Growing and deepening our culture of LGBT+ inclusion

In November 2016, Jonathan Suárez joined PwC China as part of a one-year international exchange programme. This exchange programme involved a personal move from the Netherlands to Hong Kong SAR and his first experience at PwC. Wanting to get to know as many people as possible across the firm, he immediately joined the office’s recently-established LGBT+ inclusion group (now called Shine). Having taken that step, Jonathan quickly found out for himself that inclusion at PwC isn’t just a word, but an everyday reality.

“At that time, the executive sponsor of the LGBT+ group at PwC China was the chief operations officer. I got to know her through the group in my first few weeks. Then one day we were asked to request feedback from people we’d worked with for the performance evaluation process, and I decided to request feedback from her.”

He continues: “Because we hadn’t worked closely together, she wasn't able to provide feedback on my work. But she clearly thought it was great that I’d reached out to one of the most senior people in the firm. So instead of giving feedback, she invited me to her office for a chat. We ended up having a two-hour conversation about her experience of being part of the LGBT+ community in PwC. The chat became quite personal, and we also talked about our families. For someone like me who had only been with PwC for three months and was still very junior, that was a really inspiring moment – one that I treasure to this day.”

Seven years on, Jonathan’s one-year exchange with PwC has turned into a career – and Hong Kong SAR has become his adopted home. His route to get there was a varied one. It began in his native Colombia, where as an economics student he worked as a volunteer for a global not-for-profit platform that helps young people develop their leadership potential. On finishing his degree he started working with this platform full-time, and within three years he was promoted to its global leadership team in the Netherlands. There he met a PwC partner who sat on the platform’s supervisory group – and an international exchange opportunity at PwC China followed. Having already identified PwC as a place he’d like to work, Jonathan jumped at the chance.

Today, Jonathan works everyday to build a culture of innovation and inclusion at PwC China. So, what’s made him decide to stay and build his career? “I've had the chance to work with inspiring leaders – people I can trust, respect and look up to,” he explains. “Also, I’ve always felt accepted and encouraged, and that matters a lot to me given I’m in a minority group, not just because of where I’m from but also being gay. And the third thing is that I've been able to develop my career around my strengths and interests. I've been given opportunities to explore and realise my potential. PwC is a fantastic place to build a career.”

As well as advancing his career, Jonathan has also become co-chair of PwC’s Shine network in PwC China, acting as a role model for inclusion within the firm. He’s doing the same in wider society too, including joining an external mentoring programme for LGBT+ professionals in Hong Kong SAR to help them progress their careers, and supporting an NGO that looks to tackle gender-based violence in Colombia. He also enjoys public speaking, including at Hong Kong SAR Toastmasters Club. And he loves the outdoors, having got involved in the main sport in Hong Kong by joining an LGBT dragon boat racing team. “That’s especially nice because I get connected with the community outside of PwC through sport,” he says.

Finally, a surprising fact about Jonathan is that he’s a member of what he calls a “rainbow family”. What does he mean by that? “Not a rainbow family because my parents are same sex, but because I have three siblings – and all four of us are proudly LGBT,” he explains. “We are three boys and one girl, and we’ve all come out, with full family support. It's a whole new generation of our family tree that’s fully LGBT. I’m not sure if that’s unique – but people often tell me it is!”