Official Opening

IE University President Rafael Puyol, welcomed everybody, especially the sponsors of the Event: IBM, Berkana Library and idealista.com.  He also gave a special mention to the Managing Director of Finance for Madrid City Hall, Miguel Angel Villanueva, who addressed the attendees, talking about how Madrid is an open and diverse city.

Lola Martín RomeroLola presented an interesting description of different types of homophobia. It was very helpful in that she drew attention to the fact that for many members of the LGBT community, the situation at work was one of «not being excluded does not necessarily mean you are included».
With regard to trans-sexuality, she explained the new situation at work and the difficulties faced by transsexuals.  She described how among the younger generations those who have opted for their identity have paid a high price in that they had to renounce their education prematurely, and those who postponed the process renounced to be who they are.

María Giralt During her address on lesbian entrepreneurship Maria reflected on lesbian invisibility.  She feels that «As far as the market is concerned they do not exist».  For her, Bollo and Butter is not a business because she does not making her living from it. To her it’s a brand that represents the network and promotes it.
She also spoke about the net and the use of online social tools, and how important it is to use them to organize events.
To Maria Language is additional way to change this situation and has by naming of her company, Bollo and Butter . The choice of «Bollo» (Dike in English) is a clear demand and avant-garde wink, referring the name of a famous Fashion Fair in Berlin.
She also stated that «Corporations face a big challenge to create inclusive environments with a totally different language.»

Silvy Vluggen

• Diversity Network Groups (a.k.a. Employee Resource Groups)
  • 49 GLBT DNGs at IBM: 6 in Asia Pacific, 17 in Europe and Africa, 5 in Latin America and 21 in North America
• Monitoring Sexual Orientation
• Domestic Partner Benefits
• Out Executives
• Mentoring and Reverse Mentoring
• Straight Allies
• GLBT Leadership Pipeline Identification
• Transgender Workplace Transitions

These efforts have provided IBM with a series of awards and recognition, yet it would have not been possible if these strategies were not given full support by general management. This is not a HR initiative, it forms an integral part of the organization.

Angel García Recuero

Angel did an excellent presentation about the Absolut Bottle. To find out more about it go to the IE Marketing Blog where one of our professors tells the blog community all about it.