After two years of restrictions due to the pandemic, the LGBT+ community and its allies are getting ready to take to the streets again this weekend to celebrate diversity at Pride BCN. In keeping with its diversity and inclusion strategy, SEAT S.A. is taking part in the celebratory protest event as one of three main sponsors. The initiative was first launched by the Pride Moves Us group, a network created by SEAT S.A. employees to promote the visibility and inclusion of the company’s LGBT+ community. To this end, the Pride Moves Us group will sponsor a stand in the Pride Village, and will march in the SEAT S.A. float in the parade on Saturday June 25th .
Pride moves us.
“We knew it was time to take a step forward in this direction, and that’s why we proposed sponsoring Pride BCN and actively participating in this event that gathers more than 250,000 people in the city every year” explains Carlos Herrera, a member of Pride Moves Us who works in the company’s IT department. The network, made up of LGBT+ people and allies, is celebrating its second anniversary this June, coinciding with Pride Month. The group has managed to successfully implement this initiative with the help of SEAT S.A.’s Culture, Change & Diversity department and backed by the company as a whole.
A special float.
SEAT S.A. sponsors Pride BCN for the first time as part of its diversity and inclusion strategy.
SEAT S.A.’s delegation at the event, with employees belonging to the community and allies, will ride in a colourful open-top bus this weekend. The bus will be vinyl-wrapped with graphic motifs by the urban artist TvBoy, one of CUPRA’s most recent ambassador. The illustrations depict two young men kissing while riding SEAT MÓ scooters, as well as a close-up of a kiss between two flamenco women, in line with the lesbian visibility theme of this year’s celebration. Laura Vidal, head of Innovation and Social Collaboration in Human Resources and a member of the Pride Moves Us network, will be one of the participants in the event: “I firmly believe in the need to participate in activities that give visibility and normalise the change we’re experiencing in society, and I’m proud to belong to a company that supports and promotes real and effective equality.”
Born Proud.
This play on words is a prominent feature of the artwork specially designed for the CUPRA Born, which will be on display at the SEAT S.A. stand in the Pride Village on Avinguda Maria Cristina. “We’ve come up with an inspiring design for this occasion, where the letters and logo float on the side of the CUPRA Born on a spattering of colours pulled from the LGBT+ flag” explains Jorge Diez, CUPRA’s Design Director. The stand will also feature a SEAT MÓ eScooter 125 and a SEAT MÓ eKickScooter 65, both vinyl-wrapped for the occasion. Volunteers from Pride Moves Us will be available to share their first-hand experiences with visitors about SEAT S.A.’s LGBT+ inclusion and promotion policies.
Social responsibility.
Pride Moves Us was created by employees to promote LGBTI+ visibility and inclusion in the company.
“It’s essential to support initiatives that help us break down barriers and stereotypes, and to make different realities more visible and inclusive in order to prosper not only as a company, but also as a society” explains Benjamin Ramírez, head of the Culture, Change & Diversity department at SEAT S.A. “It’s a question of social responsibility and of being consistent with the diversity policies that we carry out in the company” he adds. For this reason, as opposed to a commercial initiative, “we want to take this opportunity to truly advocate the values of inclusion that we defend, and to convey them to society” he concludes. In this same framework, on June 27th, CASA SEAT is hosting a round table entitled ‘Inclusive Sport and LGBTI+ Diversity’ which will coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Olympic Games sponsorship. Guests will include ice hockey player Nora Gómez Carrión and judoka Marc Fortuny, Patrick Sievers, head of Events, Sponsoring & Social Media at CUPRA, and representatives from companies like Allianz and Endesa.
