Jeiz Robles

05/12/2024

Julienne Loh's lived experience of social mobility was fueled by her dedication to not let her starting circumstance define where she goes, rather by the decisions she make. Now Founder and CEO ResolutionAdvisory, she highlighted how as individuals and organizations have a collective responsibility to level the playing field.

Thank you for sharing your story, Julienne and to Mathew Mathews for facilitating this fireside chat at the Community Business 2024 DIAN Singapore Conference.

05/12/2024

Steph and I are such in a unique position that we are able to collaborate towards advocacy that we are both passionate about. Not only do we talk DEI through our date nights, or our road trips, we are both action-driven, always asking "so what can we do"?

It was a great opportunity to collaborate through Community Business and Open for Business in this event where we not only talked about leveraging thier report on The Economic Case of LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Southeast Asia, but Steph and I were also given the space to talk about our story, our family's story and how in this day and age homophobia has driven us to leave our home country and find refuge elsewhere. Precisely the concept of "brain drain" and reduced "gdp per capita" from the economic case, but of course, it's also so much more. While Steph and I chose to rise through the experience and continue fighting, not everyone has the voice, platform and opportunity to do so. The very reason why we do what we do.

hashtag ***r

🌟 Event Recap: Data to Dialogue 🌟

On Tuesday, we had an incredible session at our Data to Dialogue event, held in partnership with Open for Business. This engaging virtual event brought together thought leaders and advocates to discuss the Economic Case for LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Southeast Asia.
We kicked off the program with a warm welcome from Jeiz Robles, followed by an insightful presentation from Stephanie Galera, who shared her expertise on the importance of data in driving meaningful conversations around LGBTQ+ inclusion. Participants then engaged in dynamic breakout discussions, diving deeper into the topics presented and sharing their perspectives.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this important dialogue! Together, we are making strides toward a more inclusive future.

03/12/2024

As a neurodivergent individual, I have to recognize that I can't be and do everything. There are ceilings and limitations whether I want it or not and organizations need to be focusing on what can be instead of what should be.

Working with persons with disabilities needs to be well-thought off. In addition to hiring, one needs to prepare the workforce the person is being hired into. Because each disability is different, a system of inclusive leadership centered around listening, empathy, constant upstanding and taking action needs to be built.

On International Day of Persons with Disabilities today, can you take a minute to learn something new? Maybe listen to our podcast on Accessibility in Disability: https://lnkd.in/ggZvsuQB

🌍 On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we honour the 1.3 billion individuals worldwide living with disabilities. This year's theme, "Amplifying the Leadership of Persons with Disabilities for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future", highlights the vital role of disabled leaders in shaping equitable policies and advancing global progress.

🔗 Head to our website to explore how we can support this vision: https://ow.ly/R9RK50UjEfa

29/11/2024

It was a pleasure to hear from global leaders on the important role that Talent Management needs to be playing on Social Mobility at the 2024 Community Business DIAN Singapore Conference.

Not only are employee networks crucial in elevating conversations to drive social mobility, organizations also have to be conscious of exposure gaps that result to biases and advantages that not everyone gets to access.

In the process of recruiting, engaging, retaining and promoting talent, how is your organization making sure that no one is left behind? Are your biases from hires from certain universities excluding skilled candidates? Are everyone exposed to networking opportunities or is it always just the same "top talents" given the same opportunities? How are you elevating introverted leaders who may have different ways of leading but are also as, if not, more effective?

As highlighted in this discussion, we all should embrace the discomfort in the discomfort and continuously hold these difficult conversations. If we won't, who will?

29/11/2024

The most valuable insights from the DIAN Network come from the network members themselves. Their perspectives, struggles and successes serve as a platform for others to be a safe space and to learn.

At the 2024 Community Business DIAN Singapore conference, I facilitated table conversations around their own experiences of social mobility and the cultural nuances in each country in Asia when it comes to this topic. A lot came back with real world examples we haven't tackeld before like how the passport you are holding actually makes or breaks an opportunity for someone, the biases towards or against the government has for certain communities when it comes to enabling economic empowement and so forth.

Join us in the network to learn from industry leaders and drive change together.

27/11/2024

Excited to be collaborating with my wife and partner in advocacy, Steph Galera-Robles as we bring to life the economic case of LGBTQ+ inclusion through our own lived experiences, together.

Join us as we demonstrate how to leverage data to execute a meaningful dialogue for impact.

📣Data to Dialogue: The Economic Case of LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Southeast Asia
💡 Speaker Announcement
👉Find Out More: Website page
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Join us for a virtual regional launch as we unveil the results of the recently published Economic Case for LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Southeast Asia! In collaboration with Open for Business, this event will provide a platform for high-quality, meaningful dialogue grounded in insightful data that impacts our society as a whole.
We are excited to feature two remarkable speakers:

Steph Galera (she/her) is a proud Asian woman raised in the Philippines and currently residing in Thailand. With 15 years of experience in various HR roles within a global tech company, she has become a strong advocate for LGBTQ+ communities in Southeast Asia. As the Head of Southeast Asia with Open for Business, Steph is dedicated to building the economic case for LGBTQ+ inclusion. She also consults for Radius Networks, leveraging her expertise to connect employee resource groups across Asia and globally.

Jeiz Robles (she/her) serves as the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) at Community Business. With over 10 years of experience, Jeiz is a subject matter expert in the DE&I landscape in Asia, localizing LGBTQ+ inclusion programs, and creating sustainable employee networks. A certified Design Thinking coach, she excels at building empathy and extracting community experiences to inform corporate DE&I strategies. Jeiz has contributed to significant resources such as the Philippine Financial & Inter-industry Pride Playbook and Open for Business's Economic Case of LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Southeast Asia.

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with our speakers and learn how we can collectively foster an inclusive environment for all. Sign up now!

22/11/2024

At the Community Business 2024 DIAN Singapore Conference, hosted by Citi, Shruti Thakar welcomed us by affirming how DEI is a business imperative for them and sharing how DEI is everyone's responsibility in the company. Their leaders are called in to advance DEI through inclusive leadership and various practices.

Thank you Citi for being our conference partner, for being one of the sponsors of our Social Mobility research and for supporting Community Business and our impact all through out.

22/11/2024

I opened the Community Business 2024 DIAN Conference by recognizing that while Social Mobility is something that's just emerging in APAC as a terminology, it is something that has always existed and affects all of us.

I shared my story of growing up as the eldest in a Filipino family of migrant workers, and the privileges made available to me in spite of being part of several minority communities.

- I was privileged to pass and graduate from The University of the Philippines, one of the universities being looked up to in the recruitment process in most companies, despite the hardship my parents had to go through in order to make this happen.

- I was privileged to have connections and networks that introduced me to IBM as well as mentors and sponsors that inspired me through out my career.

- I was privileged to be told that "You are in charge of your career " in my early days setting the tone of how I navigated my career journey.

- I was privileged to be part of a company that values inclusion for the LGBTQ+ and the neurodivergent community.

Without all these, I don't think I would be in a better socio-economic position than when I started. And so, the private sector plays a huge role in social mobility because it's the workplace environment they create that remove barriers for people of varying backgrounds and characteristics, socio-economic status included.

It was a day of fruitful discussions, which I'll share more about in the coming days.

Kudos to the DIAN Team for bringing this all together and thanks to Citi, our conference partner for providing the space.

17/11/2024

It felt like a DEI-Alumni homecoming at the recently concluded IBM Ph DEI summit as we wore our red badges and reunited with friends from the DEI space from IBM, previously from IBM and from other partner organizations.

Cheering Steph on talking about Open for Business' Southeast Asia Report on The Economic Case of LGBTQ+ Inclusion.

Congratulations IBM BRGs for making this happen!

14/11/2024

At the PFIP - Philippine Financial & Inter-Industry Pride Q4 Membership meeting. Great to see everyone again after a long time, thanks to an invitation for Open for Business to go through the results of their South East Asia report on The Economic Case of LGBTQ+ Inclusion for the Philippines.

This time ako yung trailing spouse. Proud of you hon!

11/11/2024

It was great to be in one space once more with DEI leaders and advocates at the Singapore DEI Summit, on behalf of Community Business. A community for communities, learning from each other and finding innovative and creative ways to make an impact.

Varied topics were covered from Singapore's successes and continued challenges, neorodiversity, ageing, inclusive ledership, social mobility and more. Hearing from CDOs was also a good reminder of anchoring DEI strategies to core business strategies to get support from the broader organization and I was so intrigued by the breakout on Game Design: Designing a DEI game as it was a good and different way to approach to enablement for inclusion. https://lnkd.in/gmr48Gb5

A day-long learning and connection. Thank you and Congratulations to everyone who made this happen!

03/11/2024

Happy Transgender Parent Day!

Today, we come together to honor the incredible transgender parents who fill our lives with love, resilience, and strength. Whether you are a trans mom, dad, or nonbinary parent, we recognize your courage and dedication to your family and community. Your journey reminds us that parenthood is rooted in love, authenticity, and the brave act of being true to yourself, even in a world that can be unwelcoming.

To all the trans parents out there, we see you and appreciate the immense compassion, courage, and sacrifices you make for the sake of your children and future generations. Your efforts to create a better world do not go unnoticed. We honor you and the extraordinary love you contribute to our lives today and always.

28/10/2024

We are launching Community Business' 5th LGBTQ+ Mentoring Programme in Asia for 2025 and we need YOU to make this happen in either ways:

1) Apply as a mentor/mentee.
2) Share this to your network to reach people who will benefit from it.
3) We still need corporate partners to make this happen, could that be you?

More information can be found here: https://lnkd.in/gbFEkwRk

16/10/2024

October 16 is international pronouns day.

Pronouns are words we use in everyday language to refer to ourselves or others. Here are 3 tips to be a "pro" with pronouns, especially in the workplace:

1. If you’re not sure what a colleague’s pronouns are, politely ask them or listen to what pronouns they are using. Or you can simply refer to them by their lived name.

2. Use a colleague’s correct pronouns once you’re aware of them. Make it a habit to refer to your colleague by their correct pronouns until it feels natural to you.

3. If you make a mistake when referring to a colleague, apologize sincerely, correct yourself and move on. As Maya Angelou said, when you know better, do better.

Happy International Pronouns Day from your friends at PFIP!🌈

01/10/2024

At the Open for Business Southeast Asia Report launch in Bangkok, we convened with policy makers, business leaders, LGBTQ+ advocates and more to tackle how the economic case of LGBTQ+ inclusion can and should be utilized to advance in different spaces. Supplemented by the LGBTQ+ Toolkit by Sasin School of Management, the future of the community is bright in Thailand and key takeaways included reminders to continue reaching the often unreached spaces specially in the realm of LGBTQ+ entreperneurship, small and medium businesses that comprise a big part of the Thai economy, transinclusion, economically disadvantaged individuals and more.

Thanks to ทรานส์ทาเลนท์ (Transtalents) and Sasin School of Management for making this possible!

These resources can be found here 👇
https://lnkd.in/gpr_dJbJ
https://lnkd.in/gH9Mws93

26/09/2024

Beyond thrilled to share the launch of Open for Business' report on The Economic Case for LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Southeast Asia featuring Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

Articulating very local and culturally relevant economic cases, this report is a product of collaboration with various local organizations and the Program Advisory Board that represented lived experiences from each of the countries, in addition to the survey results. I am so excited to see this into fruition and look forward to getting this report utilized in various spaces to advance LGBTQ+ inclusion in all areas.

I look forward to joining the launch in Bangkok next week and collaborating further to make this report another vehicle for change in the region.



PFIP - Philippine Financial & Inter-Industry Pride APCOM ทรานส์ทาเลนท์

Today we’re thrilled to launch The Economic Case for LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Southeast Asia, which features focus countries Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines…

24/09/2024

Thailand takes a ground-breaking step for inclusion as the king officially signs off on marriage equality, taking effect in exactly 120 days from today.

Tara na, friends!

King Maha Vajiralongkorn gave royal assent to the new law, passed by parliament in June, which will take effect in 120 days -- meaning the first weddings are expected to take place in January.

14/09/2024

At ReThink HK Day 2, Community Business played back the current realities of DE&I in Asia and equipped people from all around the region practical ways to empathize and ideate for solutions to complex workplace and societal challenges through Culture Design Thinking.

It was such a fun and exhilarating exercise compressed in less than 90 minutes with such enthusiasm from our participants to embody and internalize the respective intersecting personas each of them worked on.

If you are looking to build a culture of empathy, psychological safety and inclusion, we at Community Business will be glad to be part of your journey.