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In 2011, after working for a big tech company, Naoufel Testaouni joined Montreal’s startup scene. It was a welcoming community, but he felt something was missing. He remembers attending tech events where he’d look around, hoping to meet another queer person. Instead, he says he felt like an outsider searching for a sense of belonging.
“I started to think, I can’t be the only one in this industry. There are so many of us, but we’re not in these spaces,” said Testaouni. “Tech is where people are building their wealth and careers. It’s the industry of the future. If we’re not part of this industry, we’re already lagging behind, but that impact is going to become even worse for future generations.”
In an effort to unite the queer community, Testaouni teamed up with Andy Saldaña to create a Meetup group. It began with 65 members and has grown to tens of thousands of people around the world. They also founded QueerTech, a Canadian organization with a mission to “queer the tech ecosystem by breaking down barriers, creating spaces and connecting communities to support and empower 2SLGBTQIA+ people to thrive”.
“We realized there is something bigger out there and there are a lot more of us that want to come to tech but aren’t able to break into the industry,” said Testaouni. “We can help them do that.”
QueerTech recently published a research report called Queering the Tech Ecosystem: Barriers and Opportunities to explore the lived experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals working in Canada’s tech sector. It looks at how the industry can change its culture to better attract and keep members of these communities and identifies barriers that must be removed to do so.
The study found that 89 per cent of non-queer respondents felt safe being themselves at work, while 70 per cent of queer respondents shared the same sentiment. Over 35 per cent reported experiencing discrimination during job interviews.
“We hear a lot of stories about people that have been misgendered during interviews,” said Testaouni. “This comes a lot from a lack of education rather than from malice. People aren’t intentionally trying to cause harm but they still cause harm.”
The study also found that less than 14 per cent of respondents believe that being part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community is a benefit when seeking employment. Less than a quarter believe the atmosphere for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals is improving significantly, and less than 40 per cent feel they’re consistently treated with respect in the workplace.
“Reading the report I thought, wow, it’s been 10 years since leaving my last corporate job and so little has changed,” said Melissa Paige Kennedy, whose last full-time role in tech ended about a year-and-a-half after she came out at work as a transgender woman. “I can see that everybody’s talking about it, but they’re not walking the talk.”
Kennedy had held front-line technology and management roles ranging from mid-level to executive positions for four decades, spanning across companies of various sizes, from small startups to billion dollar corporations.
“I felt like a lot of what was being said [in the QueerTech report] mirrored my experience,” said Kennedy. “It’s not as if everybody rejected me, but some did. They tended to be more in senior roles of the organization.”
Kennedy considered several new opportunities but acknowledged the significant challenges and demands that would come with an executive role while going through male to female transition.
“There was a lot of stress and challenge and a lot of things changing in my personal life,” said Kennedy. “I’m sure if I had put my mind to it I could have gotten back into a full-time corporate job. My focus I think was really more on my personal challenges.”
Kennedy’s background in tech and skills such as writing, organizing, project management, and drafting business proposals were put to work during her several years as a volunteer for Spectrum, Waterloo Region’s 2SLGBTQIA+ rainbow community space, where she was a transgender services coordinator and sat on the board of directors.
“Now I am focusing more on things related to the community, helping the transgender and queer diaspora,” said Kennedy. “I’m also interested in evolving a career as a writer and content creator.”
Kennedy says she knows many individuals in the transgender community who struggle to find employment in their respective fields.
“I’ve met so many trans people who are amazing technical talents and would be amazing assets to the technology industry,” said Kennedy. “Some companies are genuinely trying [but] there’s still a lot of work to do.”
QueerTech’s report resonates with the findings of a 2023 report by Pride at Work Canada, which indicates that despite decades of work on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), 2SLGBTQIA+ communities remain underrepresented in leadership roles across various sectors - not just tech.
“One thing that’s key – and this is the biggest reason queer people leave their workplace and can help a lot with retaining queer people – is creating education. It is the responsibility of the corporation, startup or company to educate employees,” said Testaouni. “It’s not my responsibility as a queer person that suddenly I have to carry the flag every day. We’re putting that burden on people.”
Investments in DEI are steadily rising. According to a survey by World 50 Group, a global community of business leaders, over 72 per cent of business leaders said they’ve increased their organization’s investment DEI. However, less than a quarter identified their initiatives as “low” on the maturity scale, and 62 per cent of respondents said they don’t think their leaders are effectively held accountable for results.
QueerTech identifies several key actions for organizations to implement to create a stronger sense of belonging for underrepresented communities. These include developing non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, updating forms to be more inclusive of gender diversity, providing diversity training, ensuring access to gender-neutral washrooms, and expanding health insurance benefits to include partners and support transitions.
“Companies play a huge role in continuing to invest in our communities, not only because it’s the right thing to do but because it’s how their employees can only thrive if they feel a sense of safety not only inside but outside the company,” said Testaouni.
“When there’s a system of policies in place and people are educated on it, it creates an additional sense of safety. When there is not and something happens, then your place of work comes to feel unsafe but you have no mechanism to report it,” said Testaouni. “If you are too small to afford to create this training today, there are organizations like us that work with so many other groups to do that education.”
Aside from training, there is a growing need for tailored support for women-identifying and non-binary founders, which is why Communitech launched Fierce Founders in 2021. The program provides hands-on support, customized content and access to a network of other women and non-binary founders.
“We need more awareness of the fact that there’s a lot of change that still needs to happen,” said Kennedy. “There are a lot of quality people out there.”
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