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In diversity lies our strength

Tecpetrol’s diversity and inclusion program has just turned five years old and to celebrate, we held a meeting and invited representatives of the Encontrarse en Diversidad foundation to help us reflect on what differentiates yet unites us.

What makes us who we are? We could start by looking at our traits and innate characteristics, but equally necessary are aspects such as personal idiosyncrasies, religion, customs and values. What about our likes, hobbies, and profession? Of course, these are also pieces of the puzzle. But even with all of these factors, it’s not enough, as focusing solely on individual experiences offers an incomplete picture of human reality. That's when the collective comes into play, as our sense of self is intertwined with our interactions with others. Our lives are embedded in a broader social context that provides a frame of reference. From family to community, from school to work, we are continually engaged in instances of exchange with others. It is through this continuous give-and-take that we find opportunities to grow, learn, and define our identities.

We’re celebrating the fifth anniversary of our +d program throughout our regions.Making the most of this opportunity to remember what makes us unique and yet also unites us.

Reflections such as this were shared during the celebration of the fifth year of the +d program, the initiative we launched to shine a light on the particularities of each member of our corporate community and harness these to create a unified and positive force driving our daily work. This time, the event was held in collaboration with the Encontrarse en la Diversidad Foundation, which, according to its executive director Florencia Fisch, has been “working for 18 years to combat all forms of discrimination and champion people’s rights.” She emphasized that, “in order to achieve this, it’s crucial to work with all kinds of people and in all kinds of places.”

“Identity has to do with the vast collection of baggage we carry over from all the things we do. My past and my present have made me who I am, all the things that I transformed throughout my life. Identity continues to be built, and it has some individuality because it is what defines someone as unique and unrepeatable and helps them position themselves in relation to other people,” pointed out Mercedes Monjaime Aguiar, director of the foundation's Advisory Council.

“It's about not focusing on those of our particularities that separate us, but rather on what we have in common,” said Julieta Delorenzi, Tecpetrol’s Cultural Transformation Sr. Manager, at the beginning of the event.

The teams came up with “labels” to define themselves and find points in common with their peers.-

“Cultural connectors” was the slogan of the meeting, where attendees were invited to choose three features that not only identify them individually, but also connect them to their peers. “All human beings create instances where they are more or less likely to connect with another person. The more ways in which we can do this, the easier it will be to connect,” explained Ariel Dorfman, president of the Encontrarse en la Diversidad Foundation.

“Identity is what makes us who we are,” commented Laura Mercedes Contreras Santos, also from the Foundation, who went on to emphasize the importance of positive and negative traits, the things which we value and make us proud and what prompts us to feel shame, fear or even anguish. “Our identity, which is inherited, is built on memory, and it also has traits that we may not like as much. It’s when we start to become aware of this that change occurs,” she remarked.

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