When the opportunity to become involved with the NAB Pride employee resource group, NAB Executive Specialised Lending Operations Julie Patterson jumped at it.
“I’ve always been a friend to PRIDE. Then, the plebiscite, I think, like many of us made me angry and sad and realise that as a society we have a long way to go and being a passive Ally was no longer enough. We got the right outcome, but we also got a whole bunch of pain getting there.”
“The stars aligned, and I got the opportunity to become co-chair of NAB Pride and have been in the role for almost two years.”
Julie’s initial impression of NAB Pride is that it is a “well run machine.”
“For something that is run largely by people doing it off the side of their desk and have busy jobs, they’re exceptional,” Julie said.
“It shows you what people with passion and purpose can do.”
Julie’s focus as Co-Chair has been to show that being allies to the LGBTQIA+ community is not just the right thing to do, but really good business.
“I wanted to tilt our focus away from a ‘nice to have’ or ‘the right thing to do’ to it’s the necessary thing to do. It’s good for business, it’s good for customers and it’s good for colleagues.”
An evolution is also reflected in the rebrand of NAB’s Pride star, and it’s been on display as the NAB Pride Shimmer Wall in the foyer of the NAB building at 395 Bourke Street, Melbourne.
Aligning with the pride progress flag, the new Pride Star adds additional colours including blue, white, pink, black and brown.
The pride flag redesign sought to increase the visibility of LGBTQIA+ Indigenous peoples, people of colour and members of the trans community, who often face additional levels of marginalisation. The new Pride Star shares the message that no member of our community will be left behind.
“Our people make us who we are here at NAB and we wanted to honour the diversity of our LGBTQIA+ community. I love that this new design means that more colleagues can see themselves in in the star as we continue this important work,” Julie said.
“I know it’s cliche to say it’s really inclusive, but it just brings everybody along, together. There is something in there for everybody, I think.”
The NAB Pride Shimmer wall was the idea of Senior Consultant BDSB Execution and NAB Pride committee member Todd Marcus, and designed and crafted by NAB Small Business customers – Electric Confetti!
They’ve been in business, and banking with NAB since launching their first products in 2015. Shimmer Walls are the latest addition to the Electric Confetti business, joining a range of beautiful, robust and energy efficient LED neon designs.
Electric Confetti founder Natalie Jarvis helped to design the wall, bringing NAB’s new Pride Star to life.
“We were honoured to do this job, working with the Pride team to translate the Pride Star into a stunning shimmer wall. We stand for everyone having a voice and the ability to be heard and we’re proud to ‘reflect’ this in our special reflective medium,” Natalie said.
“Mapping out the new Pride Star and choosing the right colours to bring joy to this space was the ultimate job, and we enjoyed working with the wonderful NAB Pride team.”
NAB Pride is our Employee Resource Group to support and advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. Learn more at the NAB Pride page on NAB’s Inclusion and Diversity website.
