Racing Pride

Racing Pride had an incredible time at the US Grand Prix in Austin connecting with our North America members and our global partners. On the Thursday evening ahead of the race we held a unique Pride Party in downtown Austin which brought together our members, F1 paddock friends, and people from our partner teams. Jessica Hawkins joined Richard Morris on stage, there were fun activities, and it was a great opportunity for the local community to feel the support and allyship from the F1 paddock. Across the race weekend, both Aston Martin F1 Team and Red Bull Racing & Red Bull Technology provided opportunities for some of our members to visit their team garages at the track; creating unforgettable memories for our community members and showing that the work we do year-round behind the scenes extends trackside, too. Throughout the event we collaborated with our friends Girls Across The Grid to share opportunities and to combine our uplifting and supportive communities. We are also extremely grateful to The Race, WTF Talent, and Rafa Racing Club for inviting us to join their exciting announcement party on the Wednesday ahead of the race and for attending our Pride Party along with a number of their content creators. Racing Pride is all about community and safe spaces. Our activities in Austin were certainly fun, but they also welcomed people who might otherwise have felt isolated or a lack of belonging. One story which sums that up comes from one attendee to the Pride Party, a trans woman who has recently started HRT: “I didn’t know how I felt about coming to the race in Austin, and I certainly wasn’t planning to come using my chosen name or presenting in my true gender. But I brought my makeup, hair, etc. because of the Pride Party and loved being myself for the night. The friends I met made me feel I could be more myself at the track, too.” Another young cisgender female LGBTQ+ fan who accompanied us to the paddock added: “while this week has had some hair pulling moments it has also reminded me what I love about motorsports - the community…Today, part of that community offered me a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience my passion up close…I just wanted to thank those who made it possible and welcomed me into motorsport as my true, authentic self.” This is why we do what we do! A particular thanks to Rob Bloom, Debbie Wall, Claire Chan, Talia Vogt, Tim Silvey, and Andrew Van de Burgt for all of their help making this happen. #F1 #motorsports #community #pride #lgbtq #belonging

Striving to champion LGBTQ+ inclusion and allyship everywhere we go with Racing Pride. 🏳️🌈   Our partners Racing Pride joined us this weekend at the #USGP as we aim to expand the impact of our partnership to the countries and communities we visit worldwide.  

It’s been a busy and exciting period for the Racing Pride team! We have delivered a series of workshops for a number of our F1 partners over the last two weeks: from National Inclusion week discussions about supporting people who might be on their coming out journey, to seminars with senior leaders about embedding allyship within their groups, to introductory sessions with student placements and graduates focused on building confidence and cultivating enthusiasm for them to be part of an inclusive future for their team. Last Sunday, meanwhile, we collaborated with Motorsport UK to host a community event at the Bicester Heritage Scramble. Motorsport UK’s building provided an ideal space for LGBTQ+ people in, and aspiring to be in, the sport to network, while Richard Morris hosted talks with inspiring industry figures: Matthew Randall, Kerrie Sparling, Laila Fadli Dokkali and Ami Jerger. There was even time for a fun and friendly simulator competition, with prizes provided by Cammie Sturch of Go for the Gap! Next up the team will be travelling to Austin, Texas, for the United States Grand Prix, where we will again be bringing our growing international community together. Pride isn’t just for Pride Month! #inclusion #belonging #team #pride

We're proud to be partnered with Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains. The team at Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, known as HPP, is responsible for the design, manufacture, testing and racing of Formula 1 power units enjoying enormous success with works team Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team and customer teams Aston Martin, Williams, and McLaren. Additionally, the Advanced Technology Team transfers F1 technologies and know-how into high performance automotive projects and products. The partnership began at the start of 2024 to enhance LGBTQ+ employee experiences and to promote and provide education around allyship across the business. As part of this, Racing Pride helped to launch and is supporting HPP's internal Pride Community employee group. Each year, HPP recruits a large number of apprentices, student placements, and graduates and so one particular focus, working alongside Mercedes HPP’s Recruitment, Diversity & Inclusion Manager, Stacey Fletcher, is to make sure that young people coming into the business are greeted with a safe and supportive environment in which to flourish and thrive as their authentic selves. Richard Morris said: “It’s wonderful to be working with Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains to nurture its Pride Community and spread awareness about allyship. HPP is a hugely significant company within the industry, supplying the Mercedes-AMG works team and customer teams in Formula One and working on a range of projects through its Advanced Technology Team. It has a substantial workforce and is a place where many aspiring young people – apprentices, students, and graduates – begin their journey in the industry every year. We are proud to be associated with Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains and to be working alongside the team there to advance LGBTQ+ inclusion for HPP’s staff as well as to help introduce diverse talent into the industry.” You can read more here: https://lnkd.in/eVMuxfV9

This week our CEO Richard Morris led a session for Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd’s new apprentices and graduates. Richard’s on-track experience driving the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 car and the close relationship Racing Pride also has with Aston Martin F1 Team particularly captivated the new starters, as did interactive exercises designed to get them thinking about what makes up their identities and why it can be so uncomfortable for LGBTQ+ people to feel they have to hide who they are. This is the third year in a row that the first day of Aston Martin’s induction has featured Racing Pride. Discussing values and inclusion so early in new starters’ experience is a fantastic way to help drive a positive culture within the broader company as a whole, alongside our site visits and allyship workshops through the year. #businessculture #induction #apprentices #graduates #recruitment #automotive #pride

Racing Pride is excited to announce that, following a thorough recruitment process over the last few months, four new non-executive directors have joined our Board: Jessica Hinman, MPA, Matthew Randall, Marta Neto and Philip S.. They will each bring their extensive expertise to our work championing LGBTQ+ inclusion across motorsport and its associated industries, with their professional backgrounds covering crucial areas such as Employee Resource Groups, Corporate Social Responsibility, the Automotive industry, Events & Communications, and Finance. This knowledge will help continue to grow our organisation, the expertise we can bring to our partners, and the opportunities we can provide for our members. Our four newly appointed Board members will sit alongside our existing non-executive directors, Bryanna Harding and Jon Holmes, and our CEO & Co-Founder Richard Morris. We are proud to bring together a Board with such a range of professional and personal perspectives to support and spearhead our work. You can find out more about each of our Board members via our website: https://lnkd.in/eXJSZJ9H

Go behind the scenes with Racing Pride Aston Martin Award for Diversity & Inclusion winners Southampton University Formula Student Team visiting our partners Aston Martin F1 Team for a look around their Silverstone Technology Campus and an opportunity to speak with members of the team. We’re really proud of being able to offer this truly meaningful Award, each year recognising the IMechE Formula Student team which has done the most to promote diversity & inclusion within their society and more broadly. By celebrating the winning team, we also encourage others to think about what they can do, too, and we have seen the level of the entries rise year on year. The initiatives being developed by the teams will help open up opportunities for more people from diverse backgrounds to have a taste of motorsport and play a part in building a more inclusive industry. Thank you to Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd & Aston Martin F1 Team for their ongoing support, and congratulations again to the team from University of Southampton.

Last weekend we were delighted to present the Racing Pride Aston Martin Award for Diversity & Inclusion at IMechE Formula Student 2024 to Southampton University Formula Student Team 🏆 The University of Southampton team has planned and implemented a well thought out strategy over the last year to boost inclusivity across their society. 25% of the society behind the team are first generation students, at least 20 different nationalities are represented, and 44% are from ethnic minority backgrounds. Pronouns and chosen names are integrated into everyday functioning of the team, mentoring and support systems encourage the learning of new skills, and future plans include introducing audio description. They are even collaborating with National Motor Museum to create learning resources for Key Stage 3 & 4 students. In recognition of their achievement, the team enjoyed prize experiences with our partners Aston Martin F1 Team & Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd - getting to explore behind the scenes and meet the designers. Congratulations to Southampton and all of the amazing entrants to our Award this year. It’s fantastic to see the number of entries growing year on year, and the increasing efforts of the student societies. Who will win in 2025?! 👀 #student #formulastudent #motorsport #inclusion