Celebrating World Pride Month: supporting LGBTQ+ colleagues

Alexandra Adams, VP of Human Resources at Clarivate, highlights the importance of colleagues stepping up as allies to support SPECTRUM, the Clarivate LGBTQ+ colleague resource group.

Alexandra is the Global Allies Leader within SPECTRUM – the Clarivate global colleague resource group for LGBTQ+ colleagues and allies. Alexandra joined Clarivate in 2018 and leads a global HR team for the intellectual property group that supports strategic people initiatives across the organization.

With June being World Pride Month, Alexandra shares an ally’s perspective on supporting LGBTQ+ colleagues, discusses SPECTRUM’s activities around Pride and expresses her hopes that other Clarivate colleagues will step forward to join as allies.

Supporting diversity and inclusion

From a personal perspective, I have always tried to be an ally for the LGBTQ+ population so when I joined Clarivate and saw the great work being done in this area it was really inspiring. Throughout my career, I have worked in HR for various organizations and unlike Clarivate, many don’t have colleague resource groups dedicated to empowering and engaging the LGBTQ+ community.

What’s also encouraging, is that the support for diversity and inclusion in Clarivate comes from the executive level. Our Chief HR officer, Andrea Degutis, is an executive sponsor of SPECTRUM and we’ve also had a lot of support from our CEO Jerre Stead, who has been very vocal about his views on supporting diversity and inclusion across the company.

A really nice aspect of SPECTRUM is that you can join as a member of the LGBTQ+ community or as an ally – anybody with an interest can join. It’s also a global initiative, with new chapters still springing up across the globe, so the varying cultural experiences of the LGBTQ+ population get to be heard and acted upon.

The role of allies

So what makes a great ally? First, allies need to be open to listening. People come to the table with various viewpoints on what it means to be an ally. Even though they think they are doing something right they don’t always take the time to ask – is this a supportive behavior? Second, as an ally it’s critical to speak up if you see any harmful activity, as the workplace should be a safe place for all.

Allies also have an important role to play in driving inclusion across the company. We won’t make changes in the community, here in the United States or globally without the support of allies so anything allies can do to show inclusion and involvement is a great thing in my mind. One opportunity to get involved is Pride Month, taking place this month, which provides a great platform to show support in the community.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SPECTRUM’s Pride activities will all be virtual this year. Clarivate colleagues from offices around the world will still definitely be getting involved using all the electronic tools that are available, hosting virtual team meetings and sharing blog posts on our internal intranet and discussion channels.

Creating a community

SPECTRUM continues to grow within Clarivate and I’m excited to see how the group progresses, both here in the United States and globally.

I would encourage any Clarivate colleagues that are thinking about getting involved as an ally to raise their hand and reach out to one of the global chapter leads or myself. Similarly, for anyone joining the Clarivate team to consider joining the resource group. It’s important to remember that SPECTRUM is not just for members of the LGBTQ+ community, but allies too, and we all have a part to play in creating an inclusive environment.

At Clarivate, we focus on diversity, valuing every voice and being accountable for your actions. It’s these aspects of our culture that really excite me and have invigorated how passionate I am to work at Clarivate.

To find out more about working with Clarivate and our current opportunities visit: https://careers.clarivate.com/.

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