(8.12.2021)

PIHRB’s President of the Board, Beata Faracik, has contributed as a panelist to the OutSummit 2021 session on The Advocate Model: how the corporate sector can advance LGBTIQ inclusion when it conflicts with local law or culture. 

The “Advocate Model” should be viewed as a corporate duty, as part of the obligation to respect human rights wherever they do business. Around the world, companies – whether large or small – need to be a bulwark against regressive trends. Private sector obligations, as articulated by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, should suffice as a reason for companies to engage in the Advocacy Model on behalf of LGBTIQ communities, including their employees. Through case examples, this session will uncover the opportunities and risks companies weigh when deciding to adopt the Advocate Model, and what LGBTIQ civil society movement leaders expect from companies.

The goal of the session was to introduce the Advocate Model to an audience that is likely unfamiliar with it as well as to present frameworks and tools that encourage collaboration between leading LGBTIQ movement civil society organizations and the private sector. The panellists had also identified steps each can take to frame issues and engage collectively 

Moderator

Beth A. Brooke (she/her/hers) (beth@bethabrooke.com). Director, The New York Times Company, eHealth, Beta Bionics, Tricolor Holdings, SHEEX, and The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC); Co-Chair, Partnership for Global LGBTI Equality (PGLE). Beth Brooke serves on the Board of The New York Times Company, (NYSE:NYT), eHealth (NASDAQ:EHTH), Beta Bionics, Tricolor Holdings, and SHEEX, as well as the USOPC, Aspen Institute, Conference Board, the Partnership for Global LGBTI Equality, APCO’s International Advisory Council, and the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Formerly, Brooke had a four-decade career at EY, was its Global Vice Chair-Public Policy, a member of EY’s Global Board, and global sponsor of Diversity and Inclusion. In the Clinton Administration, she played roles in the Healthcare and Superfund reform efforts and had tax policy responsibility for insurance and managed care. Brooke is a recognized global advocate of diversity and inclusion and has been named to Forbes “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” list eleven times. She earned a B.S. degree in Industrial management and computer science from Purdue University where she played intercollegiate basketball and is in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. She founded the Women Athletes Business Network, which helps elite female athletes pivot from success in sport to success in business after their competitive sporting career ends.

Panelists

• Beata Faracik (she/her/hers) (faracik@pihrb.org). Co-Founder & President of the Board, Polish Institute for Human Rights and Business (PIHRB). Beata Faracik is a co-founder and President of the board of PIHRB. A legal expert specialized in Human Rights & Business and RBC/CSR, she has approximately 20 years of professional experience the in public, private, and NGO sectors in various countries, including the Ministry of Justice (Poland), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Poland), Criminal Justice System (UK), University of Exeter (UK), and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Children (UK). Since 2018 Beata has volunteered as coordinator of the inter-ministerial and multi-stakeholder Working Group on Workers, an advisory body to the Minister of Finance, Funds and Regional Development, helping develop legislative recommendations and practical tools to prevent and persecute forced labour and human trafficking. Beata co-founded the CSR Watch Coalition Poland and Central and Eastern Europe Business and Human Rights Association and is also a member of the BHRight Initiative for Interdisciplinary Research and Teaching on Business and Human Rights, the BHR Teaching Forum, and of the advisory board of Amnesty International Poland. She holds a Master’s degree in Law and an MA in International relations/European Affairs from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and an LL.M. in Human Rights and Intellectual Property Law (WIPO WA Fellow) from Raoul Wallenberg Institute of the Lund University and WIPO Worldwide Academy. She has authored a number of papers and reports in Polish and English and contributed as an invited expert to discussions on BHR at the European level, including at European Parliament hearings on business and human rights.

• Clare Iery (she/her/hers) (cm@pg.com). Associate General Counsel & Senior Director, Procter & Gamble Company (P&G). Clare Iery leads P&G’s Ethics & Corporate Responsibility foundation of Citizenship, which is responsible for ensuring strong governance and compliance practices and supporting P&G’s priority areas of Community Impact, Equality & Inclusion and Environmental Sustainability. Clare also serves as P&G’s human rights expert and developed its Respecting Human Rights program. In these roles, Clare has matched her personal passion of advocating for social justice with P&G’s dedication to being a force for good and a force for growth. Clare is a highly valued and effective leader who has strengthened P&G’s capabilities in doing the right thing across its end-to-end value chain.

• Michael Karimian (he/him/his) (karimian@microsoft.com). Director, Digital Diplomacy, Asia, Microsoft Corporation. Michael has responsibility Microsoft’s work with governments, civil society, and the private sector to advocate for and implement policies aimed at achieving a more secure cyberspace in Asia and the Pacific. Michael is also a co-lead of the LGBTQI+ employee network in Microsoft’s legal and policy department and co-represents Microsoft in the Partnership for Global LGBTI Equality (PGLE). Prior to joining Microsoft, Michael worked in trade finance at the Royal Bank of Scotland in London, and in business and human rights at the UN in Bangkok. Michael has a BA in Management from the University of Nottingham, a MA in International Relations from the University of Durham, and an MPA from Columbia University.

• Mélisande Kingchatchaval Schifter (she/her/hers) (schifter@weforum.org). Project Lead, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, World Economic Forum. Mélisande is the Project Lead, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at the World Economic Forum. Her portfolio work takes an integrated and holistic approach to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice, and aims to tackle exclusion, bias and discrimination related to race, gender, ability, sexual orientation, and all other forms of human diversity. She produces data, standards, and insights, such as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 Toolkit or the Global Gender Gap Report, and manages the Forum’s DE&I action initiatives, such as Partnering for Racial Justice in Business, Hardwiring Gender Parity in the Future of Work, the Partnership for Global LGBTI Equality, The Valuable 500 – Closing the Disability Inclusion Gap, the Community of Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officers and the Global Future Council on Equity and Social Justice. Prior to joining the Forum, Mélisande worked within the field of international affairs, social justice, and ethics. She holds a MTh in Theology from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and is currently a PhD candidate in Ethics at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

In 2020, OutSummit welcomed more than 1,650 registrants from over 100 countries around the world. Thirty sessions were held over three days. Of the Summit’s participants, more than 70% were representatives of civil society, and 30% was comprised of representatives from multilateral institutions, the corporate and philanthropic sectors, and government; 115 were speakers. We welcomed 19 journalists. We reached over 300,000 on social media and captured over 4,000 chats on the platform during the event. On average, plenary sessions engaged 350 participants; workshop sessions averaged 200 participants. OutRight anticipants a similar breakdown for our 2021 event.

USEFUL MATERIALS: