Celebrating diversity
For the third year in a row, Škoda Auto has proudly partnered with the Prague Pride festival. This cooperation highlights the Czech carmaker’s commitment to respect, equality, diversity and mutual understanding. The carmaker's employees again participated in this year's activities, including the rainbow parade. Like the rest of the festival, it focused on the theme of family.
Celebrating Family and Diversity
For the third time in a row, Škoda Auto has proudly partnered with the Prague Pride festival, and this year’s activities were again attended by its employees.
Diversity
This cooperation emphasises the Czech carmaker’s commitment to respect, acceptance, equality, diversity and mutual understanding. In June, the Pride Business Forum’s recognition this commitment by awarding the company the Big Step Forward Award 2024, which highlights its efforts to create an inclusive work environment.
As in previous years, Škoda Auto employees also joined the rainbow parade, the highlight of the festival. Throughout the festival week, Prague Pride drew attention to the critical issues and needs of the LGBTQ+ community through a variety of programmes.
Škoda Proud is an employee group that builds bridges across the company and creates an inclusive working environment. It welcomes all employees, not just those who identify as LGBTQ+.
“The theme of this year’s Prague Pride festival was Family, which resonated with us at Škoda Auto. We are delighted to be sponsoring Prague Pride again, as the Škoda family is open and inclusive. Diversity and inclusion are integral to our corporate strategy and Diversity Strategy 2030, as they strengthen our company and reflect the demographics of our customers. As one of the largest employers in the country, we are uniquely positioned to promote the rights and needs of the LGBTQ+ community within the broader society in which we live and operate,” said Klaus Zellmer, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
“Diversity is at the heart of who we are at Škoda Auto. Every employee is unique, and it is our responsibility to ensure that everyone, regardless of age, background, religion, gender, family or sexuality, is treated fairly and given equal opportunities. By participating in Prague Pride, we proudly defend diversity and equality against intolerance and homophobia. Once again, we are delighted to be a part of this important event that helps raise awareness about important issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community. We look forward to joining another parade next year,” added Maren Gräf, Board Member for People & Culture.
Prague Pride 2024
From 5 to 11 August, more than 200 themed events and cultural performances highlighted diversity and discussed the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. This year, the festival focused on the theme of Family and explored the evolving definition of family. The festival culminated in a parade with the subtitle March for Every Family. It began at noon on Saturday at Wenceslas Square and proceeded through the centre of the Czech capital to Letenské sady. Among the 60,000 participants were numerous Škoda Auto employees, including members of the Škoda Proud employee group. For the first time, the Škoda Auto Corporate Brass Orchestra also performed, creating a musical backdrop. The festival concluded with a large picnic in Letenské sady, meetings on Střelecký ostrov and various events organised by the Pride Business Forum platform, which brought the week to an attractive close.
Pavla Polická
Development concepts – regional platforms
EW – Concept development – regional platforms
All my life, I have cared about fair and equal treatment for everyone, and as a woman – and a mechanical engineer – I know what it is like to face prejudice. As a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, I actively participate in the Škoda Proud group and its organising team, which I thoroughly enjoy thanks to the wonderful members. This year, I attended Prague Pride for the first time, inspired by the previous participation of the Board members and decisively influenced by this year’s festival slogan: Family is where the love is.
Vojtěch Pospíšil
IT Business Analyst – Material Processes
FIC/I – ET2000 & Parts 4.0 Application Support
Thanks to Škoda Auto, I have opened up about my orientation not only to my whole family but also to the carmaker, which I consider a big family. I have found Škoda Auto to be really supportive and friendly, which unfortunately is not the norm in all companies. I support Prague Pride so that others can feel as safe in their lives and work as I do. This year’s march was my first as a member of the Škoda Proud employee group.
Pavel Kopřiva
Inspector
PF1-M/171 V – VD NS 3471
I have been a member of Škoda Proud since the beginning. I hadn’t attended Prague Pride before, but when I learned that Škoda Auto was an official partner of the event, I was thrilled. We have participated in the parade with the company since the first year, and the atmosphere has always been wonderful. Our group is consistently diverse in terms of orientation, age and nationality. The gatherings, and not just at Prague Pride, are filled with interesting people from across the company. It’s great that we can talk and share both work-related and personal aspects from everyday life.
Jan Zuzánek
MEB battery production management
PKL/11 – Production Management
I‘ve been going to Prague Pride with my wife, Iveta, for about 10 years, and we’ve been there six times during that period. We are from Turnov and hope that our children’s (15 and 13 years old) generation will be the last to see homophobia as a social standard. Prague Pride is an opportunity for us to meet new people and show our friends and acquaintances that diversity is our strength.
Info
Family as a thematic concept for this year’s festival
→ We all know this word.
→ We understand it, whether we are part of a family or not.
→ This word serves as a weapon, a disciplinary element, a tool to maintain structure and order.
→ It symbolises hope – for an end to loneliness, for new beginnings, for nurturing and for continuity.
→ It represents both happiness and pain.
→ Family is our home, the people who have shaped us and through whom we have become who we are today – whether that journey was bathed in sunlight or fraught with thorns. Family is a set of opinions and beliefs about the world and how things should be done. That’s the way it’s done in our house, how is it done in yours?
→ Family passes on traditions.
→ Family is the ones we have chosen to be our family: our dog, our cat, our guinea pig, our fish.
→ Family as the father, mother and children resounds from pulpits and parliamentary benches.
→ According to child welfare reformer Zdeněk Matějček, a family is a community where time, space, anxiety and hope are shared. Here, everyone learns for life by living together, where all give and receive, form their personalities and have the opportunity to mature into wisdom. And the essential ingredient of everything is mutually shared joy.
→ A family is a community of people who consider themselves a family.
→ Queer families have always existed. It’s OK to be scared and uncertain about different things because you never talked about them at home.