Allies in Action: Caroline Hendrix
This week, we’re celebrating the allies making the Civil Service a great place to work for LGBT+ people. Caroline works for the Department for International Trade. In this post, we asked Caroline tells us what being an ally means to her.
What’s your job role and where do you work?
I’m a Marketing Campaign Manager USA for the Department for International Trade (DIT), based in New York.
How long have you been an ally?
All my life! But for DIT, since our DIT allies program started.
Why do you think it’s important to be an ally, and to have allies within an office?
Support for LGBT+ causes shouldn’t just come from within the community. I’ve lived in NYC for 15 years and worked in the theatre community for 8 so I have loads of friends in the gay community and couldn’t imagine not supporting causes that matter to the people I’m close to. Equality and equal human rights is just common sense.
Participation in Pride is one of my favourite things we do each year and I’ll never forget the experience of marching in NYC Pride two days after the US Supreme Court approved same-sex marriage in 2015. We marched 150 strong and I’ve never experienced anything as joyful.
What have you done to be a visible ally within your office or what do you plan to do?
I’ve been instrumental in organizing Pride for the Americas region since 2013. In my former role as the FCO events lead for New York, I organized Consulate participation in NYC Pride for three years. I then switched over to the DIT North America marketing team, where I’ve been the Love is GREAT marketing lead for another three years. Working across DIT, FCO, Visit Britain & British Council, the project has continued to grow and this year with the continued financial support of the GREAT Challenge Fund, we participated in Pride in 27 cities across 6 countries including the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile & Uruguay! I’m very proud of this work especially since it’s for something I believe in strongly.
On a superficial level, I have rainbow Union Jack fans hanging out on my desk and I wear my rainbow lanyard every day!
Civil Service Allies Week is a chance to highlight the important role of LGBT+ allies in the Civil Service.
Find out more about Allies Week