Inaugural Rainbow Excellence award winners announced

Organisations making an everyday difference for the LGBTI+ community have been recognised at the New Zealand Rainbow Excellence Awards this afternoon. The announcement comes following the release of newly conducted research that encourages others to follow in their footsteps.

New Zealand’s inaugural Rainbow Excellence Awards, held at SKYCITY Auckland Convention Centre today (17 May 2019), celebrate workplace leadership, innovation, best practice and collaboration and also mark five years of the Rainbow Tick.

Three iconic Auckland landmarks will be lit tonight in support of the awards - Auckland Harbour Bridge, (by Vector) – pink, Auckland Museum – rainbow colours and Sky Tower (rainbow colours).

A panel of expert judges from across New Zealand judged the entrants on understanding, values, welcoming sexual and gender diversity and inclusion, and community leadership.

Winners of the Rainbow Excellence Awards (platinum sponsor Westpac) are:

• Supreme Winner: Auckland Museum
• The Training and Development Award: SKYCITY Auckland
• The SKYCITY Community and Advocacy Award: ASB Bank
• The Simpson Grierson Impact Award: Otago Polytechnic
• The Partners Life Emerging Award: Chorus
• The Newmarket Business Association Executive Leadership Award: Auckland Museum
• The Ambassadorship Award: Fletcher Building- Allan Lennie
• Lion Innovation Award: Auckland Museum

Awards Director, Martin King, says: “Auckland Museum is a very worthy winner of the Supreme Award. Their focus on sharing and including LBGTI stories in their Tāmaki Stories Gallery, is a great step toward ensuring Auckland’s history of diversity is recorded.”

The research, conducted by Big Picture on behalf of The Rainbow Tick organisation, received 1800 responses across 40 Rainbow Tick organisations nationally.

“This is an excellent result and provides us with invaluable and robust local data on this subject for the first time. Regardless of people’s gender identity, sexual orientation, or intersex status, their views have been collected and voices heard,” says King.

“This data will be hugely valuable in years to come, not just for the Rainbow Tick organisation, but to support all organisations to create more inclusive cultures supported by policy, systems and leadership. Whilst Rainbow Tick organisations may be leading the way, it would be fair to say that there is much to do to in all facets of LGBTI + inclusion in Aotearoa and this data supports that.”

Twenty-five organisations from across New Zealand entered the Rainbow Excellence Awards. A Development Forum, co-sponsored by Z Energy and Fletcher Building, was also held this morning in the lead up to the Awards.

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