PwC

The following networks are just 2 of our 11 people networks at PwC, which play a key role in supporting our people and the work they do to help create an inclusive and diverse workplace where people feel empowered to be themselves. Our people networks provide a community for all our people with shared interests and serve to raise awareness of a particular subject or the experience of others. We have networks focused on different cultures and faiths, disability awareness, LGBT+ community, gender balance and support for parents and carers.

All our networks are inclusive and open to all our people and they have a vital role in creating a welcoming work environment for our staff and celebrating the diversity of our people. PwC’s Inclusion, Community and Wellbeing team is responsible for developing the firm’s diversity and inclusion strategy and the networks are one of the ways we deliver on the firm’s inclusion strategy and bring it to life for our people.

Shine UK

At PwC we’re proud of our open, inclusive and welcoming culture. We celebrate difference and uniqueness, and make sure that everyone is supported to be themselves and fulfil their greatest potential.

Shine is an inclusive business network for LGBTQ+ people, allies and supporters. We pride ourselves on being a global network, bringing together all the PwC territory LGBT networks together as one global Shine network. It was launched as part of PwC’s first Global LGBT Conference in New York in 2019 as part of the World Pride celebrations. This event brought together people from 25 countries to discuss the positive and negative aspects of LGBT+ culture in their respective territories.

Working closely with various charities and groups across the UK, supporting people from all backgrounds, and ensuring that our people feel supported and recognised as true individuals. We most recently supported the creation of LGBT+ networks in two of our client networks. In conjunction with one of our largest clients we were founding members of Trans in the City, a network to support Trans colleagues that launched the Trans in the City Charter. We are very proud to be active supporters of this campaign as well as other more specific needs that our wider community may face.

PwC and Shine continue to sponsor Pride in London and also sponsored the New York Pride in 2019, as well as participating in several regional Prides in the UK and abroad. To mark 50 years since the Stonewall uprising, Shine launched the Inspirational 50 campaign, celebrating role models in the LGBTQ+ community and allies in the run up to Pride 2019. The Inspirational 50 included PwC staff and clients who have inspired our employees to be themselves.

We have over 1000 members in the UK alone, mostly PwC people, but are striving to enhance our external network numbers. Shine runs a wide range of events and activities for its members including Coffee Roulette, a way for people to meet that may otherwise never have a chance to meet or speak.

Regionally in the UK, we support various external networks including the Alliance Network in the Midlands. These networks strive to pull businesses together that may not have a voice on their own, but collectively they can command a presence, meeting regularly and driving inclusion and diversity needs across the wider community.

Multicultural Business Network

Our Multicultural Business Network (MBN) is our people network related to multiculturalism and has three aims: to educate, through cultural and commercial awareness; to engage, through connecting and community engagement; and to empower through career development.

The MBN’s mission is to improve both our internal and external experience when engaging with different cultures through various initiatives, activities and events.

There are more than 120 different nationalities in PwC UK and we aim to give our people the skills, commercial knowledge and cultural awareness that we all need to work effectively in an increasingly global marketplace.

The MBN steering committee comprises people of different grades, ethnicities and lines of service within our business. The network is supported at a senior level by having an Executive Board sponsor and five partner sponsors. Thanks to this collaborative approach, the network’s activities have helped to increase both the awareness and the desire to address issues relating to our Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) colleagues. As a priority, they have been helping our people become more comfortable with having conversations about race and ethnicity.

One such initiative is Colourbrave, a firmwide, multi-channel initiative to encourage conversations addressing the challenges our ethnic minority colleagues face in the workplace.

We now have 70+ ColourBrave Advocates across the firm who are employees of all ethnicities that PwC staff can speak with to raise concerns about everyday practices or personal experiences which they feel are unfair or confusing and the themes from these conversations inform our ethnicity inclusion actions. The advocates strive to behave inclusively, role model inclusive behaviours, inspire and empower people to be themselves and to be successful at PwC. Through its focus on these aims, the network is promoting cultural diversity and helping our people become more culturally agile, while demonstrating the commercial benefits of cultural awareness.