PrOut @ Work Foundation

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The PrOut @ Work-Foundation (PROUT AT WORK) is a non-profit foundation under civil law that promotes equal opportunities for people of all sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace and the reduction of homophobia , biphobia , transphobia and interphobia in the world of work. It is based in Munich.

PROUT AT WORK is founded by two natural persons, Albert Kehrer and Jean-Luc Vey, as well as 8 companies: Accenture , BASF , Commerzbank , Deutsche Post , Deutsche Telekom , IBM , SAP and White & Case .

history

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In the mid-2000s, networks of lesbians and gays began to be established in companies in Germany. In 2005, the first LGBT * employee networks from companies in Frankfurt exchanged ideas in order to strengthen each other. The idea quickly arose that this networking should be professionalized and that those involved in other companies should be given assistance in setting up a network. It was believed that not every network has to reinvent the wheel, but rather that everyone could learn from one another. Regular meetings arose from the first discussions, at that time very strongly supported by the Völklinger Kreis eV and the Wirtschaftsweiber eV Thanks to the help of these two organizations, the idea was able to grow over almost eight years (according to the 2014 activity report).

Various smaller events have been carried out on a purely voluntary basis over the years. The demand for support and networking of LGBT * IQ networks in companies has increased over the years, so that the work previously carried out on a voluntary basis was no longer affordable. The establishment of a foundation should help establish the idea sustainably. With effect from December 4, 2013, at the instigation of the initiators and idea generators Albert Kehrer and Jean-Luc Vey, the PROUT AT WORK Foundation was founded with the support of eight companies and the aim of "overcoming discrimination against LGBT (IQ) people on Workplace as well as promoting their equal opportunities ".

Foundation purpose

The purpose of the PROUT AT WORK foundation is to promote public and vocational training as well as science and research. The commitment to a non-discriminatory, open world of work and the dismantling of homophobia happens, among other things, via

  • Press work, campaigns and events,
  • the commissioning and publication of studies,
  • the publication of guides and information material
  • and the exchange and cooperation with professional LGBT * IQ networks.

Foundation assets and financing

The foundation's assets amounted to EUR 50,000 when it was founded. In the meantime, additional small donations have been made so that the foundation capital (as of December 31, 2018) has risen to EUR 60,500.

The foundation's business and projects are not financed through the income from the foundation's assets, but rather through the so-called PROUTEMPLOYER cooperation, a model with which companies undertake to transfer an annual amount to the foundation. After initially 9 supporting companies in 2014, there are now 46 companies (according to the 2018 activity report) that have committed themselves to the foundation and the topic.

organs

The foundation's committees are the foundation board and the foundation advisory board.

In April 2020, the board consisted of Albert Kehrer as executive chairman and Jean-Luc Vey as deputy.

Foundation projects

Recommendations for action for employers

Part of the work of PROUT AT WORK is the publication of recommendations for action, so-called How tos, the companies and committed people possible solutions for the implementation of LGBT * IQ-inclusive HR processes. PROUT AT WORK has already published recommendations on the following topics:

  1. Implementing Marriage for All into Business
  2. UN LGBTI Standards of Conduct for Business
  3. Gender sensitive language
  4. Guide for employers to implement LGBT * IQ diversity
  5. personal coming-out at work
  6. LGBT * IQ allies
  7. The 3rd option and its implementation in the company

Events

The foundation organizes events of various formats in order to fulfill its purpose. The respective formats are designed for different target groups:

PROUT AT WORK conference

The conference with approx. 180 participants takes place annually in October. The target group are those involved in LGBT * IQ corporate networks and those responsible for diversity. Every year the conference has a specific motto. The event takes place in a different city every year.

ToGatherings

In six cities (Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Zurich), regional network meetings are usually held every quarter. These so-called ToGatherings serve to network the committed people from LGBT * IQ networks in companies. During the after-work events, there will be a mini-workshop on topics chosen by the participants.

Deep dives

Under the name Deep Dive, PROUT AT WORK organizes one-day workshops on a specific topic of LGBT * IQ diversity. In a group of 20–30 people, solutions for companies are to be developed which - in line with the foundation's purpose - improve equal opportunities for LGBT * IQ people in the workplace. Various of these workshops have resulted in publications by PROUT AT WORK (see recommendations for employers):

  • Third option
  • UN LGBTI standards
  • LGBT * IQ allies
  • LGBT * IQ business case

Dinner beyond business

The so-called Dinner Beyond Business has taken place once a year since 2016. The target group are board members from companies. A top-class speaker will speak during the evening event:

Awards

LGBT * IQ Awards

In 2018, the PROUT AT WORK Foundation launched the LGBT * IQ Awards! As the first award of its kind in Germany, it recognizes the work of LGBT * IQ networks in companies that are particularly committed to this topic in the workplace and show commitment every day to promote a diverse, open and tolerant work environment! The awards are in three categories: Big Impact Initiative Award for networking, which has a clearly positive effect on the climate of openness for LGBT * IQ people in the company, the Rising Star Award for newly founded networks with an innovative approach, and the Global Leader Network Award for networks that want to make the world a better place for LGBT * IQ people with their commitment.

Prize winners in the categories were:

  • 2018 : Network GLOW from Sandoz (Rising Star Award), Network RBg from the Bosch Group (Big Impact Initiative Award), Network PRIDE at Accenture (Global Leader Network Award)
  • 2019 : Network MORE * Queer @ OttoGroup (Rising Star Award), Network be.queer LGBTIQ and allies at Bertelsmann (Big Impact Initiative Award), Network dbPride - LGBTQI Network Deutsche Bank (Global Leader Network Award)

Top100 Outexecutives

GERMANY'S TOP 100 OUT EXECUTIVES is a project that makes lesbian, gay, bi *, trans * and inter * people visible in the world of work. Since 2018, the TOP 100 OUT EXECUTIVES list has shown executives who are queer and have professional success. They are active role models for the LGBT + community in the world of work and are thus responsible for LGBT + equality.

In 2019, the project was expanded to include the list of TOP LGBT + VOICES. As LGBT + theme drivers, they not only stand up for more LGBT + equality in their own right, but are the voice and representative for their queer colleagues.

Similar lists can already be found in the US and UK. However, GERMANY'S TOP 100 OUT EXECUTIVES is the first list of its kind in Germany and makes out LGBT + from the economy more visible as proud role models.

The list, which was designed for the German region, was particularly well received in the press in its second year in relevant German business magazines such as Handelsblatt , Capital and Business Punk .

Political work

Although PROUT AT WORK is committed to supporting LGBTIQ diversity in companies, points of contact with political issues arise in their work. The existing and intended legal requirements for companies through the respective legislation have an impact on the framework conditions for employees in the companies and also on the work of the foundation:

Position paper blood donation

To this day, gay, bisexual and trans * men are in fact not allowed to donate blood . Who is allowed to donate blood under what conditions is regulated by the "Hemotherapy Guideline" of the German Medical Association. In its requirements for donors, this states that “people whose sexual behavior poses a significantly higher risk of transmission of serious infectious diseases that can be transmitted by blood, such as HBV, HCV or HIV, compared to the general population” are excluded from donating blood for a period of 12 months become.

This includes “heterosexual persons with sexual risk behavior, e.g. B. Sexual intercourse with frequently changing partners, people who offer sexual intercourse for money or other services (e.g. drugs) (male and female sex workers), men who have sexual intercourse with men (MSM) and transsexual persons with sexually risky behavior ”.

If heterosexual persons are allowed to suspend blood donation for one year only if their sexual partners change frequently, the deferral period applies to gay and bisexual men as well as trans * persons who are (still) legally men and who have sex with men without Ifs and buts.

As a foundation for more LGBT * IQ equal opportunities in the workplace, it is a think tank and advisor for a large number of companies with regard to LGBT * IQ diversity. They see it as their responsibility to offer their employees an open and multifaceted working environment that recognizes and promotes their individuality and diversity as valuable. You consciously stand up against prejudice and discrimination - regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic, cultural or social origin, religion and worldview, physical or psychological possibilities, age, sexual orientation and gender identity.

As part of their social responsibility, the same companies regularly offer blood donations on their own premises and also invite their employees to donate blood. However, due to the haemotherapy guideline, gay, bisexual and trans * employees are stigmatized and excluded at regular intervals. This fact brings companies into the conflict between having to weigh their social responsibility and protecting their employees against discrimination. Should your own employees be openly exposed to this discrimination? Should blood donations no longer be offered on your own premises in the future?

In the context of this conflict, companies in the German economy have joined forces with PROUT ATWORK and demand an end to discrimination from decision-makers with a clear stance.

Especially in times when the acquisition of blood donors is increasingly becoming a challenge, the foundation and the companies see an expansion of the donor group as a target-oriented solution. But not only efficiency should be in the foreground - but above all humanity. The exclusion of gay and bisexual men and trans * people from donating blood is disproportionate to the desire to keep blood reserves as pure as possible.

PROUT AT WORK therefore calls for a modernization of the blood donation guidelines with a clear decision against stigmatization and for inclusion and demands that the German Medical Association and other responsible actors change the guideline on hemotherapy in order to exclude gay and bisexual men and trans * people.

Third option

On November 9, 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) ruled that people "who permanently neither belong to the male nor to the female gender" are entitled to a positive gender designation. Even if the law does not require business or administration to comply with the third option, there are overlaps with labor law, which makes a legally compliant implementation extremely difficult for employers.

PROUT AT WORK tries to educate politicians about the need to clarify labor law issues, to remove legal uncertainty for companies and to get them closer to their goal of creating an LGBT * IQ inclusive job.

Networking

In Germany

In Germany, PROUT AT WORK is networked with the organization for human and civil rights for the LGBT * IQ community, the LSVD , as well as with the two professional associations for lesbian and gay specialists and managers in Germany: Wirtschaftsweiber eV and Völklinger Kreis eV

In addition, PROUT AT WORK is part of the Regenbogenstiftungen , an association of foundations in Germany that are active in the LGBT * IQ sector.

International

  • Stonewall (UK)
  • Workplacepride (Netherlands)
  • Parks (Italy)
  • The Pride Circle (India)

Web links

Mentions in the press

Press response to the position paper on blood donation

Press coverage of the Top100 Outexecutives

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Foundation Locator - Prout @ Work Foundation. Retrieved June 9, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b Downloads | PROUT AT WORK. Accessed June 10, 2020 (German).
  3. ↑ Jens Schadendorf: The rainbow factor. Gays and lesbians in business and society - from outsiders to self-confident top performers. 1st edition. REDLINE Verlag, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-86881-527-6 , pp. 178 .
  4. ↑ Purpose of the foundation | PROUT AT WORK. Accessed June 9, 2020 (German).
  5. ↑ Prof. Dr. Dominc Frohn: Out in the office ?! Sexual identity and gender identity, (anti) discrimination and diversity in the workplace. 2017, accessed June 16, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Committees | PROUT AT WORK. Accessed June 9, 2020 (German).
  7. ↑ HOW TO: GUIDES | PROUT AT WORK. Accessed June 10, 2020 (German).
  8. ↑ LGBT * IQ Awards | PROUT AT WORK. Accessed June 10, 2020 (German).
  9. ↑ be.queer videos win BIG IMPACT INITIATIVE from the PROUT AT WORK foundation. Retrieved June 16, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Out Executives | GERMANY'S TOP 100 OUT EXECUTIVES is a list of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans * and intersex executives who are outed and who are professionally successful. Retrieved June 10, 2020 (American English).
  11. ↑ GERMANY'S TOP 100 OUT EXECUTIVES. Retrieved June 16, 2020 .
  12. ↑ QUEER.de - The top 100 outed executives in Germany. Retrieved June 16, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Team.com - These are the German Top 100 LGBTIQ Executives. Retrieved June 16, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Position paper blood donation | PROUT AT WORK. Accessed June 9, 2020 (German).
  15. ↑ Rainbow Foundations | an amalgamation of queer foundations. Accessed June 10, 2020 (German).