I came out in 2006 at the age of 33.  It was a heart-wrenching process full of pain, some self-induced, some I caused others, and some pain others caused me.  I lost life-long friends and family connections and had to rebuild, restart, and re-envision a new life for myself.  This included my life in the workplace because as we all know, our personal life does impact our work life. It was through this process that probably for the first time in my life I really began to understand the pain and loneliness of being “different”, including being different in the workplace. Whether it is being a female in a male dominated company, an older person at a company full of young people, a person of color in an all-white boardroom, a LGBTQIA+ person on a team of straight people……whatever it is that makes you feel different, it can be the one thing that keeps you from really feeling like you belong at a company. 

I love that each year more and more companies celebrate Pride Month. I am so incredibly proud of the company I work for, Basware, and our commitment to celebrate our LGBTQIA+ co-workers during Pride. And this is not the first company for which I have worked that celebrates Pride. I have worked at places that celebrate Pride by changing their logo to rainbow colors, issuing press releases, hosting parties, running ads or going on CNBC – all great and honorable things to do. However, after Pride month ends for some companies, so does the inclusive focus. Sadly, it can be more about the PR element and less about an actual, honest way of corporate life 24/7/365. And I am pretty sure, just as I did, that the employees in these orgs that are LGBTQIA+ (or a member of some other minority) see and feel the reality that the company is more about boasting and less about authenticity. And once again they feel marginalized.

It became obvious to me the minute I began interviewing at Basware that for this 39-year-old Finnish born global tech company, inclusivity and more specifically, Pride, is not just a celebration every June – it is an all year way of life. I sat on a Pride Panel discussion last summer where hundreds of our employees attended virtually. Our CEO Jason and our CHRO Jane were center stage, asking questions, sharing heart and clapping emojis over Teams, and fully-embodying the very culture of inclusivity at Basware. I see it every day, not just in June, in the way that our Executive team, our Senior Leadership Community, and the rest of our over 1,000 employees treat me. It is never uncomfortable for me to talk about my husband – in fact he has met several of my co-workers personally – including some dinners and hugs together. Our people are warm and accepting, and passionate about making people of all colors, genders, ages, abilities, backgrounds, religions, and sexual identity – every single person – accepted, respected, and included. And this is every day of the year – not just in June.

I look forward to celebrating Pride this month – even more so because I know that at Basware, we celebrate in June…..but we live it out all year long. 

Mark Johnston

P.S.  Basware did not ask me to write this article – I asked Basware if I could write it, because I want the world to know how our company lives and breathes inclusivity.