Complete workplace belonging – my career with Sodexo

This year I will celebrate 10 years working at Sodexo. I remember that when I just joined the company my colleagues asked me about my personal life, I wasn’t sure whether to be completely open at first but after a week or two I felt certain that it was a safe environment and shared that I am homosexual.

My colleagues have always been really respectful and supportive, I have never had to hide my sexual orientation and am able to bring my whole self to work each day.

Joining a company which shared my values

I joined Sodexo as a Senior Market and Research Analyst in Bogota two years after graduating as an Industrial designer, specialized in Marketing. I had learned about Sodexo through one of my friends who spoke highly of the company values. I enjoyed this role but was eager to continue to grow and develop my career whilst also being very interested in community issues. My boss supported me to take my next step to become Sustainable Development Head for Colombia.

I was an active member of Stop Hunger, but I had a lot to learn in this role. I learned a great deal on the job in the first two years then also returned to university for one year to study Corporate Social Responsibility to consolidate my knowledge.

In the meantime, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D, E & I) department became part of my scope too. I quickly discovered that D, E & I was my passion. It was the best thing that could ever happen to me because it gave me the opportunity not only to be an activist in my personal life but also in my professional one.

In 2018, I was able to focus purely on Diversity and Inclusion in a new role which empowered me to change company policies in Colombia as well as the mindset of employees.

Due to the pandemic, I then took back the responsibility of Sustainable Development for Colombia, but also for Panama and Costa Rica, and stayed in charge of D, E & I for Colombia. 

Tearing down barriers to employability

What I enjoy the most about my current role is being the link between the senior leaders of Sodexo and the people on the ground, to understand their lives and the barriers that stand between them and a formal job, and then to work on strategies to tear down those barriers and stereotypes.
Discrimination often happens due to a lack of knowledge. When you create inclusive knowledge and communication tools, it helps people think twice before discriminating, this is how we are able to change mindsets.

I’m particularly proud of my work on the SheWorks and trans employability route projects. The SheWorks program supports vulnerable women in our local communities, giving them work experience and an insight into the type of careers they could enjoy at a company like Sodexo.

Through the trans employability route, I help our clients to include the recruitment of this population in their strategy. We have recently hired some trans trainees which has helped our colleagues to talk about the trans population, to get used to seeing them, to be with them and accept them in the workplace. It’s been really nice to see how the teams have welcomed them and included them.

Empathy and patience are key

The secret to a successful career in this field is to have empathy, to feel and understand other people’s suffering. 

Patience is key with D, E & I, you often do not see results from your projects quickly. Changing the mindset of people has been by biggest hurdle, especially tearing down the machismo culture that we have in Latin America. It’s hard to deal with the frustration of working with people who don’t display appropriate empathy, but I keep hoping that one day they will.

If you are passionate about working in a D, E & I role, experience working with local communities can really help you on this path.

Gay and proud

Today, everyone I know at Sodexo knows that I’m gay and proud of it. Many of my friends envy me because they don’t have the same opportunity to be open about who they are at work.

We’ve come a long way in terms of LGBTQ+ at Sodexo. Four years ago, we brought the LGBTQ+ flag to the company for the first time. We celebrate IDAHoBiT (the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia) in Colombia each year. The first year, I remember giving pride flag stickers to people and seeing that they were still on their outfits at the end of the day. It made me feel included and accepted.

Although it might seem like a baby step, it’s an important one. Events like these, spark conversation about LGBTQ+ issues, slowly reducing unconscious bias.

There’s still a lot of work to do. It can be uncomfortable to talk openly about diversity issues, but each conversation takes us a little step closer to not just Inclusion, but true Equity.