Netflix Pride@ Magic

What happens when a group of Pride leaders meet for the first time? Or more specifically, the employee resource group (ERG) leaders from Pride@ Netflix offices across Europe? The answer, dear reader, is MAGIC! Not the “sparkles and unicorns” kind of magic you’d probably expect, but the forging of beautiful personal bonds - the weaving together of several unique identities all passionately united by one single agenda: how can we better ourselves in our capacity as informed captains and spokespeople for our ERGs?!?

In my newly formed role as the EMEA-wide Pride@ Netflix leader, designed to be the connective tissue between each local office, I set out with a specific goal in mind: How do I shape a single day into a moment that will define the very essence of the Pride@ leadership in EMEA ? With separate offices opening off-shoots of the Pride@ ERG during or after the pandemic and everyone stuck in their own LGBTQ+ silo - this was something that we'd never had the chance to do before.??

Having been a Pride@ lead in both Singapore and Amsterdam, I’ve seen initiatives thrive and just as many fall flat - from a hundred people on a zoom drag show to single digit attendance at afterwork drinks. There’s no special recipe to a successful event, especially after Covid where the emphasis on work/life balance has improved and asking people to stay late after work for an event not specifically relevant to their day job is a challenge. So how could we capitalize on each other’s successes more often, without always feeling like we’re fighting a losing lip-sync battle??

What I’ve learned in my life and career to date is that the best way to work with someone, especially in this capacity, is to truly understand who they are as a human being. What challenges have they risen to, what broke them in the past, what inspires them to continue trying to achieve the remarkable? What we needed so desperately in the room that day was the perfect mixture of three essential ingredients:

1 - Complete vulnerability

2 - Radical honesty

3 - An innate desire to improve.

Those three elements were found in absolute abundance. My heart swelled when we began the day by reflecting on ourselves as children, seeing how far we’ve come from those children who felt different and misunderstood. A small glimpse into each other’s inner child broke any facade of ice and cut straight to the core of who we are and why we stepped up onto the runway to be the voice of our community. Narrowing down our wells and not-wells from our leadership to date was an opportunity to share our successes and areas where we failed to hit the mark. The commonalities were clear and when written down for us to quite literally read out loud so much more actionable - but mostly it was those missed opportunities for collaboration that hit home hardest. Additional guidance and inspiration from our internal Inclusion Strategy team and Pride@ Executive Ally helped further bolster our growing toolkits for success.?

This year we have a lot to look forward to in Pride@ Netflix EMEA. Our roadmaps are now much clearer and plans are afoot to hold EMEA wide educational and inspirational events - leads no longer have to exist in silos. We discovered which areas each lead felt unsupported and now have the ability to lean on each other whenever necessary. The role of an ERG leader is a somewhat thankless task. It’s one we take on in addition to our full-time job because we’re passionate about making a difference. For me, it’s knowing that any new LGBTQ+ employee to the company has a place they feel safe and welcomed. It’s being available as a sounding board to my creative teams when they’re approaching a sensitive topic they’d like to educate themselves on. It’s making sure in an ever growing conservative climate that the voices of minorities aren’t snuffed out. And it's knowing that if I have a positive (maybe even profound) impact on just one single person at an event, then the countless hours of organisation were worth it.

I applaud anyone who’s working tirelessly in this capacity and if I can give one piece of advice to those struggling alone - ask for help, find your community and promote the hell out of yourself.

“You alone can do it, but you cannot do it alone (Unknown).”?

Thank you again to aileen mcintosh , Brennan McKeag , Giuseppe Di Bella , Sohal Fakhri , Marouane Zemmouri , Melvin Salemink , Oscar San Nicolas Abad for carving out your precious time to attend on the day, without every single person in that room our plans going forward could be vastly different, and to our Inclusion Strategy ERG lead Tu??e Kayaalp Yesilyurt and Executive Ally Madeleine de Cock Buning for your invaluable and continued support and guidance. Bring on an inspirational and educational rest of 2023!