Today marks the first working day (2 June) of Pride Month this year, and to mark this, we interviewed Peter Ptashko, an LGBTQ founder and CEO of Cambio Consultancy, to discuss LGBTQ issues in global trade.
At the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, we often talk about trade being a force for good in the world. To what extent is this true on social issues such as LGBTQ rights?
A lot of this is about visibility and representation. We talk about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) but do we really mean it? And do we have a genuine representation across different aspects of the business world? I don’t think international trade is portrayed in a particularly modern or diverse way. It’s often a very traditional industry.
In terms of representation, we have a diverse business community in the UK, made up of all shapes and sizes, from B-Corp to mission-led firms. A lot of micro businesses are doing really well despite the ongoing economic challenges, and many of these are led by people with a really interesting story to tell.
Diversity isn’t just about whether you fit into a particular protected characteristic, it’s also about the nature of the work you are doing and the anchoring of that work to a particular community. There’s more we can do, and there’s the raw materials for promoting DEI in the UK, but are we really leaning into this?
That’s my challenge. It’s not a question of extra resource, it’s about marshalling what we currently have.
As well as the difficult economic context, there are political challenges too, including the rollback of DEI policies in the US. How significant is this?
What I’m hearing from the various large commercial clients I work with, including household names with global offices, is that they’re simply re-badging or re-naming these programmes, rather than rolling them back.
Unfortunately, this has meant that a lot of the language and nomenclature has had to shift. ‘DEI’ and ‘sustainability’ now may not exist, as phrases, in the same way in the coming years, but the work will continue. I don’t believe that organisations will delete and replace DEI with something else, or with nothing at all.
It’s different in the US-specific context, where there’s a bit more scrutiny and legal action around specific policies. Generally, though, global companies have a bit more leeway with what they can do and how flexible they can be in the way they run their organisations.
When it comes to international supply chains, how mindful should business be about LGBTQ issues, whether that’s workers’ rights or policies enacted by governments abroad?
The economic incentivisation around what is ‘value’, and what does ‘value’ mean, is a key part of this.
Many involved in trade will know that commercial value is linked to a range of other propositions, some of which include the diversity of the people in front of you. As noted, that’s not just the people’s faces or backgrounds, but also the ideas and innovations they bring.
A lot of the work I do is in DEI, but I also work in sustainability, looking at business model innovations that enable business to operate in more sustainable ways. Supply chains are a big part of this, and there are a number of large commercial organisations that have a sustainability-related mission behind them.
Tony's Chocolonely is a really famous example of this. This is a company founded only 15 years ago by Teun van de Keuken, who had previously been making documentaries about ending modern slavery in his homeland of the Netherlands. He realised that he could reach a larger audience by making a ubiquitous product like chocolate.
He’s been able to sell the messaging as well as the product very successfully, and it’s struck a chord – it’s now the second largest ethically produced chocolate brand in the world.
You can strike a chord with a trade agenda, but you need to put your money where your mouth is. By selling a product and getting into global markets, Tony's Chocolonely has moved the needle.
There’s more instances of this that you can see with B-Corps and social enterprises. Ben & Jerry’s is another great example of this, and everyone loves ice cream!
What kind of leadership can governments show on these issues, including in the UK?
There are so many opportunities with the relatively recent change of government. Labour still has a lengthy in-tray of issues, but sustainability and LGBT issues are a golden thread that run through a whole range of policy areas, not just trade.
Governments often operate in silos, not just in terms of departments but also thinking. It would be reassuring to think that these are issues that are considered in all parts of Whitehall, but I suspect it’s a mixed picture.
When it comes to trade policy, a lot of the leverage is around soft power, whether that’s in trade deal negotiations or teams going out to markets. The new government needs to be showing how the UK economy really works, rather than a vision of it from 10, 15, 20 years ago.
The danger you get, when you have a new government that has been out of power for as long as Labour was, is that they don’t quite have the grip yet on the mechanisms of government and soft power.
However, I see real progress on issues like Ukraine. I’m a quarter Ukrainian, much of my family is from there, and I’ve been really encouraged by the soft power the Starmer government has been able to show in international alliances and partnerships.
This is an example of the convening power that the UK clearly is still well-placed to retain. This also includes things like its membership of the Commonwealth and its ongoing relationship with the EU.
We occupy a really interesting strategic position in relation to trade and various other policy areas. We could lean into it more.
