retain talent from the LGBT community.

Short Interviews  and quotes from Aviva Pride

Who are you?

Hi, I am Robert Gardner, a cis-gendered male and bi-sexual software engineer working within Actuarial Systems Support, and local lead for Aviva Pride in York.

Why are you part of the Aviva Pride network?

Because there is still work to be done to make Aviva a truly inclusive business for employees and customers of all backgrounds.

Favourite Aviva Pride moment?

In June (2017) we had our Ten Years of Aviva Pride celebration and York Pride parade on the same week. Our volunteers organised a huge charity bake-sale including stalls from Aviva’s women’s network, York Mind and York Pride.

People were encouraged to do one small thing to show support for LGBT issues, whether it was wearing our lanyards, changing their email signature to show they were out as an ally, or even just promising to have a conversation with a family member about LGBT issues. The York Pride parade on the Saturday was one of our biggest yet, and I was really proud of the hard work and support shown by our network.

What would you say to someone thinking of getting involved?

Just go for it! Email your local lead and ask about upcoming events that will need support or assistance.

“Hi, I am Daniel Clark-Bland, I work as a PMO Lead in the IT Transformation team.  It’s really important to me to work for an employer who recognises and celebrates our differences. Aviva empowers me to make a difference, I’ve done this through fundraising and community work as part of the Aviva Pride Network.”

“I’m proud to be a member of the Aviva Pride network. I believe that it is important to have senior leaders as role models who passionately believe in embedding and promoting a culture of inclusive diversity where everyone can bring their whole self to work to be the best person they can. I’m so pleased to be able to play my part and I actively encourage others to do the same, to collectively build on our fantastic legacy as a Pride network with our organisation.”

 Anthony Fitzpatrick - Employee Relations & Global Policy Lead

“Working for a company that demonstrates inclusion as one of its core values is very important to me. As someone in the LGBTQ community, I feel I work in an environment where I can bring my whole self to work, and that I have opportunities to grow in a diverse space. I have full backing from my manager to be part of Aviva’s Pride network, alongside my job, to help us in the journey to make Aviva better for our LGBTQ staff and customers. I really enjoy being part of a network alongside passionate and dedicated people.”

Sarah Hall – Business Intelligence Infrastructure Manager