Shine

Why Shine?

We think it’s important that everyone can be themselves within our organisation. To encourage and support this, we established the Shine network in 2007. Shine is the PwC network for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans and intersex persons, queers and everyone who identifies differently as well as their ally’s: all colleagues, clients and contacts who actively want to contribute to an inclusive working environment in which everyone’s sexual orientation and gender identity are accepted.

Young colleagues tend to hide their sexuality and/or gender identity when they start their career in a new workplace. We, as Shine NL, aim to build an inclusive workplace where colleagues are encouraged from their first encounter with PwC to be their authentic self.

A place in which everyone doesn’t just have the basic right, but actually feels safe to be who they are, regardless of sexuality and gender identity. When we feel safe to be ourselves, we are able to reach and use our full potential to help build trust in society, to make the workplace and our culture stronger, and to create brighter opportunities that let each and every one of us truly shine. This is what we at Shine together with PwC’s other inclusion networks work to achieve every single day.

With Shine, our LGBTIQ+ people shine a light on important matters that impact our diverse community.

In 2023, we started collecting data on employment challenges, gender identity, and sexual orientation. We were already collecting data on sex and the cultural background of our colleagues. In line with CBS, we have implemented a new definition for cultural background to ensure our data remains comparable.

15th anniversary of Shine

This year we celebrated our 15th anniversary of Shine. A Generation of Shine: solving together, inspiring each other. In this year we looked at all the things we have achieved as a group, but our main topic is how to stay relevant for the next generation and their needs to feel included and rewarded. In this video board member Janet Visbeen and Robert Loesberg (one of the founders of Shine) talk about their pride in what Shine has achieved over 15 years.

Co-founder of our Shine network Robert Loesberg

Co-founder of our Shine network Robert Loesberg is generally out and proud, but he still had to deal with struggles in his career. This personal story was filmed for of Inclusion & Diversity Day 2023.

What activities does Shine organise?

Shine has three pillars that we base our activities around: the onboarding of new colleagues; the creation and continuation of awareness within PwC; and our internal and external networks. From socialising, to organising musicals , inviting (guest) speakers and introducing role models and ambassadors to participating in the Workplace Pride network or Pride Business Club Amsterdam - the activities are as diverse as the network itself.

We are proud to have sailed with our own PwC boat in the Canal Parade for many years now, as well as our sponsorship of movie days, sporting events and the podcast series Gewoon Homo (Just Gay). All actions that are focused on acceptance and empathising with each other.

What does PwC do for LGBTIQ+ colleagues?

PwC ensures a safe and equal work environment.

Key initiatives:

Equal working conditions for LGBTIQ+ (transition leave, rainbow families).
Pronouns in email signature

Periodic consultations with the board of management
Employee satisfaction survey option indicate sexual orientation
Awareness. Internal focus on topics such as intersectionality, gender expression/identity, LGBTIQ+elearn
External coaching coming out
Boat during Pride Amsterdam

Go to the Be Yourself @ Work page

Workplace Pride LGBTQ+ Advocate Award 2024

PwC is one of the nine top scorers in the LGBTQ+ Global Benchmark index, which is conducted annually by Workplace Pride (WPP). According to WPP, these nine companies are the absolute leaders when it comes to the inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals. Global Benchmark is, a comprehensive global assessment of LGBTIQ+ workplace inclusion. This year's findings spotlight the remarkable achievements of organisations dedicated to fostering diverse, inclusive environments.

‘These trailblazing organisations are leading the charge in advancing LGBTIQ+ inclusion in workplaces worldwide, setting new standards for broader societal change.'

We are proud that this year as well we have attained the predicate of Advocate. PwC has participated in the annual Global Benchmark for a few years now and we use it as a means to monitor our strategy.

Our employment conditions for multi-parent (rainbow) families and transitional leave

Unfortunately, with various family forms, the actual situation is not (or only after a long time) the same as the legal situation. This mainly concerns rainbow families, but also other families (e.g. adoption after surrogacy).

As a result, parents who actually have the care for a child,but are not/not yet the official legal parent, are not eligible for provisions such as partner leave, parental leave, care leave, calamity leave, etc., at times when they are needed.PwC has done something about that. Following in the footsteps of only a few other companies, we give those who officially are not entitled to maternity leave because of their family structure, that same leave as yet. In addition, in collaboration with Transgender Netwerk Nederland, we have included a transition leave scheme as of 2021. And with that we remove it from sick leave.

In this article in the Winq magazine you can read more about terms of employment.

Read the Winq article

'Gewoon Homo’ the podcast

The ability to be your authentic self is not a given for everyone. Also not in the workplace. In three seasons, creators Danny Houtkooper and Barry Beijer engage in conversation with different people within the ‘rainbow alphabet’. They talk to a homosexual refugee and in other episodes they discuss topics such as coming out at work, gay violence, the role that appearance plays, gay healing therapy and also what humor can mean.

The Dutch spoken podcast showcases how life after being out of the closet may be difficult, but more importantly what it can bring when you're finally just being yourself. And because we think it's important that everyone feels included and valued - not in spite of but because of their differences - we support this podcast.

Listen to the podcast