Boosting LGBTIQ+ leadership

LGBTIQ+ Authentic Leaders Programme, PwC Australia

PwC Australia’s LGBTIQ+ Authentic Leaders Programme is empowering LGBTIQ+ talent to unleash their full potential and put themselves forward for new opportunities.

LGBTIQ+ Authentic Leaders Programme

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer + (LGBTIQ+) issues, once a taboo topic in business circles, have risen to the forefront in recent years. Inclusion has improved, thanks to diversity strategies and employee networks that support more people than ever to come out at work. Yet a more favourable workplace environment has not translated into a commensurate rise in LGBTIQ+ people in leadership positions. 

PwC Australia is helping to develop more of its LGBTIQ+ solvers into future leaders through the LGBTIQ+ Authentic Leaders programme. Launched in 2017, the programme equips participants with strategic insights, personal leadership skills and a powerful network to accelerate their career path.

The LGBTIQ+ Authentic Leaders programme is a six-month transformational leadership experience for LGBTIQ+ identifying people that leads them on a journey of self-discovery and self-authority. Throughout the programme, participants discover their core values and learn how to actively use them as a compass in leadership and in life. Each week, participants are challenged to take bold steps, informed by their values, to help shift their sense of what is possible through confidential small group discussions, online leadership retreats with experiential activities, group coaching and individual coaching sessions. 

Because the programme encourages individuals to dig deep, challenge themselves, be true to their values, take bold steps and overcome things holding them back at home and at work, participants are better equipped to master the doubts that are often ingrained within them early in life. By the end of the programme, participants are more prepared to confidently chart a path that accelerates their career goals and aspirations.

We recognise that everyone’s path is unique. By cultivating the leadership capabilities of our LGBTIQ+ staff and providing them with the necessary skills and experiences to become future leaders, PwC Australia is empowering its talent to unleash their full potential and put themselves forward for new opportunities.

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“The Authentic Leaders programme had a profound impact on me, both personally and professionally. I will always be grateful that PwC made this investment in me to help me become a more happy and confident LGBTIQ+ person and leader.”

Chloe LangbroekLGBTIQ+ Authentic Leaders programme graduate, PwC Australia

The results

  • 120+ graduates since 2017.
  • Nominated as a finalist in the 2019 Michael Kirby LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Award.
  • PwC’s LGBTIQ+ Authentic Leaders programme is expanding the number of openly LGBTIQ+ leaders by helping individuals create their own authentic leadership path, live a more balanced life, form deeper connections, inspire others and have a more powerful impact in their day-to-day work. We receive extremely positive end-of-programme feedback, like the testimonial below.
Boosting LGBTIQ+ leadership

Participant testimonial

“The Authentic Leaders programme had a profound impact on me, both personally and professionally. While I felt I was confident to be "out" prior to completing Authentic Leaders, the programme helped me become more aware of and confront various areas of my life that I was unknowingly second-guessing myself and holding myself back from being my truly authentic self. Together with my peers, we unpacked the various perfectionism, people-pleasing and pretending thought processes and behaviours holding us back, and that LGBTIQ+ people often experience, learned via the many years of attempting to hide or make up for a core part of our being. Authentic Leaders had an immediate and lasting impact on how I interact with the world, and my confidence in navigating personal and work environments and relationships. I will always be grateful that PwC made this investment in me to help me become a more happy and confident LGBTIQ+ person and leader.”

Chloe Langbroek,Senior Manager, Consulting, PwC Australia (Programme alumna)
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Aoife Flood

Aoife Flood

Senior Manager, Global Inclusion and Diversity, PwC Ireland (Republic of)

Helen Ewin

Helen Ewin

Senior Manager, Global Inclusion and Diversity, PwC United Kingdom

Bradley Deckert

Bradley Deckert

Manager, Global Inclusion and Diversity, PwC US

Tuneet Bahi

Tuneet Bahi

Manager, Global Inclusion and Diversity, PwC United Kingdom

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