Community Business, a leading not-for-profit organisation advancing responsible and inclusive business practices in Asia, revealed its 2019 Hong Kong Top Employers for LGBT+ Inclusion and the winners of its 2019 Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Awards. 


Source: Community Business

The 2019 Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Index, first launched in 2015 and offered every two years, is Asia’s first benchmark on corporate policies and practices for creating inclusive workplaces for LGBT+ employees. This year, 60 organisations participated in the Index, representing some 110,000 employees in Hong Kong, ranging from large multinationals to small NGOs, and from diverse industries such as financial services, hospitality, technology, legal, media, and properties and construction. Also established in 2015, the annual LGBT+ Inclusion Awards celebrate efforts to promote LGBT+ equality and inclusion in the workplace and community and provide an important platform for organisations and individuals to promote and amplify their meaningful achievements. The award nominations have been assessed based on the extent to which they are strategic, proactive, impactful, sustainable and paying it forward.


Source: Community Business

This year, 17 organisations achieved a Gold Standard in the Index. The law firm Linklaters received the 2019 Hong Kong Top Employer for LGBT+ Inclusion Award, ranking number one in the Index and climbing from a Silver Standard in 2017. The top ten ranked organisations in 2019 are:

  1. Linklaters
  2. HSBC
  3. Goldman Sachs
  4. Morgan Stanley
  5. Thomson Reuters 
  6. Herbert Smith Freehills 
  7. J.P. Morgan 
  8. Credit Suisse 
  9. Eversheds Sutherland  
  10. EY

“The last two years have seen remarkable progress towards LGBT+ Inclusion in Hong Kong. In contrast to previous years, 50% of the top ten ranked organisations for LGBT+ Inclusion in 2019 were from outside the financial services industry. This shows a dramatic shift in the way that other industries in Hong Kong are starting to recognise the business and moral case for LGBT+ inclusion, and for Diversity and Inclusion in general, and further illustrates that a clear strategy, concerted effort, and strong commitment can bring about significant change. In addition, today there are many resources that organisations can tap into for support and to learn what best practice looks like. The leading organisations have paved the way for those who are early in their LGBT+ inclusion journey,” said Fern Ngai, CEO of Community Business.


(Source: Community Business)

Small or Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are manufacturing firms with fewer than 100 employees in Hong Kong, or non-manufacturing firms (including the branches or subsidiaries of global/regional companies) with fewer than 50 employees in Hong Kong. In 2019, nine SMEs participated in the Index and based on their performance, the 2019 Hong Kong Top 3 SMEs for LGBT+ Inclusion are:

  1. Ambition & HaTCH
  2. Blessed Ministry Community Church
  3. Hugill & Ip

Top Companies by Industry 

This year, Community Business also recognised the top 3 ranked organisations on the 2019 LGBT+ Inclusion Index from the Financial Services and Legal industries, the two sectors for which there were the highest number of participating organisations. 

Financial Services: 1. HSBC 2. Goldman Sachs 3. Morgan Stanley
Legal: 1. Linklaters 2. Herbert Smith Freehills 3. Eversheds Sutherland

Launch of 2019 LGBT+ Inclusion Index Report – Raising the Bar 

“Our 2019 LGBT+ Inclusion Index Report - Raising the Bar will be launched in June and will present the collective findings from all the participating organisations, providing critical benchmarking data and highlighting best practices. Now that we have multiple industries recognising the importance of LGBT+ inclusion and many organisations making clear strides to improve their inclusion policies and practices year on year, we hope that this report will mark the beginning of an increased commitment to LGBT+ inclusion in Hong Kong and signal a shift in progress toward local and companies from non-traditional industries. We look forward to monitoring progress and supporting more organisations in their LGBT+ inclusion efforts over the next two years and seeing a larger and even more diverse pool of Index participants for 2021.” said Ngai.


(Source: Community Business)

To recognise the significant contribution made by companies, individuals and community organisations towards LGBT+ inclusion in Hong Kong, Community Business also announced the winners of its 2019 Hong Kong LGBT+ Inclusion Awards, including: 

LGBT+ Network Award: Credit Suisse, Hong Kong LGBT Open Network

LGBT+ Executive Sponsor Award: Peter Picton-Phillipps, EY

LGBT+ Inclusion Champion Award: Rob Head, Thomson Reuters

LGBT+ Ally Award: Sudesh Thevasenabathy, AXA Hong Kong

LGBT+ Community Impact Award: Blessed Ministry Community Church, Living Your True Self (活出真我)

Community Business Advancing LGBT+ Rights Award: Michael Vidler, Vidler & Co. Solicitors 

The Community Business Advancing LGBT+ Rights Award is a special one-off award to recognise the groundbreaking work of human rights lawyer Michael Vidler of Vidler & Co. Solicitors who has made a significant impact on the advancement of LGBT+ rights in Hong Kong. Mr Vidler has defended several landmark LGBT+ discrimination cases, including the QT case involving the issuance of dependant visas for same sex couples. 


(Source: Community Business)

About Community Business 

Community Business is a not-for-profit organisation (Hong Kong Charity Number 91/6560) whose mission is to lead, inspire and support businesses to have a positive impact on people and communities. A recognised leader in advancing responsible and inclusive business practices in Asia, Community Business facilitates networks, conducts research and events, leads programmes and campaigns and provides training and consulting. Their focus on responsible business is aligned to four mission-led themes: building responsible leadership, tackling workplace inequality, ensuring employee wellbeing, and promoting social inclusion.

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