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WCS LGBTQ+ Awards 2025 | Corporate & Workplace Inclusion.

Updated: Jun 12

This year's WCS | Awards are celebrating Queer Leaders around the world - LGBTQ+ change-makers who are using their platforms, profile and roles to drive change, making the world a more inclusive place for all LGBTQ+ people. The Corporate & Workplace Inclusion Award recognizes individuals or organisations that have demonstrated exceptional commitment to promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion within corporate or workplace settings.


Corporate & Workplace Inclusion | Our 2025 Awardees:


Other Award Categories:



Adrien Semail.

(he/him)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Adrien is a Senior Recruiter at Autodesk and Global Lead of the Autodesk Pride Network (APN). He leads the ERG’s global strategy and builds strong partnerships across other employee communities—amplifying the voices and experiences of LGBTQ+ folks who are also Indigenous, Latinx, Black, or neurodiverse. Adrien is passionate about creating spaces that celebrate queer joy and drive meaningful change. He works closely with company leadership on efforts to improve inclusion and ensure more voices are heard across the business. Based in Barcelona, Adrien is deeply rooted in the local queer scene and regularly brings local LGBTQ+ performers, educators, and artists into company events. It's one of his favorite ways to make events more meaningful and grounded in community, while connecting global teams to diverse voices and perspectives.




Allies and Rainbows | Carmen Tauch & Mariano Ventura

NGO

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Allies and Rainbows is a top mental health platform for LGBTIQ+ people in Europe. They provide a safe and professional space where LGTBIQ+ people and their allies can access specialized mental health resources and services. Their approach focuses on solutions and promotes personal development and wellness through emotional education and empowerment. Their interdisciplinary team is made up of coaches, psychologists and counsellors, promoting mental health and wellness in a holistic way and integrating different perspectives.



Barbara Platier.

(she/her)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Barbara is an experienced sales and project management professional with over seven years in the field. For the past five years, she has built her career at JTI, taking on various commercial roles that have strengthened her strategic and leadership skills. Beyond her core role, Barbara is deeply committed to inclusion and representation—she is the Co-Chair of the JTI PRIDE ERG for the BeNeLux region and serves as a Women of Pride Ambassador for Western Europe. Her passion for community also extends outside of the corporate world: she is the founder and organizer of LSBN. GRLS., a vibrant series of events designed to create safe and empowering spaces for queer women. Barbara thrives on connection, creativity, and purpose. In her spare time, she loves experimenting in the kitchen, exploring new destinations, and recharging by the sea.




Cécile Deprez.

(they/them)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Cécile is a scientific researcher in a cisgender men-dominated field by day, decolonial feminist activist by night. Early in their studies, Cécile realized that their social identity and the perception others had of them would impact their career. Experiencing and witnessing various forms of discrimination turned them into an activist in the workplace, in addition to volunteering in their private time. Today, they co-lead networks for women and gender minorities, internationals, LGBTQIA+ and neurodiverse folks at work, all while educating and sensitizing fellow STEM professionals on these topics through workshops and conferences, both in academia and industry.




Char Erskine.

(they/she)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Char is a Black, queer, non-binary and neurodivergent person of Antiguan and Jamaican heritage. They live with late-diagnosed ADHD and long-term mental health battles and shares their lived experience at the intersection of all these things to drive conversation, curiosity, and authentic connection between people. Professionally, Char works in DEI in the legal sector, channelling their special interest in all things equity, inclusion, accessibility, and social justice into the corporate environment. They carry the DEI torch with a long-term mission to bring social awareness, education, and humanity into corporate spaces – often bridging the gap between the human need to belong and the bottom line of business strategy. Char believes in the power of safe storytelling to centre real people in conversations about equity, inclusion and belonging.




Chloë Davies.

(she/her)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Chloë is an award winning founder, creative, dynamic social impact consultant, chef, and entrepreneur who has dedicated much of her 20+ year career campaigning for inclusion and equality in all spaces, whether in-house at agency level, corporate organisations or through wider community engagement. She was a ADCOLOR 2024 Rockstar of the Year Nominee, Advertising Week Europe 2024 The Future is Female Winner and named on the 2024 Campaign Magazine UK A-list. In April 2023 she founded ‘It Takes A Village Collective’ - a global hub for Black women in advertising, media, marketing and comms whose mission is to ensure that 1 in 5 people in adland will be a Black woman by 2028.



Daniel Cancela.

(he/him)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Daniel Cancela is a DEI program manager at Amazon and a global advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. Daniel grew up in Madrid, Spain, and earned a degree in Psychology from the Autonomous University of Madrid in 2015, followed by an MSc in Work & Organizational Psychology from Maastricht University in 2016. He began his career at Amazon in Luxembourg as an intern and is now based in Berlin, working as a DEI recruiting program manager, leading EMEA-wide efforts to support underrepresented communities, including women, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+ populations. Since 2017, Daniel has played an active role in glamazon, Amazon’s LGBTQ+ employee network, serving as Luxembourg country chair, EMEA regional lead, and, since October 2024, global co-president. In early 2025, he completed a PhD at Maastricht University, exploring the workplace experiences of transgender and gender-diverse employees and strategies for organizational inclusion. Daniel draws a continuous thread between research and practice, using academic insights to shape strategy and real world experience to inform meaningful research.



Gonzalo Parra.

(he/him)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Gonzalo is an Argentinian scientist and an expert in computational biology. He studied Bioinformatics and got a Ph.D. from Buenos Aires University, after which he has worked as a researcher at prestigious international institutions like the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the German Cancer Research Center. Currently, Gonzalo leads the “Evolutionary Systems Biophysics” laboratory at Barcelona Supercomputing Center where he tries to unravel the mysteries of molecular biology to advance the understanding of health and disease. He participates in multiple international forums to make science a more equal, diverse and inclusive environment.





Ivan Dimov.

(he/him)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Ivan is the Founder and Executive Director of Single Step Foundation and its social enterprise, The Steps, in Bulgaria. His professional career is in the field of finance: as an investment banker and investor in New York and Sydney, Australia in the media, telecommunications and technology sectors. In addition to being an LGBTI activist and social entrepreneur, Ivan is a co-founder of the Bulgaria Innovation Hub in San Francisco, which provides a bridge for Bulgarian start-ups and founders to Silicon Valley.




Jack López.

(he/him)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Jack is an inclusion and lived experience expert, social justice scholar, author and public speaker, with expertise in personhood, identity and conflict resolution. He has spearheaded organizational change-making projects and provided inclusion and change-making training for over a decade across public and private sectors. Jack speaks, advises and educates on a range of topics, including LGBTQ+ history and discrimination, HIV, intersectionality, workplace allyship, culture change, community building, parenting, sexual health, recruitment, language and terminology and neurodiversity awareness. Aside from working as a consultant Jack is DEI Manager at an English professional football club, a trustee and academic expert for two charities. He is also a proud father to four children, walker of hills, swimmer of lakes, where there is music he will dance.




Jacqui Rhule-Dagher.

(she/her)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Jacqui is a litigation lawyer at a large international law firm. She advises clients on a range of legal issues including contractual disputes, fraud and misrepresentation. She is also one of just 14 lawyers from England and Wales to sit on The Law Society’s LGBTQ+ Solicitors Network Steering Committee. The committee ensures that LGBTQ+ lawyers can thrive within their organisations. In an effort to champion inclusivity, Jacqui founded Legally Lesbians, which launched in Lesbian Visibility Week, April 2023. Legally Lesbians involves lesbians and queer individuals in the legal industry or in-house lawyers writing about their careers and reflecting on the importance of visibility. These inspiring pieces of personal writing are collected to form an article which is published annually by DIVA magazine. In February 2024, Jacqui was named in the 2024 Attitude 101 list of LGBTQ+ trailblazers; and in April 2025 she was named in the DIVA Power List.



JD Valladares-Williams.

(he/they)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Juan Diego (JD) is a People Development Expert with 15+ years of experience creating science-driven learning programs and dialogues infused with pop culture and storytelling. He specializes in emotional intelligence trainings and speaking engagements, sharing his experience navigating the workplace as a Queer, Neurodivergent Latino. JD has partnered with Fortune 500 companies, Tony Award-winning shows, The It Gets Better Project, Harvard University, the New York City Department of Education, Spain’s Ministry of Education, and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).


He is currently working on the new season of the Association for Talent Development’s podcast, leading the programming for ALPFA NY’s Latine LGBTQ+ Leadership Summit this October at Bloomberg, and has recently launched an emotional intelligence framework to disrupt internalized homophobia. He holds a Master's degree in Psychology, a Bachelor's degree in Biology, and is a published scholar in HIV prevention at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center.




Dr. Joanna Thompson.

(she/her)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Dr. Joanna Thompson is a Black, Latina, and Queer female who currently serves as the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for One Workplace, an interior solutions company based in Santa Clara, California. Dr. Thompson works to raise awareness of social justice issues through educa5on and scholarship while promoting intersectional community organizing across multiple social identities with the help of grassroots and systems-based connections. Dr. Thompson’s personal and professional journey as a queer leader began during graduate school in Chicago, Illinois. While in the Windy City, she not only came out, but had the opportunity to work for the largest LGBTQ+ community in the Midwest, Center on Halsted, and served on the Chicago Hate Crimes Coalition. Dr. Thompson’s queer leadership continued through her support of LGBTQ+ students in higher education, most notably during her time as Director of the Office for Multicultural Learning and Rainbow Resource Center at Santa Clara University, where she worked for 4 ½ years.




Lilia Koss.

(she/they)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Lilia has worked in public relations for Facialteam, a clinic specializing in facial gender affirming surgery, since 2008. She has led initiatives supporting trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming communities across 20+ countries, including the first trans awareness and LGBTIQ+ onboarding program for staff. Lilia grew a patient support group to over 3.5K members and has co-created spaces like the Trans Health Initiative (Sydney) and the Gender Affirming Health Forum (Amsterdam, London, Melbourne). She launched a YouTube series featuring 60+ queer voices and writes “Lilia’s Pearls for Pros,” a newsletter for inclusive healthcare. Lilia has assisted published trans+ research (Gender-Q Survey), and continuing education by co-organizing the first WPATH event in Spain (2025) and working to bring EPATH. Personally, she’s a parent to a questioning teen and founder of a feminist association that welcomes all genders and identities.




Lisa Cowling.

(she/her)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Lisa, a queer woman working in STEM, leads the LGBTQ+ network at a leading consumer goods company, Reckitt, while supporting research and development for pain management. Lisa has cultivated a diverse lead team for the network, through which they have influenced real change not just for the company's LGBTQ+ employees, but reverberating further across all other DE&I networks and all employees within the business and beyond. Her work has driven change through initiatives for LGBTQ+ inclusion and against racism, ableism and sexism and, through this, updating corporate policies and practicing openness inside the organisation and with partner businesses.




Magda Stega.

(she/her)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Magda is a Forbes Women Top 25 Influencer and TEDx speaker recognized for her pioneering work in building inclusive workplaces for LGBTQIAP+ communities. With professional experience spanning London, Berlin, and now Spain, she operates at the intersection of human resources and trans advocacy. Magda partners with organizations to transform policies and foster environments where trans and gender-diverse employees can thrive. Her international perspective and commitment to equity have positioned her as a trusted advisor for companies seeking to implement meaningful, sustainable change. Magda’s leadership continues to inspire progress toward greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in workplaces across Europe.



Piotr Ciepiel.

(he/him)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Piotr is the founder of MiFit Mindful Fitness and takes his transformative Body/Mind/Energy programs worldwide. A dynamic public speaker, he guides men to embrace emotions, vulnerability, and authenticity. As a health and wellbeing advocate, Piotr shares his cancer and chemotherapy journey, compelling us to prioritize physical and mental health now.




Raga D'Silva.

(she/her)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Raga is the CEO/Co-Founder of OUTspoken Speakers - the UK's first speaker agency amplifying and providing a platform for the voices of queer women and those non-binary. Award-winning Entrepreneur, Author - Untold Lies, Writer, TEDx Speaker, Podcaster, Host and a passionate LGBT+ activist for the South Asian community in the UK, she has been

the leading force in the fight for marriage equality in India. Featured amongst Top 100 Trailblazing LGBT+ women, Raga has appeared on major media platforms such as BBC. Sky News, ITV, Channel 4, NDTV, India Today, BBC Hindi and several other regional languages)

advocating for LGBTQ+ rights globally. She recently launched Season 3 Podcast - focused on Older Queer Voices, produced by The Views Room.




Ren Cavan.

(they/them)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Ren is one of the few non-binary, senior creative leaders in the media and marketing industry today. As UK Group Creative Director at brand experience agency Momentum Worldwide, they connect brands with audiences in more authentic and inclusive ways. They are also the founder of Bold Strokes; an innovation studio set-up to boldly represent diverse audiences globally. Within their day-to-day role, they have focused on driving more equitable conversations within the industry; delivering panels with LGBTQIA+ voices such as content creator the Queer Chameleon and acting as a key ambassador in Momentum’s Make It Matter DEIBA committee. In their creative work, they have also partnered with brands like Google to tell global stories of Pride, and consulted with Durex to create more LGBTQIA+ inclusive and consent-aware content online. They work specifically at the intersection of creativity, culture and community.




Safir Boukhalfa.

(they/them)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Safir is a non-binary, queer, autistic DEI consultant, entrepreneur, and coach based in Berlin. Of Indigenous Algerian descent, they draw from lived experience as a Muslim and racialised person from a working-class background to inform their practice. They are the founder of Safir Boukhalfa Consulting, working globally to support organisations and institutions in developing sustainable, intersectional strategies around neurodiversity, antiracism, and queer inclusion. Safir also coaches marginalised individuals, particularly neurodivergent, queer and racialised people, supporting them in building meaningful, values-driven businesses. Their approach is deeply political and grounded in care, access, and long-term impact. Alongside their consultancy, they are studying psychology & neuroscience, with the goal of opening a community-focused therapeutic practice eventually. Safir also serves as the community chair of the SPARK DEI community, founded by the Enar Foundation.



Sam Fresa.

(she/her)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Sam is a Level 7 CIPD qualified People Partner and Chair of Entain's LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group (ERG), 'Be You'. She is passionate about fostering inclusivity and driving meaningful change in the workplace. She champions initiatives that create a culture where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered to succeed. By advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Sam strives to make a lasting impact that enhances both employee experience and organisational success.



Sasha Ekhilevskiy.

(he/him)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Sasha serves as a Localization Operations Manager at VistaPrint and has been an active member of the company's Pride Employee Resource Group (ERG) for five years.

As part of the Pride ERG leadership team, Sasha works alongside colleagues to celebrate and support Vista's global LGBTQIA+ employees while creating a safe, inclusive space that fosters both solidarity and celebration within the community. In their role as ERG chair, Sasha focuses on driving meaningful impact year-round, not just during Pride month, by championing initiatives that align with Vista's commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Sasha has spearheaded Vista's partnerships with organizations like Pride Barcelona, LGBT+ Tech, KyivPride, Walpurgis Queer Horror Film Fest, and WeCreateSpace. He’s also helped organize webinars, speaking events, panel discussions, and training sessions that strengthen and educate Vista's broader community.




SC Nealy.

(they/them)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


SC is a queer, gender fluid psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, and group practice owner in Arlington, VA, with over 15 years in the mental health field. SC operates a team of all gay and trans-identifying therapists with the focus of bringing clinicians with lived experiences to the queer community and their families. They also work locally and nationally to advocate for queer rights, accessible mental health care, and bringing more awareness to the needs of the queer community. Their upcoming book published by Bloomsbury Academics, Healing Sacred Wounds, focuses on giving folx a guide map for processing and exploring their experiences in religious or spiritual trauma. As a therapist, they specialize in religious trauma, female and genderfluid-identifying couples counseling, mixed orientation marriages, complex-PTSD, Borderline Personality Disorder, interpersonal process group therapy, and non-faith based premarital counseling. In their personal life, they are a parent to two children, happily partnered, and write romance novels for fun.




Sebastián Dalla Ba'.

(he/him)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Sebastián is a Catalog Specialist at Amazon and a passionate advocate for intersectional inclusion, particularly focusing on LGBTQ+ rights and accessibility. As president of Glamazon Barcelona chapter and board member of Latinos at Amazon, he champions diversity in the workplace. Living with low vision, Sebastián has become a powerful voice for disability visibility, creating content that challenges perceptions and promotes accessible design. His 12+ years of experience in consumer goods, combined with his role in founding M.P. Wear, a gender-inclusive swimwear brand, demonstrates his commitment to both professional excellence and queer entrepreneurship. Through his writing and advocacy work, he bridges the gaps between disability rights, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and corporate leadership.




Tash Koster-Thomas.

(she/her)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Tash is a leading Inclusion and Diversity Consultant, presenter, speaker, and LGBTQ+ Activist who is driving the conversation forward. As a Black queer woman, Tash leverages her lived experience and identity to champion diversity and inclusion in both society and the workplace. She provides invaluable insight into dismantling barriers associated with diversity, ensuring that opportunities are accessible with equity, not just in the workplace, but also in our communities, both locally and globally. Tash is an expert on a variety of topics, including Anti-Racism, Language & Terminology, Leadership, Workplace Allyship, Intersectionality, LGBTQ+ History, LGBTQ+ Discrimination, Identity, and Culture Change. She is passionate about sharing her expertise on these topics and empowering others to create meaningful change.



Tolu Osinubi.

(she/her)

Queer Leadership in Corporate & Workplace Inclusion


Tolu is a Director at Deloitte UK with a strong passion for promoting diversity and inclusion. As a Black LGBTQ+ role model and intersectionality advocate, she has presented keynote speeches and guest lectures at numerous events both internally and externally to the workplace. Tolu's areas of expertise include discussing the Black experience in the UK, intersectional identities, and LGBTQ+ inclusion. She has been recognized for her advocacy work, including being named on the OUTstanding Future Leaders list in 2020 and 2021 for her efforts in championing inclusion. In addition, Tolu was recently recognized as the highly commended Inspirational Role Model of the Year 2022 DIVA Awards. Tolu's expertise includes topics such as anti-racism, workplace allyship, leadership, intersectionality, LGBTQ+ history, LGBTQ+ discrimination, identity, faith, self-empowerment, culture change, trauma, and healthcare inequities.




While you're here...


Did you know we consult with Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke corporate solutions? Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce DEI insights and craft bespoke content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Find out more here.


We also organise FREE community events throughout the year! We offer a variety of ways to get involved - both online and in person. This is a great way to network and learn more about others' experiences, through in-depth discussion on an array of topics. You can find out what events we have coming up here. New ones are added all the time, so make sure you sign up to our newsletter so you can stay up to date!

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