Of the 24 best companies for LGBTQIA+ people to work (2020, Glassdoor), 50% of companies were tech organisations. Join us for another meaningful Pride panel discussion, this time tackling the spectrum of LGBTQIA+ identities, why Tech is becoming a safe space for queer folk and the future of employee activism in this arena. Amplifying the voices of LGBTQIA+ leaders within technology and celebrating our uniqueness.
Discussion points: - The spectrum of LGBTQIA+ identities - Experiences of coming out in Tech - How to increase visibility and inclusivity in the office - Why tech? The new safe space for LGBTQIA+ people - The Netflix walkout – corporate protests in 2022 - Looking forward: the future of tech employee activism
Our panel:
Natasha Mallison (she/her) - Recruitment Consultant & LGBTQIA+ Lead @ Trust in SODA
Emre Celik (he/they) - Employee Relations Partner @ Google
Victor Moreno Alhambra (he/him) - Head of Engineering @ Her
Alex Reemet (they/he) - Engineering Manager @ Duffel
Emre Celik (he/they) Emre is an Employee Relations Partner at Google. In his role, Emre looks after the well-being of Google's employees - investigating possible discrimination, harassment and other workplace disputes where viewpoints have hardened. Emre supports different local LGBTQIA+ NGOs with career sessions, donation events and educational work. His focus areas are LGBTQIA+ youth education and educational work in soccer.
Victor Moreno Alhambra (he/him) I'm the Head of Engineering of (probably) the queer-est start-up you can find out there! My name is Victor Moreno and I have been coding since I was a pre-teen. I have been a technology enthusiast since I can remember, which pushed me to learn, try, build and ultimately pursue Computer Science as a profession, something that coupled with the fact that Spain at the time wasn’t the best market for it, ultimately lead me to leave Zaragoza (my hometown) for the lively Dublin first, the Netherlands after and, finally landed in the UK where I have been the last 6 years. I've spent the last 17 years working on IT and the last 6 supporting other engineers as a leader. I love building stuff and in the last years, I discovered that building processes, teams and groups of people to work towards a goal is as satisfactory as building a CDN (which I did).
Alex Reemet (they/he) I grew up in the countryside in a tiny Lil' country, thinking that LGBTQIA+ people are just in movies, and even then they’re the laughing stocks. I always stood out a bit, and it wasn’t until I was well into my adult years that I found out that regular people can be queer, too. Since then I’ve been on a self-discovery path, learning more about myself and the community at large. From participating in the pride parade and supporting queer-owned companies to volunteering with disadvantaged youth and donating to charities, I strive to help where I can. I come from poverty and a very conservative family, so now that I have the means I want to support those who are struggling as I have in the hopes they pay it forward one day. Well, the biggest hope is they wouldn’t have to - that we don’t have people struggling to live in the future.
Ever since I was young I had an interest in computers, and I ended up going to a vocational school taking computing and programming. One thing led to another and now I’ve been in development for over 10 years, almost 5 of those as a manager or tech lead. I’ve worked in companies from tiny startups to those with thousands of people, single-handedly built products that ended up bringing in millions and creating entire engineering departments, as well as working as an educator and doing ad-hoc courses teaching programming. I moved to London 4.5 years ago because I always wanted to visit it and just got an invite to do an interview. Ever since then I have learned about the LGBTQIA+ community in the UK, how companies work and what are the barriers for non-white, trans and non-straight people in the industry. I take an active part in the recruitment of whatever company I’m at, pushing for inclusive language and behaviour, as well as striving to reduce biases in hiring and employing people. As an example, I am currently driving an internship project in my current company to give opportunities for students or those doing a career change.
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