July 2023: Proud Chameleons’ Month

July was SUSE’s Proud Chameleons’ Month. 

At SUSE, we believe in creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We are committed to living SUSE’s values of openness and understanding that our diversity leads to SUSE’s success. 

What is Proud Chameleons’ Month?

Proud Chameleons’ Month is a time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and recognize the important contributions they make at SUSE and to society. It is our opportunity to show support, allyship, and commitment to a workplace where we value individuality, encourage everyone to be authentic, and recognize that true success comes from welcoming different perspectives. 

Proud Chameleons’ Month Events

Throughout the month, we held a series of events and activities.

• The celebrations began with SUSE team members, friends and families participating in the London Pride parade on 1 July 2023. This year’s theme of ‘Never March Alone: Championing Trans Allyship’ aligns with SUSE’s values in supporting our colleagues in the LGBTQ+ community.  

• This was followed with an interactive global virtual workshop on the Importance of Allyship and especially at the workplace. We described the different types of allyship and what we can all do to become better allies, from the use of inclusive language and, understanding our privilege to calling for equitable policies and procedures. But most importantly to be active in our allyship! 

• Our Pride at SUSE network members chose The Trevor Project as the charity of month. The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for young LGBTQ+ people. Team members were encouraged to be the rainbow by posting photos of themselves and to #wearyourpride! SUSEcares, our philanthropic giving program, have pledged a donation to The Trevor Project for each post. 
• From life in sport and living two lives to coming out, we enjoyed an inspirational virtual chat with Mark Foster, one of the UK’s most successful competitive swimmers. We learned about Mark’s journey to publicly confirming his sexuality not only to be his true self, but to speak up and use his platform in supporting the LGBTQ+ community. 

Other Events

One of the many great things about SUSE, is the engagement of all our team members during the Global Engagement months. Groups and individuals are empowered and encouraged to get involved: 

• Our Open Source Community Citizen employee network joined the celebrations by hosting a session to learn about the implicit and explicit biases present in generative AI. They presented tips and tricks for identifying bias, ways to be intentional to avoid it, and the tools available to enhance inclusivity. 
• Emiel Brok, Service Sales Specialist at SUSE and host of Friday Ketchup vlog series, interviewed Kia Ewing-Linker, Service Delivery Manager at SUSE on why Proud Chameleons’ Month and Pride at SUSE is so important to her and SUSE as whole. 

What a great July it has been celebrating our Proud Chameleons. It has been an honour for me to sponsor this month and I look forward to the many more events and celebrations with the Pride at SUSE members.