Meet three OUTstanding BP employees
BP has scored a hat trick with the inclusion of three employees in the ‘2015 OUTstanding & Financial times Leading LGBT & Ally Executives’ lists
Joining Paul Reed, chief executive of BP integrated supply and trading, who has featured on the list for the past two years, are Michael Sosso, vice president, ethics and compliance; and Christopher Moody, market risk stream lead – IST IT&S commodity risk, finance and analytics.
Reed has been placed at number six on the ‘Top 100 leading LGBT executives’ list, up from eighth place in 2014.
Honoured and humbled
Sosso, who is placed at number 43, said he felt very surprised when he learnt the news.
Sosso joined BP over four years ago as an antitrust lawyer based in Houston, supporting M&A (mergers & acquisitions), compliance and legal counselling activities. Earlier this year, he accepted a new role as vice president of ethics and compliance and relocated to London. He now leads the regional team accountable for helping to embed E&C into BP’s businesses, functions and regions.
Moody has been named on the ‘Top 30 LGBT future leaders’ list – and makes his debut at number nine. Commenting on his inclusion, Moody said he was lucky enough to start his career at BP working for someone who pushed him out of his comfort zone in a supporting environment.
“The most important person in your working life is your boss,” he said. “My boss helped me recognize my strengths and demonstrated strong behaviours which I have been able to link to his success. That’s who I want to be.”
“We have role models around us all the time – it’s then up to us how we choose to use these for our betterment.”
Putting the Pride in BP
Christopher Moody has been on the executive leadership team of the BP Pride business resource group for the past three years. During this time, he has delivered number of initiatives, including the creation of resources easily accessible to BP staff regardless of their location.
One of the key projects involved the production of 14 videos featuring LGBT and allies leaders to be used to start LGBT inclusion conversations within teams.
“I am a firm believer that in order to change the future for LGBT individuals, we must get involved in educating the younger generation and ensure that our new hires and talent pipelines reflect the LGBT talent,” he said.
Paul Reed, also an executive sponsor of the BP Pride group UK, added: “I’m pleased to be included in this recognition because it helps to send a strong signal to all current and prospective employees that BP is a fully inclusive and welcoming employer where anyone can feel comfortable being themselves in order to give of their best to their job and to their career.”
As well as the pride group, BP also has a strong allies program which, says Sosso, is incredibly important to facilitating greater LGBT diversity in the workplace: “Having straight men and women empathize with the challenges the LGBT community sometimes face in the workplace – and having them stand with our community to help ensure fairness and respect is incredibly impactful.”
OUTstanding CEO and founder Suki Sandhu said: “We are delighted to see Paul Reed and Michael Sosso from BP featuring in this year’s OUTstanding & Financial Times Top LGBT Executive list. They are all true role models, proving that you can be openly LGBT in business and be a huge success.
“Equally, we are delighted to see Christopher Moody featuring in this year’s first ever OUTstanding & Financial Times Future Business Leaders list. He has proven he is working tirelessly over and above his day job to improve the working environment for LGBT employees.
“I look forward to the changes Christopher will continue to carve in this on-going and vital campaign.
OUTstanding CEO and founder Suki Sandhu said: “We are delighted to see Paul Reed and Michael Sosso from BP featuring in this year’s OUTstanding & Financial Times Top LGBT Executive list. They are all true role models, proving that you can be openly LGBT in business and be a huge success.
“Equally, we are delighted to see Christopher Moody featuring in this year’s first ever OUTstanding & Financial Times Future Business Leaders list. He has proven he is working tirelessly over and above his day job to improve the working environment for LGBT employees.
“I look forward to the changes Christopher will continue to carve in this on-going and vital campaign.
“I’m certain all three will provide inspiration to anyone who fears that they may have to be closeted at work, and waste valuable effort muting their authentic selves. They deserve credit for the leadership they show in welcoming people of all backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities.”
BP is a founding member of OUTstanding, an executive level network for LGBT business people and allies, with a mission to create an environment where LGBT executives can succeed. It exists to drive change in the business world by broadening the boardroom diversity debate beyond gender or race to include LGBT issues.