ALMA AWARDS LAUNCHES FIRST REGIONAL LGBT BUSINESS FORUM

Leaders from IBM and BP join as keynote speakers at the forum

Singapore, MARCH 25, 2015 – The 2nd Asia LGBT Milestone Awards (in short: ALMA Awards 2015) announced the launch of the region’s first international business forum to discuss primarily on issues of social inclusion and diversity on LGBT minorities, which is to be held together with the ALMA Awards Ceremony on 14th April, Bangkok.

The headline sponsor for ALMA Awards’ Forum is IBM, recognized as a global leader for driving diversity and inclusion and LGBT programs globally. IBM’s Tony Tenicela states that “diversity fosters innovation in the way IBM addresses the needs of our clients and helps the world work better. Given the breadth of IBM’s business across 170 countries, diversity is a competitive differentiator that enables IBM to reflect the global diversity of our customers. We are pleased to sponsor the 1st Business Leadership Forum dedicated to LGBT professionals in the AP region.” Mr. Tony Tenicela, along with BP’s Hayden Majajas will be speaking at the Forum, joining them as a keynote speaker is China’s former policeman Mr. Geng Le, now the founder of China’s home-grown and largest LGBT business enterprise. Geng Le’s corporation named Blue City also joins IBM as one of the few other sponsors for the event. ShanghaiPRIDE is also involved in the Forum as a co-organizer and will deliver a 15-minutes speech.

The 2nd Asia LGBT Milestone Awards is the region’s premiere LGBT event celebrating the emergence of a progressive Asia. It puts the spotlight on the people and corporate organizations for their remarkable work and influence behind creating the “milestone moments and events” in pushing for social acceptance and workplace diversity, etc. The awards and forum is attended by hundreds of major LGBT organisations, brands, entrepreneurs and international members of press. There are two categories on both individuals and corporate, respectively, with “Seeds of Change” awards for individuals and “Blossom in Diversity” awards for corporate organizations.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ALMA AWARDS 2015 and Business & Diversity Forum: WWW.ALMAAWARDS.ORG

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Additional Reads

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ELEMENT BIZ is an insider’s read to business and diversity in Asia under the umbrella of ELEMENT, Asia’s first high fashion and lifestyle digital journal with editorial interest in the Asian LGBT issues. BIZ offers insightful stories on various topics and areas with relations to workplace diversity, LGBT consumer markets in Asia, LGBT entrepreneurs, etc. It is set as a quarterly publication, and it’s making the debut along with the Awards in Bangkok. ELEMENT BIZ is an organizer of ALMA Awards 2015.
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ILGA stands for the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, is the world federation of national and local organisations dedicated to achieving equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people. ILGA is an umbrella organisation of more than 1100 member organisations presented in six different regions including: Pan Africa Ilga, Ilga-Asia, Ilga-Europe, Ilga-LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean), Ilga North-America andIlga-Oceania (Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia and Pacific Islands). ILGA (Asia) is an organizer of ALMA Awards 2015.
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IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation, with headquarters in Armonk, New York. IBM manufactures and markets computer hardware and software, an offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology.

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Keynote speaker: TONY TENICELA
Global Leader, Workforce Diversity and LGBT Markets for IBM.
A seasoned veteran of business transformation initiatives in traditional and growth markets, Tony Tenicela advises C-Suite executives on the role of diversity, human capital, and community relationships as strategic business drivers to foster innovation and stimulate business growth. Tony has been recognized by companies worldwide as a thought leader in the areas of diversity strategy, talent management, leadership, social collaboration, and workforce transformation. Tony also manages IBM?s global LGBT commercial strategy leveraging numerous corporate community partnerships across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia to identify new business opportunities. Prior to joining IBM, Tony was a founding employee of Worldview Systems, where he led the creation and development of the initial prototype for the Travelocity? on-line travel service. Tony holds an MBA in Business Strategy from the Anderson School at UCLA, a MA equivalent in Personality/Organizational Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley, and a BA in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.

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Keynote speaker: Hayden Majajas
Asia Pacific D&I Director for BP.
In this role Hayden supports all businesses across Asia Pacific in implementing BP’s global Diversity & Inclusion vision and Ambition strategy, to deliver a measurable improvement in diverse workforce representation and work environment inclusion.Hayden obtained his Masters degree from the Chuo University Graduate School of Law in Tokyo, Japan – where he lived for 15 years. Upon graduation Hayden worked for top US law firms in their Tokyo offices before moving into the financial services sector. Hayden’s professional career has taken him from legal advisory to business strategy before he moved into the ‘people’ space, leading diversity as head of D&I for Asia Pacific for Lehman Brothers, then Nomura followed by UBS. Hayden is also a Member of the Board of “The Women’s Foundation” in Hong Kong. In addition Hayden founded the Tokyo LGBT Interbank Forum in 2005; the Hong Kong LGBT Interbank Forum in 2006; and the Singapore LGBT Interbank Forum in 2010. He was part of the founding group of Inter Energy initiatives in Singapore in 2013.

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Keynote speaker: Geng Le
CEO of BLUE CITY, China.
Geng Le is the founder of one of China’s first gay websites, which was set up just three years after homosexuality was decriminalised in 1997. In 2006 he launched a gay dating site, and today he oversees an office of 50 full time staff in the capital. Most recently, he has released Blued, one of China’s fastest growing gay dating smartphone apps. Founded in 2012, it now boasts over two million users, and is now valued at an estimated US$300 million. Geng is a former policeman, and his story of successfully acquired 3 rounds of capital funding (in total of USD 30 million) for an LGBT-centric business has made headline news across the world.

To schedule an interview with our keynote speakers or the organizer, please contact us.

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