This year, the theme for Pride Month is ‘Proud to be me’, and we spoke with Glamazon members about what that phrase means to them - and what they’re most excited about this month.
Diversity is core to our business and Pride Month brings employees from different parts of the business and country together to network, celebrate and party with friends and colleagues. Including a party at our London office which featured a red-carpet experience, plenty of face painting, and a DJ set hosted by radio presenter Adele Roberts.
Jyothsna Puttanna – Professional Services Graduate, AWS
“I’m originally from India and while I’ve lived in London for two years, I wasn’t able to attend Pride last year - so this is my first one and the anticipation is building for me!
“I think we all go through a phase of wanting to hide in the crowd, to fit in and follow the norm. ‘Proud to be me’ means gaining the confidence to realise that’s not necessary: you don’t have to be part of the crowd, throughout all of human history, you are unique.
“Progress is built on top of other people’s work - it’s not individualistic and every little bit counts. I like to remind myself that everybody is unique.”
Anna Stordy – Account Executive
“I’m really proud of bringing my full self to work. It’s something I didn’t do when I was at school, and I didn’t really do at university, but Glamazon and the team I work with day-to-day have allowed me to do that, and I’m really proud of that!
“What I really love is that we have thrown a party that celebrates Glamazon, but open to everyone. To me, that’s the whole idea, a month of celebration.
“A lot of my colleagues from my team at Amazon are coming to this event tonight to support me. Partly because I’ve helped to organise tonight’s event, but also because this cause matters to them and that’s got me excited - you don’t have to be in the community to celebrate Pride.”
Pedro Aguayo Algar – Senior Programme Manager
“I’m from the south of Spain and I’m relatively new to London, so I’m looking forward to connecting with the LGBTQIA+ community this month.
“To me, the ‘Proud to be me’ theme means empathising with people and being understanding. It’s important that people are not judged because of how they present or express themselves. Whenever I find myself making assumptions about people in my everyday life, I always try to understand why I’m doing that and try not to, because I know that I wouldn’t like someone to do that to me.
“So, to me, it’s not only about allowing myself to be proud to be me - it’s also about making sure I allow other people to be proud to be themselves, too.”
Adrian Richards - Senior Brand Specialist
“This month I’m excited to get involved in many of the Pride events across the country and beyond.
“As I’m based in the Manchester office, I’ll be getting involved with Manchester Pride, but also London Pride and I’m hoping to attend Black Pride, too.
“I would also love to get involved with some of the festivities across Europe, too and I’ll be able to do that through the virtual events that Glamazon is hosting.
“Because our Manchester office was opened in 2020 it’s still quite new, so we’ll be partnering up with other affinity groups outside of Amazon in the northwest to get to know them.”
Read more about Adrian, who co-founded the Manchester Glamazon branch since relocating to Manchester to London.
Nikita Costello - Transport Specialist
“To me, ‘Proud to be me’ means living unapologetically. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, be proud to be yourself because there’s no one else like you!
“This month I’m really excited there’s going to be more LGBTQIA+ visibility across the business. I’m Brighton-based, so I’m also excited for the local celebrations, and I’m excited to see individuals celebrated too.
“June is such a vibrant month and the world is truly alive with pride - I can’t wait!”
Garrett Brown – Leadership Coach
“Amazon is such a great place to reinvent yourself or to find out who you really are. I’m from Chicago, and I moved to London a year and a half ago to follow my dreams.
“This is my first official Pride in London and as I work remotely, I’m really excited to take it all in and use this opportunity to meet new people in person!”
As one of Amazon’s 13 Affinity Groups, Glamazon supports the LGBTQIA+ community across the business through building community, raising awareness, and providing resources for LGBTQIA+ employees and allies. It is managed by volunteers who work on top of their day jobs, host both in-person and virtual events across the country and partner with the business to improve things like policies and benefits that impact LGBTQIA+ employees.
This year, Glamazon has been nominated by the British LGBT Awards as a Top-Ten Employee Resource Group, and by Proud Scotland as a top Corporate Employee Network. We’ve also ensured Amazon UK reached Stonewall’s Top 100 ranked UK organisations for LGBTQIA+ workplace equality.
This month, Glamazon will host a number of events to bring the LGBTQIA+ community together, but its work supports the community all year round to foster an inclusive community at Amazon.
Throughout the month, Glamazon will organise many exciting events, both in-person and virtual, to connect members of the LGBTQIA+ community at Amazon, a number of fundraising events to benefit LGBTQIA+ charities around the UK and Glamazon members will attend Pride parades across the country. Several sites across the country will also raise the Pride flag in honour of the month.
To meet more of our Glamazon members check out our series profiling some of its members - like former Royal Navy officer Dan Neilson, who is helping shape inclusivity at Amazon.
