What Pride looks like at work: Voices from our people

Pride Month is often marked by celebration: parades, flags, and moments of visibility. But at work, Pride can also show up in quieter, everyday ways.

It can be the first time someone feels included on a team.

The community that helps an employee find their voice.

The mentor who helps someone see what is possible.

The curiosity that turns difference into connection.

The leader who makes the path clearer for someone else.

At Schneider Electric, Pride is not only something we recognize in June. It is reflected in the everyday ways our people create space for one another through employee-led communities, mentorship, allyship, open dialogue, and the moments that help people feel seen, valued, and empowered to grow in their careers.

In honor of Pride Month, our #SEGreatPeople are sharing how Pride shows up in their work and lives. Their stories are different, but together they show how inclusion becomes real: through people who advocate, mentor, lead, listen, and make room for others to succeed.

Pride looks like paving the way for others

For Rebecca Deleon-Hutton, Global Tender Manager – Life Science, Pride is deeply connected to advocacy, perspective, and making space for the next generation.

“I may not be the first. But I hope to continue to pave the way for the next generation, so they can go farther than I ever could,” she shares.

Rebecca first connected with Schneider Electric at a Society of Women Engineers (SWE) conference, where she noticed the company’s big green sign in a sea of employers. Through communities like SWE, Latinas in STEM, and the Rainbow Lounge, she found spaces where she felt understood, supported, and surrounded by possibility.

That sense of community continued at Schneider Electric through her involvement with the LGBTQ+ & Allies Employee Resource Network. Over the past few years, Rebecca has served in many leadership roles, including ERN President. She has contributed to a wide range of initiatives from Pride events and nonprofit workshops to year-round community-building, mentorship, and cross-ERN collaboration. Through this work, she has built strong relationships with fellow ERN leaders and helped create spaces where employees feel connected, supported, and empowered.

For Rebecca, Pride is not only about being seen. It is about helping others feel safe, supported, and encouraged to grow. Through her ERN involvement, she has helped create space for employees to connect, advocate, and feel understood within a corporate environment.

Now, after five years at Schneider Electric, Rebecca is preparing for a new chapter in Barcelona as a Global Tender Manager for Life Science. As she makes that transition, she continues to share her network, encourage others to get involved in ERN communities, and seek experiences that broaden her perspective and deepen her compassion for others.

Her story is a reminder that Pride can look like finding your people, and then helping make the path wider for those who come next.

Pride looks like finding community early in your career

For Louis Cirillo, Commercial Operations, Pride is closely tied to the feeling of being welcomed, supported, and encouraged early in his career.

Louis began his Schneider Electric journey as a co-op intern and quickly found community through the LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Network. That early sense of inclusion helped him feel connected from the beginning, giving him the confidence to learn, contribute, and imagine a future with the company.

A year later, stepping into a full-time role in Commercial Operations became a defining milestone in his career. What began as an early-career opportunity grew into a meaningful next chapter, supported by a team that challenges him and helps him continue developing.

“Being part of the LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Network helped me feel included from day one and continues to give me pride in the community we’re building,” Louis shared.

For Louis, belonging is not an abstract idea. It shows up through people, community, and a team environment where inclusion feels natural and authentically lived.

His story shows how powerful early-career belonging can be. When employees feel included and supported from the beginning, they can build confidence, contribute more fully, and see a future for themselves within the organization.

Pride looks like curiosity that creates connection

For Patrick Richards, Service Provider Program Leader, Pride shows up in how we choose to engage with one another.

“Curiosity is the most powerful tool we have to turn difference into connection,” he shares.

Throughout his life and career at Schneider Electric, Patrick has been motivated by the opportunity to make a meaningful impact through people, whether that means mentoring others, supporting growth, or helping someone navigate their own path. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, that sense of connection and responsibility to give back is especially important to him.

For Patrick, representation matters, but mentorship and advocacy are where lasting impact truly happens.

He describes himself as someone who observes, listens, and learns. Over time, he has become deeply interested in understanding what motivates people, what challenges them, and what helps them succeed. Every new person and experience adds another layer to that understanding, challenging assumptions and expanding his perspective.

That continuous learning shapes how Patrick leads. By staying curious, seeking out diverse perspectives, and approaching situations without bias, he is able to build trust, support others more effectively, and create space for people to grow authentically.

For Patrick, Pride is not only about identity. It is about impact: using his experiences and perspective to support others, challenge the status quo, and help create an environment where everyone feels seen, valued, and empowered to succeed.

Pride looks like leadership development through community

These stories also connect to a larger theme across Schneider Electric: employee communities do more than create connection. They can help people grow as leaders.

In her Pride Month reflection, “Having Pride in Growth,” Rachel Hawkesworth, Project Manager – Data Center Solutions and President of Schneider Electric’s U.S. LGBTQ+ & Allies ERN, shares how her career has been shaped by unexpected opportunities, thoughtful nos, and the communities that helped her see her own potential differently.

As Rachel writes, “ERNs are not side-of-desk passion projects. They are leadership incubators.”

Her story offers a deeper look at how ERN leadership can shape career growth, build confidence, and create space for people to lead in ways they may not have imagined at the beginning of their careers. Read Rachel’s full story.

Pride is how we keep making space

Together, these stories show that Pride at work is not one single experience.

It can look like a leader making the path clearer for someone else.

A new employee finding community early in their career.

A mentor choosing curiosity over assumption.

An employee network creating space for connection, advocacy, and growth.

Pride Month gives us a moment to celebrate visibility, but the real impact happens in what people do with that visibility: how they listen, how they lead, how they advocate, and how they make room for others to grow.

Because when people feel they belong, they bring more than their skills to work. They bring their ideas, their perspectives, their courage, and their full potential.

That is what Pride looks like at work.

Building inclusion every day

At Schneider Electric, we know inclusion is built through everyday actions: the conversations we have, the communities we support, the leaders we develop, and the space we make for people to grow.

Explore careers at Schneider Electric and discover how our people are shaping a more inclusive future.

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