Breaking Barriers: From Awareness to Action

After the rain comes a rainbow. The rainy season could not prevent our effort and desire to spread the color of love for the community. 

Together with VietPride HCMC 2023, Vietnam Corporate Pride Network (VCPN), British Consulate General and KPMG Vietnam jointly organized the panel discussion “Breaking Barriers: From Awareness to Action” on 30 Sep 2023 at Grand Marina Saigon. This is also the first pride station on “The Journey of Pride” where we have memorable moments together with LGBTQ+ community and allies. 

The talk, moderated by Hao Tran – CEO of Vietcetera Media, evoked diverse perspectives of leaders in building a culture of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity (IDE) in the workplace. We were honored to welcome esteemed panelists: 

📍 Nick Herbert – Special Envoy of the British Prime Minister on LGBT+ rights 

📍 Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hang – Head of Performance, People and Culture, KPMG Vietnam & Cambodia 

📍 Michele Wee – CEO of Standard Chartered Vietnam 

📍 Renjith Varma – Director of ACCA Southeast Region. 

This event aims to raise awareness and better understanding IDE culture, identify some common unconscious biases, and refer to practical initiatives in corporations that promoted this culture.  

“It was a crime to be gay in my time”, said Mr. Nick Herbert. While some countries still criminalize same-sex marriage, he’s happy that Vietnam is not one of them. And although there’re still a lot of work to be done, change cannot happen in one night in every country. It’s a long journey that needs everyone, firstly from leadership, to take accountability.

Pride takes various forms in different countries but all of them match equally with LOVE – a powerful human emotion that allows us to celebrate who we are, to love someone unconditionally regardless of their sexuality or gender.