June is Pride Month, a month dedicated to celebrating and bringing awareness to the LGBTQ+ community globally.
Nomura’s Group Purpose is 'We aspire to create a better world by harnessing the power of financial markets’. To put our Purpose into action, we believe it is essential to foster an inclusive environment. We are committed to creating a workplace environment where our people are valued and respected for who they are, and where each individual feels a sense of belonging and can realize their full potential.
To mark Pride Month this year, our voluntary employee networks have organized various awareness initiatives at our offices around the world to encourage greater understanding of the LGBTQ+ community. Some of the initiatives are highlighted below.
Nomura PRIDE EMEA is hosting a roundtable titled "United in Pride: Voices of Nomura's LGBTQ+ & Ally Community" on June 5 as part of a global collaboration within Nomura. This event will feature personal stories and perspectives from regional Pride Network members, fostering dialogue on the significance of Pride Month, the role of allyship as a vital pillar in creating an inclusive workplace, and the initiatives taken by various regions to support this objective, with representatives from each region participating.
Japan’s largest LGBTQ+ event Tokyo Pride (formerly Tokyo Rainbow Pride), which was previously held in April, will be held during Pride Month this year under the theme of “Same Life, Same Rights.” Nomura has been involved in this event as a sponsor for 10 years. Many employees will be participating in this year’s activities.
On May 17, our Nomura colleagues participated in two separate events in Nagoya and Osaka: Nagoya Rainbow Pride and Pride Cruise Osaka 2025.
On May 21, we hosted a movie screening and talk session featuring director Ayumi Kurokawa and lead actor Takayuki Goda. Attendees watched the short film "Until the Day I Call You Son," which portrays the journey of a transgender man overcoming conflicts with his father and societal barriers alongside his family and partner. In the latter part of the event, Director Kurokawa gave a lecture on LGBTQ+ issues, followed by a talk show with the lead actor. The event offered an excellent opportunity for participants to think about how they and their families can be their true selves.
Our Americas PRIDE Network will host a fireside chat with Sochi 2014 Olympic silver medallist skier Gus Kenworthy in June in partnership with Mizuho’s Pride Network. He will share his journey of breaking barriers in sports, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, and using his platform to support causes.
The PRIDE Network hosted a Lunch & Learn focused on allyship in the workplace in collaboration with our corporate partner, Out Leadership. The session covered their latest research and actions for becoming a better ally in the workplace.
Nomura hosted a Mentoring Symposium with the social enterprise LGBT Great, where two of our colleagues, in addition to other mentoring pairs, gave an insight into their relationship and the benefits of mentoring.
Our EMEA PRIDE Network hosted a film screening which was supported by The Japan Society. The film this year was Gohatto, directed by Nagisa Oshima. The movie explores themes of understanding diversity, the importance of self-expression, and the need to understand and accept yourself without giving in to social bias and pressure.
The PRIDE Network, in collaboration with the LIFE Network, hosted a talk on “Confident Conversations Around LGBTQ+ Themes with Young People.” Approximately 30 people attended, engaging in interesting discussions that made the event a great success.
In Asia ex-Japan, our flagship "Trivia Night" event will be held on June 25. For the first time, Trivia Night will feature two drag performances in Singapore and Hong Kong. The event will include competitions across categories such as music, pop culture, math, and LGBTQ+ history. Participants will take home attractive Pride Network merchandise, and the top-scoring teams will win voucher prizes.
Nomura is proud to sponsor the Inclusive Careers Fair as part of Singapore’s Pink Fest 2025. At Nomura's booth, we will introduce our initiatives for fostering an inclusive workplace environment.
In April, our Pride Network in Singapore successfully raised around USD10,000 for Oogachaga with their annual Love-A-Fair fundraiser.
Nomura participated in the RISE job fair on May 10 which focuses exclusively on hiring LGBTQ+ candidates. Overall, 17 companies and around 2,000 LGBTQ+ job seekers participated in the job fair.
Our colleague in Powai will share how LGBTQ+ allies can help everyone feel valued for who they are and build psychological safety. Additionally, he will explain how allies can contribute to creating an inclusive environment for the LGBTQ+ community in corporate settings and beyond, based on his own experiences in both Powai and Japan.
Also in Powai, we plan to hold a lunch and live quiz about LGBTQ+ communities and key terminologies that everyone should know to be truly inclusive.