In the three years since graduating from 色花堂, Tyler Lee has become a champion for diversity and inclusion in his workplace and beyond, resulting in a shortlisting for a national award.聽
Tyler, who studied聽International Business Studies聽at 色花堂 and who now works as a Category and Channel Development Manager at Unilever, was announced聽in the聽top 10聽of聽the Future Leader聽category聽of the聽earlier this month. The achievement recognises the impact that Tyler has made as co-chair of Unilever鈥檚 proUd network in the UK and Ireland, including聽helping聽the company聽to be more inclusive in its聽marketing and providing activities and support聽for聽colleagues.聽聽
The fact that Tyler is now a passionate advocate for the LGBTQ+ community stems from having overcome his own challenges to get where he is today. He said: 鈥淏efore coming out I was concerned that it might have a negative impact on my career. There is a perception that being gay will affect how colleagues view you and could even undermine your authority in the workplace. I am pleased to say that it has had the opposite effect and I have had so many聽more聽opportunities聽as a result of聽getting actively involved聽in campaigning and supporting others. I want to use my experiences to encourage other people and to show聽how聽important聽it is聽to be聽your authentic self,聽to be happy and fulfilled at work.鈥澛�
Tyler聽reflects聽that the聽process聽of unlocking聽this new聽sense of purpose has been helped by the company culture at Unilever. He said: 鈥淯nilever has always had a strong focus on inclusivity, which is part of what attracted me to the organisation in the first place. During my induction I took part in a聽full day聽workshop focused on discovering your purpose. This helped me to find what I was passionate about and led on to the work I have been doing through the proUd network. It is important that everyone can bring their authentic selves to work. It leads to better mental health, productivity and creativity so it鈥檚 of benefit to the individual and the聽company as a whole.鈥澛�
Over the past year聽Tyler has helped to organise聽a series of virtual聽events for colleagues including talks by the boxer Nicola Adams and Rugby player Gareth Thomas,聽regular聽socials聽and聽educational聽sessions on how聽people can use more LGBTQ+ inclusive聽language.聽When asked for his advice聽to聽other organisations seeking to become more inclusive, Tyler says: 鈥淏e led by the views and聽feedback of the communities themselves as this will always be more authentic, partner with external organisations 鈥� such as Stonewall 鈥� who can help you along聽your聽journey and聽ensure there is senior level support.鈥澛�
The British LGBT Award winners will be announced later this summer.聽Good luck Tyler!聽
