Navigating Inclusion Amid Shifting Tides:
How Companies Can Honor International Transgender Day of Visibility
International Transgender Day of Visibility, founded in 2009 by transgender activist Rachel Crandall-Crocker, was created to celebrate transgender people and raise awareness of the discrimination they face. Unlike Transgender Day of Remembrance in November, which honors lives lost to anti-transgender violence, March 31st is a day of celebration as we recognize the resilience, achievements, and contributions of transgender individuals.
In today’s evolving social and political climate, many organizations are facing unprecedented challenges in sustaining their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Political shifts, legal challenges, and budget constraints may force companies to rethink how they approach inclusion, but taking a pause to rethink doesn’t have to mean we are retreating. Instead, it’s an opportunity to embed inclusion so deeply into workplace culture that it becomes inseparable from how business is done, making it resilient to external pressures.
Pointing to why this is so important: Recent research from Indeed shows that 75% of employees believe their company’s DEI messaging around inclusivity doesn’t match their actual experiences.
Here’s how organizations can navigate these complexities with strategic intention, ensuring their commitment to inclusion remains a fundamental part of their success.
1. Weaving Inclusion into Core Business Practices
Performative gestures won’t withstand external pressures. Instead of treating inclusion as a separate initiative, integrate it into your company’s core functions. This means ensuring policies and benefits—such as gender-affirming healthcare, chosen-name policies, and dress code flexibility—are framed as essential to employee well-being and business success rather than optional DEI initiatives. Inclusivity shouldn’t have to be a policy. It’s the human thing to do. Embed inclusive leadership practices into performance expectations, making them a standard rather than an add-on.
2. Empowering Leaders to Navigate Inclusion in a Changing Landscape
Managers are on the frontlines of culture, often balancing their commitment to inclusivity with the realities of external pressures. Equipping them with the right tools is crucial. Culture Refinery’s Cultivate Leaders and Cultivate Teams programs provide frameworks for fostering psychological safety, building trust, and making inclusive leadership an embedded part of team dynamics. These programs emphasize critical leadership competencies, including cultural competency, social courage, emotional intelligence, and power dynamics. When leaders have the confidence to navigate complex conversations, their teams thrive regardless of external challenges.
3. Finding Creative Ways to Support and Recognize Employees
Of course, leadership representation matters significantly. Organizations can strengthen their inclusion efforts by developing mentorship programs specifically supporting transgender employees, creating intentional advancement pathways that actively consider transgender talent, and establishing transgender-inclusive Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) with executive sponsorship.
Through comprehensive programs like Culture Refinery’s Cultivate Leaders, new managers can develop the skills needed to create psychologically safe environments where all team members can thrive. This three-month leadership development program equips leaders with the tools to foster trust and increase engagement while ensuring inclusive practices become second nature.
3. Finding Creative Ways to Support and Recognize Employees
Public displays of support for marginalized employees may not always be feasible in every organizational or regional context, but that doesn’t mean employees should go unrecognized. Companies can still foster inclusion through internal mentorship programs, private networking spaces, equitable access to career development opportunities, and anonymous feedback mechanisms that allow employees to express their concerns safely. Recognizing and rewarding employees for their contributions—through performance evaluations, leadership pipelines, and retention strategies—reinforces that inclusion is business as usual, not a political stance.
4. Measuring and Strengthening Inclusion Over Time
Sustainable inclusion requires accountability. Rather than relying on broad DEI statements, track meaningful metrics: retention and engagement of transgender employees, access to career development programs, and participation in mentorship initiatives. Gathering data through anonymous surveys can highlight gaps and inform adjustments without making inclusion feel like a standalone program that can be eliminated under pressure.
5. Building Long-Term Resilience in Inclusive Workplaces
With increasing constraints on formal DEI initiatives, organizations must shift their approach from symbolic gestures to lasting cultural transformation. The key is embedding inclusion into the DNA of how business operates, so that it is not reliant on external policies, but instead becomes an organic part of how teams collaborate, innovate, and grow. Through Unleash GENIUS, Culture Refinery equips high-potential talent with the skills to lead inclusively, ensuring the next generation of leaders carries these values forward.
The Path Forward
International Transgender Day of Visibility is more than a symbolic observance. It’s a reminder that inclusion must be a daily practice, not an annual event. By embedding equity into leadership, team development, and business strategy, organizations can build cultures where all employees feel valued and supported, no matter the external or societal landscape.
