Romanian companies set up first Chamber of Commerce for Diversity

The world's first Diversity Chamber of Commerce has been established in Romania to promote the principles of diversity and inclusion in the country's business community.

The Chamber will serve as a forum where multinationals can interact with Romanian businesses run by individuals from minority groups that have traditionally been marginalized economically - particularly women, the LGBT community, Roma, people with disabilities, and others.

According to the initiators, the project is the only one of its kind in the world, organized on the model of a typical chamber of commerce.

Law firm Dentons, lenders ING Bank and Raiffeisen Bank, retailer Mega Image, and the NGO "My City, My Colors" are the founding members of the Romanian Diversity Chamber of Commerce. Other members include Accenture, GKN Fokker Engineering, Rome Entrepreneurial Development Initiative (REDI), and Visa, with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as an honorary member.

Perry Zizzi, Managing Partner of Dentons in Romania, is the president of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce for Diversity. Serge Offers, Chief Financial Officer of ING Bank and Adrian Nicolescu, Vice President for Brand Market, Communication and Sustainability at Mega Image, were elected as VicePresident and Treasurer of the Chamber, respectively.

More than 70% of respondents to the study "Diversity and Inclusion in Romanian Organizations" conducted by the Romanian Diversity Charter in partnership with MKOR Consulting believe that diversity and inclusion management directly impact increasing motivation and satisfaction at work.

Some 60% of large companies have diversity and inclusion strategies, and 33% allocate annual budgets for them. On the other hand, 47% of SMEs and 44% of micro-enterprises have an ad hoc approach, and only 6% of SMEs allocate diversity and inclusion budgets.

Most public institutions participating in the study have an ad hoc approach to diversity and inclusion practices (86%).

(Photo source: Diversity Chamber of Commerce)