October 20, 2015
Accenture Celebrates Executives Named to the 2015 OUTstanding-Financial Times’ Leading LGBT and Ally Lists
Sander van’t Noordende, Accenture Products Group Group Chief Executive, Ranked 10th on Top 100 LGBT Executives List
NEW YORK; Oct. 20, 2015 – Four Accenture executives – Sander van’t Noordende, Lis Brown, Rica Paras and Ramses Aldana Ante – have been recognized by OUTstanding and the Financial Times as Leading LGBT and Ally Executives in business and their communities.
“It’s an honor to be recognized along with my colleagues,” said Sander van’t Noordende, Accenture Products Group Chief Executive. “Accenture’s commitment to inclusion and diversity truly makes a difference and provides an environment where we all feel empowered to be ourselves. This makes our company stronger, smarter and more innovative, which helps us better serve the needs of our clients and our communities.”
The Accenture professionals were recognized in each of OUTstanding’s three categories: LGBT Executives, Leading Ally Executives and Next Generation LGBT leaders:
- Top 100 Leading LGBT Executive #10: Sander van’t Noordende – Sander advocates publicly and passionately for LGBT issues both within and outside of Accenture. He championed Accenture’s “Improving the State of the LGBT Workforce” business panel at Davos this year, is a regular LinkedIn influencer blogger on topics such as marriage equality and workplace equality and has spoken at conferences such as Out and Equal.
- Top 30 Leading LGBT Ally Executive #18: Lis Brown, Managing Director, Accenture Technology – The Executive Sponsor for Accenture’s LGBT network in Australia and New Zealand, Lis hosts LGBT events such as the company’s first transgender webcast and collaborates with the company’s 7,200+ Allies.
- Top 30 Next Generation LGBT Leaders (Under 35) #6 and #24: Rica Paras, Manager, Accenture Technology, and Ramses Aldana Ante, Consultant, Accenture Products – Rica, Accenture’s LGBT Lead for Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, publishes an LGBT newsletter, speaks regularly about experiences as a Transgender woman. Ramses leads Accenture’s LGBT Network in Mexico, where his efforts helped Accenture gain recognition as a Leader in Inclusion & Diversity and a “Best Practices Organization.” Externally, Ramses is also a founding member of Pride Connection.
OUTstanding CEO and founder Suki Sandhu said, “We are delighted to see Sander, Lis, Rica, and Ramses from Accenture feature in the OUTstanding leading LGBT and Ally Lists. They are true role models, proving that you can be openly LGBT in business and be a huge success. I’m certain they will provide inspiration to anyone who fears that they may have to be closeted at work, and waste valuable effort muting their authentic selves. They deserve credit for the leadership they show in welcoming people of all backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities.”
Accenture is committed to raising awareness and educating all Accenture people about its LGBT community, while simultaneously supporting its LGBT employees and providing a workplace of equality. Key initiatives include:
- Policies, to ensure the equal treatment of employees regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, where permitted by law
- Professional development and learning, to facilitate career growth, encourage networking and mentoring among LGBT employees and build awareness and understanding of the LGBT community
- Benefits that strive to provide identical employee benefits to same-sex and opposite sex partners in all the countries in which it operates and where permitted by law
- An LGBT network across 25 countries
Those on the OUTstanding-Financial Times’ Leading LGBT and Ally lists were nominated by peers and colleagues. All nominations were reviewed by OUTstanding’s judging panel and scored on the seniority and influence of the nominee’s role, impact on LGBT inclusion inside and outside the workplace and business achievements.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 358,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$31.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2015. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
About OUT standing
OUTstanding is an executive level network for LGBT business people and allies, with a mission to create an environment where LGBT executives can succeed. It was founded by Suki Sandhu in June 2013 and exists to drive change in the business world by broadening the boardroom diversity debate beyond gender or race to include LGBT issues. Corporate founding members include BP, Barclays, EY, Google, American Express, and BAE Systems.
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Contact:
Anthony Hatter
Accenture
+ 44 7810 756 138
anthony.hatter@accenture.com