Networks of Support – annual Pride Business Forum conference

Event Details

Andrea Stašek

Andrea Stašek is a researcher at the Psychology Research Institute (INPSY) and a PhD student in Clinical Psychology at the Faculty of Social Sciences, MU. Beyond their focus on LGBTQIA+ psychology and health, their research interests include video gaming, methodology, ethics, and data analysis. They are the chair of the Q-Hub, an NGO that publishes evidence-based information about queer health on www.q-psy.cz and is dedicated to the education of the public and professionals.

Czeslaw Walek

Czeslaw graduated from the Law Faculties of Jagiellonian and Central European universities. He worked in both the government sector and the non-government sector. As the Czech Deputy Minister for Human Rights, he was responsible for creating, adopting, and implementing domestic policies on human rights protection. Between 2011 - 2022 Czeslaw chaired Prague Pride, the leading organization focusing on LGBT+ rights in the Czech Republic. Until 2015 Czeslaw was the managing director of the Prague Pride festival, making it the biggest Pride festival in post-communist countries. 

In 2016 as a part of the Fulbright Scholarship, Czeslaw was a Global Fellow of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, where he implemented a Global program of the organization. After returning to Prague, he started to manage Jsme fér, the marriage equality campaign, and Pride Business Forum, a platform focusing on LGBT+ equality in the workplace. In 2011 Czeslaw was awarded with Alice G. Masaryk Human Rights Award for his dedication to promoting human rights.

David Tišer

David Tišer is the director of ARA ART, which focuses on culture with a social overlap, education and advocacy for the Roma LGBTAIQ community. He is also teacher and theatre director. He is member of the Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs and a member of the Committee on Sexual Minority Rights. David is the founder of the European Roma LGBTAIQ movement. David is a laureate of the Museum of Romani Culture Award (2018). He is also the recipient of the František Kriegel Award for Bravery (2019), awarded by Charter 77. In 2019, he received the title of Prague Pride Marshal. He is also a new Ashoka Fellow.

Kim Dabbs

Kim Dabbs, a global leader in Belonging and Purpose, draws from her unique life journey to advocate for inclusion. Born in Korea, adopted by American parents, her experiences fuel her passion for creating spaces where everyone feels they belong. As Global VP of ESG and Social Innovation at Steelcase, she leverages her social innovation expertise to foster inclusive environments. A sought-after speaker, she has addressed audiences at Google, Microsoft, MIT, and more. Her book, "You Belong Here: The Power of Being Seen, Heard and Valued on Your Own Terms," chronicles her shift from cultural adaptation to championing self-belonging.

Lucie Neumannová

Lucie is the CEO and co-founder of Femme Palette, a mentoring platform. She lived in San Francisco for 6 years and worked in various marketing and design roles for tech startups across Silicon Valley. She experienced firsthand the impact mentoring can have on someone’s career when switching from marketing to a UX design role. In 2018 she co-founded Femme Palette to create a supportive community for women and help people grow in their careers through personalized mentoring.

Michal Pitoňák

Michal leads the Mental and Public Health Working Group for Sexually and Gender Diverse People at the National Institute of Mental Health and conducts interdisciplinary research at Charles University. His work focuses on the effects of stigma and minority stress on queer identities and mental health, as well as on the societal standing of LGBTQ+ people and the geographies of sexualities. As chair of Queer Geography, an NGO promoting evidence-based advocacy, and a member of governmental committees, he actively advocates for LGBTQ+ rights.

Tereza Kadlecová
Tereza Kadlecová is the Executive Director of the Pride Business Forum Foundation and an expert in the domains of education and human rights. She has many years of experience in managing human rights, education and awareness raising projects at Pride Business Forum, Prague Pride and People in Need. In addition to her management work, Tereza's enduring commitment lies in fostering direct engagement with individuals through leading and facilitating educational workshops, courses and lectures. Tereza takes immense pride in her role as a devoted mother of two sons, whom she raises alongside her life partner.

Violeta Luca

Violeta has been in charge of Czech Vodafone since January 2024. Before that, she was the CEO of Microsoft Czech Republic and Slovakia. And before that, she was the CEO of Microsoft in Romania. Violeta Luca has managed transformation projects in retail, banking, e-commerce, healthcare and telecommunications. She has long focused on the development of digital skills, innovation and support for start-ups; she also provides active mentoring to empower women in their professional and management careers. She has received numerous awards and was recognised by Forbes as one of the 20 most influential women in Fintech in the CR and one of the TOP CEOs in 2023. In the Manager of the Year 2022 competition, she won in the Foreign Manager category. Before joining Microsoft, she worked at companies such as Metro Cash & Carry, Dante International, Flanco Retail, Whirlpool and AIG. She graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania.

Václav Horecký

Václav works at Škoda Auto. He focuses on corporate culture and agile mindset. In the past, he worked as a language specialist organizing programs for employees. He is a part of the Škoda Proud ERG group for the support of LGBTQ+ topics in the company.

He is also a volunteer and mentor at the Sbarvouven.cz counselling centre, where he draws from his personal life experience to work with clients. In his free time, he studies personal development, emotional intelligence, and other topics.

Jana Tikalová

Jana is the founder of OPIM and has been involved in DEI and human rights for 20+ years. She studied Anthropology at Durham University in the UK and has 25+ international projects and countless workshops on her list under her name. She has worked for two corporations in travel retail and automotive as an HR Manager and International Trainer. She is a certified coach and Google certified trainer in design thinking. She has been working as an external consultant and trainer in D&I for the Living Institute (DNK), ELAI (CZ), Council of Europe, European Commission, mentor in various platforms and is a board member of D&I Shapers, which she co-founded under the OPIM umbrella.

Tim R.R. Anseeuw
Tim worked for IBM for 24 years from 4 different countries and is fluent in 5 languages. He is a Leadership Mentor & Coach, an IBM Culture Catalyst and Engagement Champion, the global Agile Transition Lead for IBM Business Process Operations Delivery, leader of the LGBTQ+ BRG EAGLE Hungary and co-lead of the Vital Few on BRG Enablement & Advocacy and co-lead of #workingpositively Hungary. Tim was born in beautiful Bruges in Belgium and is happily married to his Brazilian-Portuguese husband he met 18 years ago and loves languages, traveling, hiking and photography.

 

Eva Zanin

Eva, currently serving as the Global DE&I Senior Manager at Deutsche Telekom, is a seasoned DE&I practitioner who has worn various hats, from spearheading sustainability management initiatives to designing and rolling out pioneering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) strategies. Born and raised in CEE she is devoted to promoting intercultural inclusion and enjoys crossing lines to enable LGBTQI inclusive working environments. She has a track record in delivering on data driven DE&I business and organizational strategies as well as fostering inclusive and accessible product development.

Vasilii Zhelnin

Vasilii is a Senior Contracts Representative at Honeywell and the Chair of the Central and Eastern Europe Chapter of LGBTQ+ Employee Network. He is also leading the global LGBTQ+ Mentoring Pillar Workstream, which was launched with the goal of further developing competencies, behaviours, and skill areas of Honeywell employees. In 2022, Vasilii coordinated the team of volunteers for Prague Pride who provided assistance to LGBTQ+ refugees from Ukraine, and has since been a visible activist.

Iva Radová

Iva is a Rewards Manager at Pivovary Staropramen, that belongs to Molson Coors Beverage Company group. She has been part of regional rewards team since 2019, currently responsible for Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. Not just in these countries but in whole CEE region of Molson Coors she foster a culture of wellbeing and DEI where everyone feels supported. One of her mission at work is helping to build and sustain an environment which enables people to be the best they can be, supporting their individual health, happiness and life goals.

Zdravko Krstanov

Author, event moderator, podcast host. He is interested in how those who go from zero to one think. He has been with Forbes since 2017, and since the beginning of 2022, he has been the editor-in-chief of Forbes.cz. He is behind key projects such as the richest Czechs, the 30 under 30 selection, Better Czechia, and Money Masterminds. He is the author of numerous interviews with top figures in Czech business, such as Daniel Křetínský, Patrik Tkáč, and Marek Dospiva, as well as new-generation business leaders like Simona Kijonková, Jan Bednář, and Richard Valtr.

Juan Pablo Rosetsky Hermosi

Jp joined Finance at SAP in Argentina 15 years ago where he held a number of jobs as a Finance Manager for serving mostly Latin & North America. In 2012, Jp relocated to Dublin where, as a Finance Manager, he led a multi-cultural team providing internal financial support to EMEA countries. In 2016, Jp moved to Walldorf, Germany, where he served as an Organizational Development Expert for 6 years. In the last 3 years, Jp has led Diversity & Inclusion Board Area Finance supporting the creation and execution of strategic programs aiming at making SAP an even more inclusive organization. Continuing on with his D&I journey, on April 1st, Jp joined SAP’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Office under the leadership of Supriya Jha, SAP’s Chief People Officer.

Michaela Bauer

Member of the Board of Directors of ČSOB responsible for IT, digitalization, data, daily banking, innovation and operations. She serves as the chairman of the supervisory board of Bankovní identita a.s. and is a member of the supervisory boards of Ušetřeno.cz, Skip Pay a.s. (Czech Republic), Igluu (Czech Republic) and Greenometer. She promotes invention, modern technologies and AI and supports the startup scene. She hosts the podcast Be in the Know in Innovation, where she chats with interesting guests about how innovation is changing the world. She is regularly ranked among the most influential women in the Czech Republic. She is also actively involved in the #Finzeny initiative as one of the founders, which connects women in the financial and fintech sector and supports their career and personal growth.

Beata Borer

Beata Borer is originally from Slovakia and she is passionate about traveling and D&I. She joined MSD in March 2022 and was appointed as the Simplification and Harmonization Lead in May 2024. Previously, she was the EMEA, improving financial management and efficiency. Beata promotes diversity at MSD, sponsoring the MSD CZ Rainbow Alliance EBRG and contributing to MSD's Gold Award for LGBTQ+ Friendly Employer in 2023. She worked in finance leadership at PepsiCo for over 20 years. Beata holds a bachelor's from Universidad de Complutense de Madrid and a master's from the University of Economics in Bratislava.

Javier Leonor

Born in Segovia, Spain, Javier holds degrees in Telecommunications from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain) and the Hochschule Mannheim (Germany), complemented by an MBA from the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). With over two decades of experience as an IT consultant, Javier embarked on a new journey in 2018, assuming a pivotal role in Accenture's Global Inclusion and Diversity team. Here, he leads the company's LGBT+ initiatives, widely known as Pride at Accenture. Javier is a distinguished member of the Global Leadership Council of Workplace Pride, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights on a global scale. Furthermore, he represents Accenture at the Partnership for Global LGBTI Equality and Open for Business showcasing his dedication to fostering inclusivity and equality in workplaces worldwide.

Date: 17/06/2024

Start time: 09:00 CEST

Venue: Marriott Prague I V Celnici 8, 110 00 Nové Město