As the official and exclusive representative of the European Union Diversity Charter in Hungary, the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum participated for the 6th time this year in EU Diversity Month. We are happy to announce that, surpassing last year's success, this year nearly 80 events were organised during the month by many of the Diversity Charter's signatories and partners, offering a wide range of colourful activities.

Nearly 40 organisers, more than 100 co-organisers, speakers and moderators engaged more than 25,000 participants who spent more than 500 hours on diversity and inclusion and its sub-themes.

We explored and discussed various and important topics this year:

• ·         gender equality, with a particular focus on women's participation in leadership
• ·         mental health and well-being of employees
• ·         diversity and inclusion in general and corporate governance
• ·         inclusive employment of people with disabilities
• ·         LGBTIQA+
• ·         speak up culture
• ·         mentoring
• ·         women in IT
• ·         climate change and anxiety
• ·         prejudice and HR processes
• ·         unconscious bias
• ·         self-promotion

The organisers have demonstrated the importance of diversity and inclusion in Hungary by hosting numerous webinars, workshops, roundtables, exhibitions, lectures, conferences, factory visits, art events, volunteering days and podcasts. A total of 21 of the nearly 80 events were open to the public, attracting many people and companies who are not signatories to the Diversity Charter but are committed to the values of the charter.

This year, 55 closed events have contributed to the development of the organisations and sensitization. It is difficult to highlight just few of the many exciting, inspiring, and educative programs, but we would like to briefly share just a few of them that had a particularly strong impact on participants.

Several charter signatories organised volunteer days, ERSTE Bank Hungary organised a charity doughnut fair for Cseperedő Foundation with around 500 participants, where colleagues give donation by buying doughnuts.

To have a seat at the table, female leaders often choose masculine leadership methods to assert themselves. Does it matter at the end of the day if they become successful this way, or could it have been done differently? What makes female energy work, and how can it be used as a leader? Gárdus Zsuzsa, member of the board responsible for diversity at HBLF and CEO of female led Jobsgarden, discussed this with Ivanov Katalin, country HR leader of Schneider Electric, Siliga Tünde, director of Schneider Electric’s plant in Gyöngyös, and Németh Kornél, CEOs of Rossman, a company employing 90% female employees. The webinar was attended by around 170 participants.

KPMG Hungary’s panel discussion with CEOs participating in HBLF Women on Board “CEOs for Balance” program attracted 300 participants. Company leaders discussed how the IDE (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity) approach is incorporated into the framework of company mission. They talked about their common values, setting an example and what they can do every day as leaders for a more inclusive environment.

Thanks to Műtárgy.com, the popular Night of Artifacts Festival, that places great emphasis on including special events and activities that are accessible to people with disabilities, was held with 300 participants.

HBLF Diversity Charter Hungary organised several business breakfasts in May, where the signatories of the Charter shared their corporate good practices with other participants in round table discussions. We were especially pleased to see one of our most active members (Tesco Hungary) and one of our youngest signatories’ collaborations. Nóra Hevesi (Tesco) and Mónika Pais (Diageo Budapest) shared their own stories and experiences, presented their corporate practices on how to approach menopause in corporate level. The discussion was moderated by well-known menopause activist Orsolya Iványi. Building on this year's EU Diversity Month slogan "assessing diversity", we also invited our charter signatories to a business breakfast, where Tesco Hungary and Shell Hungary introduced their diversity report and measurement methodology with participants. These events provided an opportunity to exchange ideas and build an even stronger community.

The first Alumni Meeting of the HBLF International X Mentor Program, which was also the closing event of Diversity Month in Hungary, was held at Bosch Budapest Innovation Campus. It was fantastic to see how big the community has grown, with nearly 500 people participating in HBLF mentoring program since 2017.

We are happy to share that the importance of DE&I has been supported by our media partners this year as well: appearing 13 times in radio and television, 2 times in print and 23 online articles delivered our messages.

The promotion of diversity and equal opportunities in Hungary will not stop after May! In June, there will be more more valuable activities for employees of our charter signatories, and from September, HBLF Diversity Charter Business Breakfast events will continue