SHI Pride Spotlight - Emily Thorne

Welcome to SHI Spotlight, a series dedicated to shining a light on our talented team at SHI UK.

To mark Pride Month 2023, we are running a special spotlight series celebrating our Pride allies and advocates.??

In this instalment, we speak to Emily Thorne - who is a Program Manager - Global Partner Programs at SHI UK - about inclusivity within SHI and beyond.

Read on to find out more about Emily:

Tell me about your role as a pride ally within SHI??

I am new to EMBRACE, having only recently joined the group. I believe everybody should be able to be who they want to be and to talk about it comfortably.?

Someone I used to work very closely with took a certain amount of time to be able to come out. I was one of the first few people she decided to tell. I felt very appreciative of that. It showed how the culture had changed at SHI for that to happen.

I think society is changing too, and we are becoming much more open and accepting.

That's one of the reasons that I joined EMBRACE in the first place.?

Would you say that SHI is inclusive??

Most definitely, yes. We have not just got EMBRACE; there's the Latin and Hispanic Group, there's the Black Culture Collective, and there's a new one called Thrive. We've got WiSH, and as a minority woman-owned business, we believe in promoting women into those high executive roles.?

It is good to see that SHI is open to so many different people.

How inclusive is the tech industry as a whole?

I think it's a mixed bag.?

There are always lessons to be learned. I think everybody grows as individuals, and we grow as companies.?

I don't pay much attention to whether the rest of the industry is leading the way, but I'd hope so. You know, many of our employees are nominated for the Women in Channel, and there are a couple of categories that include ‘Mental Health Champion’ and a whole company category on inclusivity. For certain individuals to be nominated for those categories is incredible.?

There's a huge number of us that have been nominated again and again every year, making that final’s list.

I think that just shows that we are one of the UK IT resellers that is leading the way.?

What sort of impact do groups like EMBRACE have?

One of the members of EMBRACE, who I'm quite close friends with, made the point that you can join anonymously. You don't have to if you don't feel ready to - for example, if you haven’t come out yet.

Having a group like EMBRACE gives people that voice. It's important not just in the tech industry but in all companies and all industries.