Avery Dennison Corporate / PRIDE 2023: Meet Members of UNITE, Alice Li

PRIDE 2023: Meet Members of UNITE, our LGBTQI+ employee resource group, Alice Li

Avery Dennison Communications

June 7, 2023

"PRIDE means celebrating those brave enough to trailblaze a path for us to burst out of our closets"

At Avery Dennison, our business success revolves around innovation, sustainability and growth. Central to all three are diversity, equity and inclusion. We’ve experienced the value a depth of perspectives brings to our culture, our business, our customers, and our communities. One way we experience diversity is through our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) which bring together employees with shared interests for community and support. We are proud to have more than 24 ERGs worldwide. UNITE is Avery Dennison’s LGBTQI+ resource group. With chapters in global regions, UNITE focuses on supporting the LGBTQI+ community and its allies. For PRIDE 2023, let’s meet UNITE member, Alice Li.

Alice Li, Process Engineer, Reflective Solutions, UNITE North America

How do you celebrate PRIDE and what does it mean to you?

To me, PRIDE means celebrating those brave enough to trailblaze a path for us to burst out of our closets (many of which were LGBT people of color). It also means continuing the path they took so that future generations have an even more colorful and affirming world to come out to. I celebrate this by storytelling – both my own story and the stories of influential figures within the community. By doing so, I hope that I can educate and inspire both new members to the community as well as allies wanting to learn. Of course, I also celebrate by making everything I own rainbow-colored and putting rainbow gear on my dogs.

At Avery Dennison, we have an employee resource group, UNITE, ERG) for LGBTQI+ colleagues and allies, in each region we operate in. How did you come to join UNITE as a member/ally? How has being part of UNITE supported you inside and out of the workplace?

In the beginning of 2020, my New Year’s resolution was to be more authentic to myself, so I took a concrete step by joining UNITE. I was put into a small group led by Harvir Kang, and a year later, I was asked to join the steering committee. The connections I’ve made through UNITE have not only enriched my work life, but also helped me through the isolation of the pandemic. I can safely say I knocked my New Year’s resolution out of the park that year.

How have DE&I initiatives within your region, improved your experience working at Avery Dennison?

The DE&I initiatives, especially the PRIDE-focused ones such as putting up the rainbow flag, have made me feel much safer coming to work every day. Seeing a visual reminder that I am welcome here – all of me – relieves the mental load of constantly wondering how much of my identity I need to leave in the parking lot. Rather than draining me of energy, doing these DE&I initiatives recharges me throughout the day. Additionally, I was involved in the company’s AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) month activities. It was a fantastic opportunity to share the often neglected education on AAPI history that I've learned through my activism work with an external AAPI advocacy organization. Through the trivia event I ran, I connected with many people interested in the AAPI experience, and witnessing their enthusiasm made my week so much brighter.

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PRIDE 2023: Meet Members of UNITE, our LGBTQI+ employee resource group, Alice Li

"PRIDE means celebrating those brave enough to trailblaze a path for us to burst out of our closets"

Alice Li, Process Engineer, Reflective Solutions, UNITE North America

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