As a community of LGBT+ civil servants, we work better together, we learn from one another and most all, we support each other to be our most inclusive selves. That’s why we’re holding an annual conference for LGBT+ civil servants focused on workplace inclusion and career development, starting in 2022. I’ll be leading a team of volunteers to put together the conference.

It will be a conference for all LGBT+ civil servants and allies to come together to discuss, learn and collaborate. We want to provide you with opportunities to hear from others in our workplace on what they are doing to support workplace inclusion, to learn about strategies and initiatives your colleagues have implemented, and – most of all – to meet one another, whether that is digitally or in-person.

This conference will give you access to LGBT+ civil servants of all grades from multiple departments, allowing for advice on career development, whether that is to achieve a promotion, learn about a different specialism or a change of career path.

This is also your conference. We want you to shape it to get what you want out of it – whether that’s a focus on a particular area; a discussion on something that matters most to you, or just being in a safe space with your peers.

What can you expect?

We’re developing the conference now. Our aim is for the conference to:

  • be available both digitally and in-person
  • have an agenda focusing on workplace inclusion and career development featuring speakers from across the Civil Service
  • be interactive with opportunity for granular discussion
  • be a safe space for discussion, learning and networking

We need your help

I am pleased to be leading this work stream and look forward to hearing from you what you want to get out of this conference. However, this is not a small task, so I am looking for a team of volunteers to ensure we can maximise the potential of what this conference can be.

We need people with project delivery, communications, administrative or policy experience to make this a success. If you are interested please do get in touch with me at james.jefferson@civilservice.lgbt.

What’s next?

In January 2022, we will consult with Civil Service LGBT+ Network members to hear your ideas on what you would like to gain from this conference. This will help us scope and set the right agenda.