From apartheid to inclusion: a journey to DEI consulting
About Grazia Pecoraro
“Leadership at its core is about harnessing others’ efforts to achieve something no one can achieve alone.”
Professor Amy Edmondson
Hello! I’m Grazia Pecoraro (she/her), Director of Inclusion and Belonging at Perspective Hive Diversity, Inclusion & Communications Consulting. I live and work on Garigal land in Sydney. I acknowledge the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land Perspective Hive operates on and pay respect to their Elders past and present.
I founded Perspective Hive as a consulting hub of expertise that helps companies both value difference and create business value from DEI programs. My ‘hive’ of specialist associates, including coaching, data science, marketing and communications professionals, means I can draw on the right expertise for each client engagement. This approach gives clients a boutique, personalised service with full-service delivery capabilities.
If you want to create a company culture where people can stop masking their differences and instead put their energy into thinking big and sharing their best ideas, I can help. I’ll work with you to help your people feel psychologically safe to speak up and speak out, with a sense of belonging and respect for the uniqueness they bring to work with them.
Why inclusion & diversity is my calling
I was born in South Africa during the height of apartheid. It was an evil and shameful period in history, yet I was unaware of the privilege that I had been bestowed by being born into a family of white parent. My Italian migrant dad was viewed with some suspicion, but he was deemed to pass the colour credentials. This is why leaving the world a better place than when I came into it, is a key value for me.
Growing up with English as a second language (I spoke Afrikaans to my mom and my dad spoke English poorly as his second language), together with living with a vision impairment of being legally blind without my glasses, I have tremendous empathy for those who access the world in different ways.
I really love what I do for a living and am passionate about the business benefits diversity can deliver. While I can’t right the wrongs of the past, I believe we can choose to do things differently to make a positive impact. Through Perspective Hive, I help companies change the way they do business, so that difference becomes an asset.
I bring a depth of experience to my work, drawing on my former international career specialising in corporate communications and brand amplification, reputation management and employee engagement to the diversity, equity and inclusion outcomes I create for my clients.
I’ve also been in the same position as many of my clients – making change from within the organisation. In my time at Westpac Group, I led several diversity practices for the bank that have been recognised as leading practice through the Australian Human Rights Awards, Australian HR Institute Awards and Government Disability Award. My work also contributed to Westpac achieving 50% women in leadership roles, achieving Top Three in the Australian Network on Disability’s Access & Inclusion Index and Gold status in the LGBTQ focused Australian Workplace Equality Index.
