Taste of Equality | Pride Business Forum Annual Conference

Event Details

 

Keynote Speaker
RNDr. Michal Pitoňák, Ph.D.

Michal is a transdisciplinary scholar invested in better understanding of the links between the societal positions of people with diverse sexualities and gender identities and their health and well-being. Consequently, he is interested in researching stigma and societal norms from various disciplinary perspectives. Michal's background is in biology, human geography, social-critical theories, including feminist and queer studies. He defended his Ph.D. thesis at Charles University in 2015 and he works for National institute of mental health since. In 2017 he founded a CSO Queer Geography which he currently chairs.

 

Keynote Speaker
Johanna Nejedlová

In her work, Johanna Nejedlová is dedicated to preventing sexual violence and harassment. She was at the birth of the organization Konsent, which spreads awareness about what sexual violence is and how to approach it through workshops in primary and secondary schools, bars, and companies. For her activism, she won the Women of Europe award in 2019, for which Greta Thunberg and Síona Cahill, among others, were nominated. In addition, she was included in the 30 under 30 list by Forbes magazine in 2020. The American server Bitch Media included her in the list of the 50 most important figures of feminism in 2020. Johanna also works as a columnist and writes for Český rozhlas Radio Wave, Heroine, or A2larm.

 

Keynote Speaker
Krishna Omkar

Krishna Omkar is a globally recognised thought-leader on stakeholder capitalism, purpose, impact, ESG, and DEI. A corporate dealmaker by background, Krishna has advised on M&A transactions spanning more than 60 jurisdictions and US$200 billion in aggregate value. Krishna counsels boards of directors, C-suite executives, corporations, as well as sovereign states on approaching Purpose, Impact and ESG from a lens of fiduciary duty and opportunity generation, embedding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Sustainability as a business strategy to create equitable outcomes and sustainable growth.  In 2023, the UK and Indian governments named him one of 75 recipients of the UK-India Achievers Honours to mark 75 years of India’s independence. In 2022, Krishna was appointed a Fellow of St George's House of Windsor Castle. In 2021, he was named by Attitude as one of 101 Trailblazers Changing the World. Krishna was awarded a 2019 Asian Achievers Award and named 2018 Role Model of the Year by Stonewall. Krishna also received the inaugural Rising Star Award at the 2019 British Legal Awards.

 

Panelist
Roman Samotný

He studied journalism at the Komenský University in Bratislava. During and after his studies, he worked in several media as an editor, screenwriter and dramaturg. Since 2010, he has been co-organizing film festival called Filmový festival inakosti. He is the creator of the Queer Slovakia platform, within which he organizes events for LGBTI+ people and runs an online magazine. The platform also includes Tepláreň, which was created in 2012 as a party, which subsequently gave rise to the bar of the same name, which was transformed into an educational and community space after the terrorist attack in 2022. Currently, Roman is mainly dedicated to the initiative Ide nám o život, where he acts as a spokesperson and also focuses on education within the business sector.

 

Panelist
Petra Naskosová

Petra Naskosová is a lawyer, trainer at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and a member of the LGBT+ Rights Committee of the Government of the Czech Republic. Her practice focuses on assisting victims of bias violence, victims of serious crimes and, more recently, victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

 

Panelist
Lucia Pašková

Lucia Pašková is primarily known as a co-owner of Curaprox, but she is also a mother, partner, gardener, and a person who has been actively bridging the business world with the non-profit sector to achieve public benefit goals. She grew up in Stara Tura, where she attended a gymnasium, and later studied English and German teaching at Comenius University in Bratislava. A few years later, she founded the Slovak branch of Curaden.

She is a co-founder of initiatives such as #KtoPomozeSlovensku (#WhoWillHelpSlovakia) and #KtoPomozeUkrajine (#WhoWillHelpUkraine), a member of the Ide nám o život (We Care About Life) initiative, and collaborates with several other non-governmental organizations such as Bystrina, Nexteria, and the Slovak Debate Association.

In 2019, she was named Manager of the Year by the economic magazine Trend. In the same year, she became involved in the rights of LGBT+ people through the project Cesta k prijatiu (Path to Acceptance). The impetus for this was the shock from the results of the Eurobarometer 2019 survey, which revealed that up to 59% of people in Slovakia believe that gay, lesbian, and bisexual people should not have the same rights as heterosexual people.

Lucia is the recipient of the Inakosť (Otherness) Award 2022 in the business category.

 

Panelist
Martina Bednar

At SAP, she leads Pride Employee Resource Groups in Austria and Slovakia where she builds a safe space community for employees & provides education and awareness towards management.  She represents SAP in public on LGBTI+ topics and gets involved in equality issues outside the workplace.
In private time, she is a member of the Neos party and there in the queer group which focuses on rights of the LGBTI+ community. She is also a member of the board of the "Slovak Rainbow Families" and after the terrorist attack on the LGBTI+ bar she is also a member of the initiative "Our Lives are at Stake", which focuses on the adoption of appropriate anti-discrimination legislation and rights in Slovakia.

 

Panelist
Milena Jabůrková

Milena Jabůrková is the Vice-President of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, the leading employers' alliance in the country. She is the first woman to hold this position. Milena focuses on supporting the digital economy and education, aiming to establish a business-friendly and digitally-driven economy in the Czech Republic. She also works towards ensuring compliance with data protection and cyber security regulations and promotes the European digital single market. Milena is a member of IBM Czech Republic and Slovakia's leadership team, responsible for government relations and supporting the company's regional business strategies. With extensive experience in government, NGOs, and the private sector, she specializes in human resources, investment, international trade, and technological development. Milena holds degrees in social policy from Charles University in Prague and post-graduate studies in economy and international development from Victoria University of Manchester, UK.

 

Panelist
Vratislav Maňák

Vratislav Maňák comes from Stříbro. He studied journalism and media studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University. He works at Czech Television as an editor for the news website ČT24 and also teaches journalism at his alma mater.

He has published short stories in magazines such as Host, Plž, and Tvar. His collection of short stories titled "Šaty z igelitu" (Plastic Bag Dresses) is his debut book, for which he received the Jiří Orten Award in 2012. His novel "Rubikova kostka" (Rubik's Cube) was nominated for the European Union Prize for Literature in 2017. Maňák also creates works for children. His fairy tale in the Secessionist style, "Muž z hodin" (The Man from the Clock), was nominated for the Magnesia Litera Award in 2015. His story "O Nebesáři" (About the Sky Keeper) received the Golden Ribbon Award, and he wrote fairy tale series for Czech Radio, including "Co se skrývá pod břečťanem" (What Hides beneath the Ivy) and "Martin a dvířka do pohlednic" (Martin and the Postcard Doors), which were later published as the book "Expedice z pohlednice" (Expedition from a Postcard).

 

Panelist
Steven Van Droogenbroeck

Steven Van Droogenbroeck currently holds the position of Senior General Manager Group Risk at KBC Group. He has almost 25 years of experience within KBC – of which 18 years within risk management – in various roles such as Head of Risk Strategy Support, Head of Risk Measurement, Modelling and Processes, CRO Treasury and General Manager Enterprise, Insurance & Operational Risk Management. He also led several change projects, such as the Solvency II capital calculation and reporting project, throughout his career. He holds degrees in the field of Business Economics, IT and Marketing and is a certified Risk Manager. In his current role he is responsible for a variety of key risk management areas such as Operational Resilience and Innovation, Risk Markets and Treasury, Integrated Risk Management, Insurance Risk Management, Resolution, CRO and ECB relationship management.

 

Panelist
Tereza de Bardi

Tereza is a Consulting Partner at Deloitte Central Europe focused on transformations in Finance and Business Services. Apart business, she leads Deloitte’s Diversity and Inclusion in CZ, and acts as a country Ethics ambassador, is a co-founder of the D&I Shapers business platform while her mission is moving the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to the next level. As a kid, Tereza spent more than half of her pre-adult life abroad, in Asia and Africa, and moving between cultures and communities made her empathetic and resilient and embracing differences. In her D&I role she works towards women empowerment, steers the LGBTQ+ strategic initiatives and promotes need for authenticity at workplace. On the talent side, she loves to explore the waste ground of personal development, and as coach and mentor supports others to reach their full potential.

Panelist
Lenka Králová

Lenka Králová is a software engineer by profession with extensive experience in marketing. She is a board member of the Transparent organization, which advocates for a better life for trans people in Czechia. In 2020, she founded V Tranzu – a popular Youtube show where she interviews other trans people about their life. It helps people in the beginning of their transition journey and shows the general public that trans people are just like everyone else just with an extra complication. She often speaks to the media and politicians about issues that trans people in Czechia have to face. She became fully aware of her gender identity at the age of 37, and a year later she began hormone therapy. She prefers to spend her free time with her ten-year-old son and her fiancée.

 

 

Workshop host
Lenka Sovová

I´ve spent most of my professional life in the field of HR and gradually moved from IT recruitment into senior roles covering all HR processes in a diverse scale of companies, from startups to international global companies. In addition to HR activities, I also managed a program that helped people with autism spectrum disorders find suitable work opportunities and supported other equity/equality-related initiatives. Therefore, D&I topics will always belong to matters of my heart. I like to work with people and for people. This was also the reason why I founded the HR Brainstorming Facebook community, which today consists of 800+ members helping each other.

 

 

Workshop Host
Martin Zelenka

Data Governance Expert ČSOB; Leader of ERG Proud. He graduated from the University of Hradec Králové (bachelor) and the University of Economics and Management (engineer). After experience in the telecommunications sector, where he worked in analytical positions in business or marketing, he joined ČSOB in 2014. The first position was in the reporting department at Risk Management, and subsequently it was data positions that led to him becoming an expert in data quality and data governance. In 2019, thanks to his contribution, ČSOB joined the Pride Business Forum memorandum. Since that year, Martin Zelenka has been the leader of the Proud employee group, which unites LGBT+ employees. This group provides internal services not only to its members, but also to other employees and management (e.g. training and thematic meetings). During his time, ČSOB received awards in the LGBT Friendly Employer competition for Employee Group of the Year, Jumper of the Year, and in 2021, ČSOB became a bronze employer.

 

Workshop Host
Aleš Rumpel

Aleš Rumpel is a training manager for Pride Business Forum and Prague Pride, as well as a prominent queer activist. With a background in cultural management and education, Aleš brings extensive experience to his role. He previously served as the long-time director of the Mezipatra queer film festival and co-founded the Platform for Equality, Recognition, and Diversity, z.s. (PROUD). Aleš has made a significant impact by engaging with thousands of teenagers across the Czech Republic through the Mezipatra program, discussing LGBT+ topics in schools. Currently, Aleš designs and facilitates workshops for major employers, focusing on promoting diversity and inclusion. Additionally, he mentors empowerment programs for LGBT+ champions and allies, supporting their personal and professional growth.

 

Workshop Host
Tereza Kadlecová

Tereza Kadlecová is a dedicated advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and a proud parent. Along with serving as Pride Business Forum Executive Director, she plays a vital role in spearheading educational projects for Prague Pride. With a strong commitment to fostering inclusivity, Tereza facilitates Parent Prep courses and actively participates in a range of educational events. Her extensive experience in project management and leadership includes past work at People in Need, where she made significant contributions to the renowned One World in Schools educational program.

 

Host
Josef Maršálek

Josef is a Czech pastry Chef and TV presenter. The judge in the Czech version of the world-famous The Great British Bake-off. Author of most selling pastry cookbooks, tutor of pastry baking classes, and host of celebrated tv shows. Business owner, influencer, and consultant. Born in the northeast of the country in a small village, left Czechia at the age of 23 for a few weeks to the UK and came back twelve years later from India. He is living his dream, and his mission is to inspire people through his pastry art. He believes that there are memories in food and that it can bring people together.

 

Date: 22/06/2023

Start time: 09:00 CET

End time: 17:00 CET

Venue: Marriott Prague | V Celnici 8, 110 00 Nové Město