On Tuesday, August 23, at the lunch lecture “Diversity as an immaterial value” held at ABPI’s 2022 Congress, Professor Renato Ferreira stated that the inclusion of blacks, women, people with disabilities, LGBTs, and other minorities is an intangible value to be earned by corporations. An expert in Race Relations, Human Rights, and Diversity Management, Ferreira demonstrated the bridge between corporate inclusion and innovation. “The adoption of diversity policies and practices is the qualification plus with which organizations present themselves to the market”, he said. “We seek to dialogue with intellectual property, showing diversity as something that integrates the company’s provision, its productivity”.
According to the professor, a research carried out with organizations proves that those that adopt diversity policies do so initially to comply with Social Responsibility protocols. But, in the next moment, they realize that their internal dynamics begin to work and flow more innovatively. “This is because new talents appear in different areas that start contributing to the creative process”, he explained. “It is in this second moment that diversity presents itself as a value that adds to the production and productivity of companies”.
Diversity at ABPI – Several measures have been adopted by ABPI in the arc of diversity and sustainability, two imperatives in the world of organizations. Besides presentations and debates on racism, the inclusion of people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ populations, the entity has just won the Carbon Offset certificate, which implies carbon offsetting throughout the Congress. This includes several measures in favor of sustainability, such as the accommodation of participants and the staff of the event in the vicinity, the reduction of more than 90% of printed material and disposables, and selective collection, among others.
On another front, ABPI is engaged in the project developed by the NGO Parceiros da Educação (Partners of Education), with solidarity actions that contribute to public education improvement. By rewarding inventions with patents aimed at human well-being the Patent of the Year Award is also part of this set of sustainable initiatives.
