Description
Please join HSBC Pride Hong Kong and Community Business for a special evening with Mr. Gay India 2019 Suresh Ramdas. In an armchair discussion moderated by Fern Ngai, CEO of Community Business, Suresh will share his personal story, and how he is breaking stereotypes and leveraging the Mr. Gay India platform to drive social change in India. With the recent repeal of Sec377 of the Indian penal code which now effectively decriminalises homosexuality, learn how the landscape is changing in India, and India’s journey towards LGBT+ equality.
Register for the event by 26 May 2019. Spaces are limited, so please register NOW to avoid disappointment.
Event Speakers
Suresh Ramdas
Mr. Gay India 2019
Suresh Ramdas is a leader and change maker. He is a dynamic, optimistic, charismatic and humble person who sees the opportunity to leverage the highly visible platform of Mr Gay India to drive social change in his home country.
With networking as one of his core strengths, Suresh has moved up the corporate ladder at HP in his 15-year tenure. He started as a Tech Support Engineer in 2004 and is now the Global Training Lead for HP’s Customer Support Team. He is also a Certified Diversity Professional by DTUI, USA.
With motivation sprinkled to his core strength, he started the HP India Pride Business Impact Network as the only open gay man in late 2016.
In 2017, he was selected to be one of the Global Fellows at the Out & Equal Workplace Advocates and in 2018, he attended the LGBTQ Executive Leadership Program at Stanford because he believes that India now needs LGBTQ leaders in the corporate space to be change makers. This fueled him to start a Leadership Program called Leading with Pride in collaboration with Dwight Cook from Working with Pride.
To break some stereotypes, Suresh participated in and is the winner of Mr. Gay India 2019. He represented India at the Mr. Gay World event in Cape Town, South Africa, where he was one of the top 10 contestants. In both these events, he shared about his work on a campaign called "Corporate Trans Inclusion" and also on how to create an environment of Equity.
With networking as one of his core strengths, Suresh has moved up the corporate ladder at HP in his 15-year tenure. He started as a Tech Support Engineer in 2004 and is now the Global Training Lead for HP’s Customer Support Team. He is also a Certified Diversity Professional by DTUI, USA.
With motivation sprinkled to his core strength, he started the HP India Pride Business Impact Network as the only open gay man in late 2016.
In 2017, he was selected to be one of the Global Fellows at the Out & Equal Workplace Advocates and in 2018, he attended the LGBTQ Executive Leadership Program at Stanford because he believes that India now needs LGBTQ leaders in the corporate space to be change makers. This fueled him to start a Leadership Program called Leading with Pride in collaboration with Dwight Cook from Working with Pride.
To break some stereotypes, Suresh participated in and is the winner of Mr. Gay India 2019. He represented India at the Mr. Gay World event in Cape Town, South Africa, where he was one of the top 10 contestants. In both these events, he shared about his work on a campaign called "Corporate Trans Inclusion" and also on how to create an environment of Equity.
Fern Ngai
CEO, Community Business
Fern joined Community Business 7 years ago and under her leadership, the organisation has expanded its products and services, established a subsidiary in India, and launched the ground-breaking Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Index and annual Awards. Fern is a Steering Committee member of the 30% Club Hong Kong which believes in collaborative, concerted business-led efforts to help accelerate progress towards gender parity on Hong Kong corporate boards.
Originally from Canada, Fern has 40 years of broad experience in financial services, technology, change management, and in workplace diversity and community programmes. She held leadership roles in the human resources, technology and operations, governance, and corporate affairs functions at Standard Chartered Bank and was its first diversity and inclusion champion for Hong Kong. She volunteers as a board director of KELY Support Group, a Hong Kong charity dedicated to supporting young people.
Originally from Canada, Fern has 40 years of broad experience in financial services, technology, change management, and in workplace diversity and community programmes. She held leadership roles in the human resources, technology and operations, governance, and corporate affairs functions at Standard Chartered Bank and was its first diversity and inclusion champion for Hong Kong. She volunteers as a board director of KELY Support Group, a Hong Kong charity dedicated to supporting young people.
Venue Sponsor
With thanks to our Venue Sponsor,
