Christina Riley, a Senior Planner and the Chair of Balfour Beatty’s LGBT & Allies Affinity network was awarded the Corporate Rising Star Award at the British Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) awards ceremony last week.
The British LGBT Awards celebrate individuals and organisations that have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the LGBT community, championing those who have gone the extra mile to ensure equality, opportunity and fair treatment for all regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Alongside Balfour Beatty’s LGBT & Allies Affinity network co-chair Rose Donaghey, Christina Riley is at the helm of driving change within the business and more widely across the construction industry. An active public speaker for LGBT and mental health support, Christina runs the LGBT Construct Network and sits on several LGBT network committees, including Off-Site, Building Equality and National Student Pride.
Commenting after the awards, Christina Riley said: “I am delighted to have been recognised by the British LGBT Awards for Balfour Beatty’s considerable efforts to improve diversity within our workforce.
“Through Balfour Beatty’s LGBT & Allies Affinity Network and working collaboratively with our colleagues, we’re driving diversity forward and actively sharing the message that sexual orientation and gender identity are not barriers to career success.”
Balfour Beatty has a long standing commitment to equal opportunity, having become one of the first major construction companies to join Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme in 2014. With the official launch of its Diversity and Inclusion Affinity Networks earlier this year, the company continues to lead the way in developing a truly inclusive workplace to enable employees to perform to their full potential.
Since 2015, Balfour Beatty’s LGBT & Allies Affinity Network has achieved a total of seven high-profile awards for its contribution to diversity in the workforce, including the Inspiring Change Award, the Outstanding Future Leader List and the Rainbow List One to Watch.
ENDS
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Notes to editors:
Balfour Beatty (www.balfourbeatty.com) is a leading international infrastructure group. With 30,000 employees, we provide innovative and efficient infrastructure that underpins our daily lives, supports communities and enables economic growth. We finance, develop, build and maintain complex infrastructure such as transportation, power and utility systems, social and commercial buildings.
Our main geographies are the UK, US and South East Asia. Over the last 100 years we have created iconic buildings and infrastructure all over the world including the London Olympics’ Aquatic Centre, Hong Kong’s first Zero Carbon building, the National Museum of the Marine Corps in the US and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
Balfour Beatty is committed to creating an environment where all our employees can be themselves at work and perform at their best. As a global company, it is critical to our success that our employees are as diverse as the customers and communities we serve. In order to achieve this Balfour Beatty has taken the following action:
Establishing diversity as a key part of the company’s Build to Last transformation. The diversity and inclusion three-year plan sets out strategic aims, objectives and, more importantly, metrics in support of our endeavours. Overseen by Balfour Beatty Chief Executive Leo Quinn its progress against these metrics is regularly tracked.
Creating a range of national networks across the company to support BAME, Women and LGBTQ staff in creating a workplace that is more inclusive.
With the support of its customers, Balfour Beatty is recruiting from a large and more diverse pool of talent. For instance, in collaboration with Network Grid, our Power, Transmission and Distribution division provide opportunities for ex-offenders to get back into employment. Our Rail division support the British Forces Resettlement Services and its careers events, through advising service personnel on careers within the construction industry.
Working with expert diversity & inclusion focused bodies such as Stonewall and the Youth Women’s Trust to get guidance on how we can better improve our recruitment and workplace culture so that we can recruit and retain a talented and diverse workforce.
