On 22nd February 2020, Delhi will host RISE (Reimagining Inclusion for Social Equity), a LGBTI Conference, Job Fair and Marketplace. The first edition of RISE was hosted in the Bengaluru edition. RISE is the flagship event organized by the Pride Circle, India's diversity and inclusion consulting, that enables organizations to foster inclusion with its expertise and solutions.

As India has just begun to fight the centuries old gender bias and companies have started to expand the scope of their definition of gender diversity, such initiatives are required. 

To enhance and empower the LGBTI talent, the event is designed to provide safe space for the job seekers. Such events can be crucial to show that they will be judged and selected based on their talent and not rejected for their sexual orientation.

Srini Ramaswamy, co-founder, Pride Circle, said, "Through RISE, we are promoting the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in the workforce.”

“Through different formats of dialogue between the job seekers and the employers, we aim to shed the fears developed due to the sexual orientation of the talent pool in workplace environments," added Ramaswamy. 

The first such event in India, in Bangalore had attracted more than 250 people looking for employment and included companies like Intel, Goldman Sachs and Uber. The fair led to 43 job placements with annual aggregate CTC of INR 3.9 crores. Both white as well as blue-collar jobs were offered spread across diverse sectors like IT, hospitality, banking, finance, housekeeping, among others.

Many inclusive organizations including Uber, Accenture, BNY Mellon, The Lalit, Kronokare, Unhotel, among others, are participating in the Delhi edition of the job fair. Let’s see how many placements are witnessed in the second edition and how far the experience and the opportunity empowers the LGBTI community of working professionals.