Our +d program, which is about gender, generations, cultures and disabilities as well as the LGBTQIA+ community, has been distinguished with a prize at the prestigious FLOR Diversity Awards. This recognition is an inspiration to continue transforming our industry, and is a reminder that diversity isn’t just one of our values—it’s the driving force behind everything we do.

At Tecpetrol, diversity is our most valuable resource. In fact, thanks to our +d program we made it to the finals of the FLOR Awards in the "Large Companies" category, marking a historic first for the Oil & Gas industry. The FLOR Diversity Awards, organized by the namesake foundation, celebrate organizations across sectors—companies, SMEs, NGOs, and the public sector—that make diversity a strategic priority. While Banco Galicia took home the top prize, our finalist spot underscores a powerful truth: integrating diversity into our organizational culture isn’t just a goal—it’s the energy driving us forward.

Our journey to this recognition began in 2018 with the launch of the +d program, laying the groundwork for change. In 2021, we took it a step further with the creation of our Diversity Governance Committee—a multidisciplinary team dedicated to making diversity a strategic business priority. This group, made up of professionals from various nationalities, roles, responsibilities, and work areas, ensures that diversity actions are both self-sustaining and inclusive, delivering a broader, more comprehensive approach for the entire organization.

"I proposed the first three focus areas: gender, generations, and national cultures. These felt like a natural starting point because they’re immediately visible in the data about our workforce. We also crafted an amazingly high-energy diversity statement that set the tone for everything to come, using words closely related to Tecpetrol’s identity,” explains María Laura García, Chief Human Resources Officer.

The Diversity Governance Committee, which rotates its members every two years to maintain a diverse range of perspectives, is always ready to look at fresh ideas and approaches as each member brings a unique perspective that leads to proposals to tackle diversity from different angles. For Esteban Grassi, PAD Sr. Manager and committee member from 2021 to 2023, the focus was on disability inclusion.

“It was a time when inclusive language was a big topic in Argentina, particularly in the media,” Esteban recalls. “There were concerns that people with disabilities were being overlooked in the discussion. Our goal was simple: to eliminate barriers in the workplace so that anyone with the right skills could be hired for the job. After that, whether someone has a disability or not is secondary.”

Under Esteban's guidance, the team introduced practical measures like the accessibility button on the intranet. “This adjusts colors for color blindness and formats text for dyslexia. And we’ve created a system to ensure that people with disabilities can be included in evacuation drills. Being able to open up these kinds of inclusive spaces is incredibly inspiring,” says Esteban.

Since then, the company has expanded its focus to five key areas: gender, generations, national cultures, disability, and LGBTQIA+. “The last one was introduced in response to concerns raised by our own employees. This industry presents significant challenges for LGBTQIA+ inclusion—perhaps even more so than for gender diversity. Yet, when we rolled out about 20 initiatives across all areas, it was the LGBTQIA+ efforts that were the most popular,” recalls María Laura.

Diversity transforms cultures by starting with people. Juan José Mata, Vice President of Administration & Finance and a founding member of the first Diversity Governance Committee, reflects on the shift in mindset. “At first, there was a lot of uncertainty—it felt strange, like being pulled out of your comfort zone,” he admits. “But it turned out to be a positive experience. That year was incredible because it gave me a perspective I didn’t have before in my area of responsibility. That humanistic, more compassionate point of view really left its mark on me. We’re an industrial group, very engineering-focused and pretty tough, but at the end of the day, we’re also people who are working toward shared goals. It’s essential not to lose sight of the human aspect.”

Inclusion reaches every corner of our operations. In Colombia, José Feretti, Country Director, proudly highlights that the company in this country was awarded the Equipares Silver Seal, an initiative aimed at encouraging organizations to close the gender gap. Achieved as much because of the guidelines developed through the +d program as because of the collaboration between all the teams working in the country, the recognition is a testament to collective effort.

“Today, our team is 23% made up of women so the challenge is clearly to increase that number,” José explains. “This journey begins with a focus on including women for promotion opportunities and interview shortlists. One key practice we make a point of using is the 'blind interview,' where candidates are evaluated without either their gender or any other personal details being revealed.” This approach, along with the bias-free technical evaluations and structured interview guide developed by the company, were singled out as crucially important actions by the Equipares Seal jury.

José acknowledges the difficulty of driving real change. “I notice now when someone uses non-inclusive language, but I catch myself doing it too. The real challenge is reaching a point where our habits shift and start to transform us from within.”

While the company has seen progress—with more women coming on board and a 50% increase among young professionals—a key challenge remains: ensuring that individuals from countries beyond Argentina are represented in succession plans. María Laura points out that this effort hasn’t gone unnoticed by the company’s peers in the industry. “Other operators are paying attention to us,” she brings up. “We are involved in a large number of initiatives, and in some areas, we’ve become a reference point for them.”

Alberto Narváez, Operations Sr. Manager in Ecuador and a new member of the Diversity Governance Committee, emphasizes the importance of taking this message to the different regions where the company operates. “When we talk about managing diversity, we’re talking about making it a core part of how we operate—not just something one department handles,” says Alberto. “Our diversity policy isn’t about hitting quotas; it’s about recognizing that diversity adds value. It makes us more resilient, more creative, and it brings us together. It empowers us and helps us shift our mindset. As we like to say: culture is what we do when no one’s watching. It’s not just about the policies themselves, but how they resonate with people—how they inspire them to act even without oversight. That’s the real challenge of the +d program.”

He adds that: "We're not just a group of people creatively trying to figure out what to do. We are an engineering company and we have metrics. One challenge is to interpret this data well, to see how we can reduce the gaps by putting the greatest effort into what gives us the most value.”

In Ecuador, one standout initiative developed by the company was a workshop on gender and generations, held with girls who had received scholarships at a school in Pacayacu, a community near the operation. That evening, Alberto returned home and shared the experience with his teenage daughter and son. He asked them what they thought about the differences between being a girl and a boy, referred to the biases that had come up in the workshop, and shared the insights he’d gained on diversity. This is exactly how the message should be spread—through individuals and teams, their families and their communities. It moves like something alive, a breeze bearing the transformative power of diversity wherever it blows.