Claudia Brind-Woody is the vice-president and managing director for global intellectual property licensing at IBM. She is also a senior advocate across many LGBTQ+ networks.
“We’re very fortunate here at IBM to have a DNA of diversity and inclusion,” she said in a video for the company while recounting IBM’s progressive history in the workplace. “In 1984, when the corporate leaders were discussing adding sexual orientation to our non-discrimination policy, the discussion was really pretty simple. One of our senior leaders said, ‘We want everyone to be able to succeed here.'”
At IBM, she has played a vital role in shaping LGBTQ+ diversity at the corporation with mentorship programmes and HR software.
“Mentoring and sponsors are significant in helping employees [excel within a company],” she told Business Insider. “This has been really key in creating greater diversity because it has helped train straight allies [of the community] and change the climate at other offices where LGBT+ rights and understanding is a bit more hard like India. We have straight ally classes that help this.”
IBM sponsors over 40 diversity network groups over 30 countries and has even influenced its partners to create more LGBTQ-friendly products and services and design programmes to promote diversity throughout their organisations.
Claudia is a board member at Out & Equal. She was also part of five executive individuals to be listed in the OUTstanding Hall of Fame for fostering workplace diversity and inclusion.
Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, IBM, LGBTQ+, telecommunications
Latest Tweets
Tweets by TwitterDev