it@cork panel discussion at Work with Pride 2022 Diversity & Inclusion Conference
The importance and benefits of Allyship in an organisation and how to best succeed
28th July 2022
In support of Cork Pride this year, it@cork is excited to announce that we will be collaborating with the Work with Pride team on the 2022 Diversity & Inclusion Conference in Cork City Hall.
During this free event which is not to be missed we will be hosting a panel discussion on: “The importance and benefits of Allyship in an organisation and how to best succeed.”
Allyship is crucial for corporate diversity circles as it encourages support for colleagues as well as creating a positive and inclusive work environment. During this session we will be discussing what allyship actually is? How does one do it well? How can companies implement allyship in a work environment? Each of the expert panellists will be sharing their stories of how they have created successful allyship and inclusion programmes within their own organisations. They will be sharing their knowledge and tips on how best to promote and ensure inclusion for all employees. This event will be motivating, insightful, energetic, and informative.
Panellists include:
- William Organ, Senior Analyst at PepsiCo
- Caroline Spillane, HR Operations Manager at TELUS International Ireland
- Shane McCarthy, Senior Director, Global Strategic Sourcing & Operations at VMware
And our MC is:
- Liz McCarthy, Head of marketing at Voxxify
Work with Pride 2022 Diversity & Inclusion Conference is a free hybrid event that will take place in Cork City Hall on 28th July at 09:30am, however registration is essential.
Please click on the following link for to get your ticket: Work with Pride 2022 Tickets
Overview of panellists
William Organ, Senior Analyst at PepsiCo
William Organ is one of the founders of the Irish branch of PepsiCo’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group EQUAL, and is currently one of three co-chairs of the group. EQUAL Ireland began in the Cork PepsiCo campus in 2018 as a grassroots effort from Wil and two other passionate employees. It is now grown to one of three major employee resource groups with a committee of 20 people across 5 Irish PepsiCo sites. Outside of this work, Wil works as a senior Quality scientist specialising in flavour ingredients for all of the major PepsiCo brands, as well as leading functional organisational health projects. He hails from Dungarvan, Co. Waterford but currently lives in the east Cork countryside with his husband Patrick.
Caroline Spillane, HR Operations Manager at TELUS International
Caroline Spillane is a HR Operations Manager supporting the TELUS International team in Ireland. Caroline is a qualified in Employment Law with the Law Society of Ireland, holds a BA in HRM from Cork MTU and is a qualified mediator with the Mediators Institute of Ireland. Caroline is also about to commence a MSc in Organisational Psychology with the University of Limerick.
Caroline has huge interest and passion in the benefits of employee engagement, diversity and inclusion. Over the last number of years, she has lead initiatives that create a more inclusive environment such as heading up Connections, the TELUS International Women’s Network and the Professional Parents Network. Caroline has recently worked closely with the TELUS International transgender team members researching, designing and publishing the Company’s Transgender Support Process, to ensure team members transitioning are supported in a meaningful way by the company throughout.
Caroline has most recently been the Irish Lead for our first ever internal Global Diversity and Inclusion “Luminary” awards, working in partnership with the company’s global LGBTQ+ team Spectrum, which recognises allies, diversity focused leaders, mentors, champions of diversity and much more on a global platform placing diversity and inclusion at the top of TELUS internationals Strategic Agenda.
In her personal time, Caroline supports the Jack and Friends centre for Autism in Bandon, Co. Cork which was established by her family in 2019 supporting parents and children with intellectual disabilities.
Shane McCarthy, Senior Director, Global Strategic Sourcing & Operations at VMware
Shane McCarthy is a Senior Director in the Global Strategic Sourcing & Operations organization at VMware. VMware “prides” itself in its Power of Difference communities (PODs); employee-driven groups that help drive representation, amplify the voice of underrepresented groups, and foster our inclusive culture.
As part of the global PRIDE POD, Shane is co-lead of VMware Ireland’s Pride Pillar. The highlight of last year’s Pride Month was Shane’s interview with Sergeant Richard Muldarry of the Irish Defence Forces who joined us live from Lebanon. Defend With Pride is a support network for gay members of the Defence Forces and others in the military who need advice and support on LGBTQ+ matters.
Shane hails from Tallow, County Waterford and has been living with his family in Watergrasshill, County Cork for the past 17 years. He spends most of his spare time coaching hurling and football in his local community.
Liz McCarthy, Head of marketing at Voxxify
Liz is the head of marketing with Voxxify, a Cork based startup that turns IT user experience sentiment into powerful decision-making insights. Previously, she founded and led the development of Scale Ireland, the representative body for Ireland’s startup community. Prior to setting up Scale Ireland, Liz played a leadership role in the development of startup hub Dogpatch Labs where her Diversity and Inclusion work achieved the Google for Startups Global D&I award. Liz has an MSc in Local Economic Development (summa cum laude) from the LSE and has lots of volunteering experience in economic and community development.
More a about Work with Pride 2022 Diversity & Inclusion Conference
The Cork LGBT+ Pride Festival is delighted to present its annual Diversity and Inclusion Conference, Work with Pride which will run as a key event during the week long series of Pride events.
Work with Pride are delighted to welcome attendees from over 30 companies and organisations who are all invested in creating and maintaining a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) inclusive workplace. In the last 15 years, organisations right across all sectors have made huge strides in supporting those LGBT+ employees and creating an inclusive workplace. Cork Pride began facilitating site specific D&I training events at our key partners’ locations some years ago as part of our corporate partners bespoke suite of benefits, and these events have been hugely successful in creating social and business networking interactions, and has also suggested that there is an appetite to augment and amplify these talks into a conference, and to establish a network of Cork Pride Partners; the Work With Pride D&I Conference is our response to this demonstrable need.
The research also shows this, according to Erin Uritus, CEO of LGBT+ workplace advocacy non-profit Out and Equal, “Companies are urgently interested in making sure that they understand and support our community”. Cork Work With Pride D&I Conference also aims to further drive positive change by exploring what behaviours, attitudes and actions make both allies to LGBT+ colleagues and allies within the diverse LGBT+ community successful. Speakers will explore and highlight innovative approaches and policy that can be replicated and amplified throughout the workplace and beyond, and hope to equip and inspire attendees to become agents of change in their own organisations.
Creating true inclusivity in the workplace for LGBT+ employees will require a combination of actions some aimed at creating diversity and others focused on fostering inclusivity. Organizations need to embrace an appreciation of differences while promoting an inclusive and welcoming work environment.
