b"place, but in our neighborhoods, in our communities. Generation Z and Generation Alpha are the more gender fluid generations ever, and we need to understand how to better interact with them and build workplaces where they will thrive. We have seen How can we go beyond compliancethat 15% of the population live with a visible or invisible disability, and foster a genuine culture of inclusionand most of the time, these disabilities come after an accident or after medical situation, they don't come when we are born. By and belonging, where employees feelhaving systems that understand that diversity is a given, then we empowered and that they can bring theirwill be able to understand that this is the way forward, and by representing diversity and bringing rights and equitable oppor-whole self to work?tunities for all, we will have better benefits than by ignoring it or Rubn Alejandro Ramrez just trying to check the box. SW: How do you encourage allyship at every level?Alejandro: Allyship for me is one of the first steps to inclusion, where we understand and represent diversity as an advantage of our organizations. However, moving forward from allyship to accountability has brought great results to our Group. People now are doing their job to create these inclusive spaces that we want, and for us, promoting vulnerable leadership is one of the best ways we can really get into that authentic allyship or being accountable. We have been working with our leadership teams a parallel Respect Campaign for those regions where at thefor them to express themselves in situations where they were moment its not legal to openly support LGBTQIA+ communities.probably excluded. It is important for us to have flexibility and adapt our initiativeFostering authentic, inclusive leadership has been a priority and campaigns to keep promoting inclusion, continuing thein my DEI strategy. A good example is a dynamic we have done conversation, without conflicting with local regulations, traditionswith some of our leadres where we encourage them to what we and cultures, and with this ensures better engagement, and lesscall coming out of our own closest, making an analogy of what resistant. LGBTQIA+ community members do, and where our leaders share stories about how they presented different kind of diver-SW: In some areas, DEI is viewed as a soft initiative.sity during the past, maybe in their school years, or even when How do you quantify its business impact, particularlythey started to work. By sharing these personal stories, we not around employee engagement and transformation? only create teams that trust each other in a higher way, but also Alejandro: Innovation is a significant benefit of diverse andleaders who care about each other and understand vulnerability inclusive teams, as theyre more agile and make better decisions.as an advantage to foster psychological safety. Practicing being We see this in the employee retention and engagement, whichvulnerable, understanding that psychologically safe spaces allow helps save costs and boost productivity. Diverse teams allow uspeople to really come as they are, and also allowing people to to address challenges better and create value.learn from their mistakes, helps us commit to being better allies. I think some people still perceive DEI as just a box to check,We are in a business setting, but we are all humans, we all have like we've done this, we've got this. But how can we go beyondfeelings and we all had experiences where we were not belonged that? How can we go beyond compliance and foster a genu- or were invited to a game, to a party or to a team. By connect-ine culture of inclusion and belonging, where employees feeling with that feeling, we are able to create an empathy feeling empowered and that they can bring their whole self to work? to many underrepresented groups. And by making this connec-We need to be authentic in our DEI efforts. It is very impor- tion, then you become a real ally, because it's not about them, is tant for us to make sure that our leadership is well engaged.about us, and it's about me.They truly believe that inclusion is not only the right thing to doPromoting and fostering DEI is something we're committed for our business, but also for our society. And with that authen- to because we live the real benefits every day. I want everyone ticity, we will be able to really bring initiatives that will allow ato understand why this is so important, and why this is not about shift into being more inclusive. This important because now moreexclusion or hating or just bringing numbers, but is about all us than ever, we live diversity everywhere, not only in our work- be united as one.SW30/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2024"