This Department’s Grant: Fostering Transgender Inclusion and Combating Stigma in Corporate Settings

In the medium term, a concrete objective will be to have the participating corporations make changes to current policies, demonstrate the activities they have executed to foster a more inclusive work environment, and develop active transgender employee recruitment plans. This should be done by organizing workshops and information sessions for employees (at all levels within the organization), human resources professionals, and leadership of 15 different business corporations in Hyderabad and Chennai over a period of one year, focused on creating awareness about and countering stigma and prejudice against transgender persons. In the immediate term, this exercise should lead to the setting up of Pride/Rainbow groups within corporations that actively create awareness about TG persons and their rights.  

The grantee will organize workshops for employees and leadership of corporations of a minimum of 15 different corporations in Hyderabad and Chennai to sensitize them towards the rights of the LGBTQI+ community broadly, and the transgender (TG) community specifically. These workshops will aim to help corporations and businesses to better understand the needs of the TG community and encourage them to adopt policies and carry out activities that foster a work environment that is safe, nurturing, accepting, and inclusive for members of the TG community. A longer-term outcome is that these corporations and businesses increase their hiring of members of the TG community and help their employees and the general public be more accepting.