Registration for the second edition of the initiative will begin in the fall

A total of 21 participants graduated from the country’s first certified Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Academy. It was organized by the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria (CWBB) and the Faculty of Economics at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in partnership with Lidl Bulgaria.

The program aimed to provoke an active dialogue and encourage action in society towards policies to promote an inclusive environment, equal opportunities and non-discrimination.

The first edition of the academy took place from January to April this year, covering equality and the benefits of inclusion in 56 teaching hours. More than 20 speakers – representatives of businesses, the non-governmental sector and the academic circles – volunteered and shared their experience and viewpoints. They included names such as Dr. Shirley Knowles, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer at Progress, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ivan Angelov from SU “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Dr. Eng. Boryana Manolova, CEO of Siemens Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Ukraine and others.

As a partner of the program, Lidl Bulgaria gave its employees and external scholarship recipients the opportunity to become part of the academy completely for free and was responsible for the overall coordination and participated with speakers in the final module of the program.

“As an international company with a team of over 340,000 employees in 32 countries, at Lidl we believe in the power of diversity and its role in the success of a company. It is important for us that this topic should be put on our society’s agenda in a way that creates conditions for a constructive dialogue. Such programs are an important step in this direction because they demonstrate the undeniable benefits of diversity and inclusion policies. Therefore, we are glad that we will be a partner of the second edition of the academy, which will be held at the beginning of 2024”, commented Milena Dragiyska, CEO of Lidl Bulgaria.

Enrollment for the second edition will start in the fall.

Only a month ago, Lidl Bulgaria won first place in the category, “Diversity in the workplace” at the Annual Awards for Responsible Business 2022 of the Bulgarian Forum of Business Leaders (BFBL). The recognition was a result of the company’s policy for diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities for work and development for all its employees.