"The initial progress encourages me"

06/18/2024

Oliwia Gust has been Diversity Manager at HPI for a year now. She advises and supports HPI students, researchers and employees, coordinates the Women in Tech Empower Pack program and organizes events to raise awareness of diversity issues and strengthen community building. In this interview, she provides insights into her work.

Hasso Plattner Institute: Oliwia, you have been working as Diversity Manager at HPI for almost a year now. How would you summarise your work at HPI so far?

Oliwia Gust: My work has been very intensive over the last few months. I had to get to know the people, the organization, and the processes better to understand the challenges of diversity. I have been working on establishing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as a new area and creating an understanding that it is different from equality work. That is why creating a permanent position like mine is so important and right. The positive response and initial progress encourage me that we are on the right track, even if there is still much to do.

HPI: What are you particularly proud of so far?

Oliwia: My highlight so far has been getting to know the HPI community - the students and the staff. It's great how many great people are active on this campus. I am particularly proud of how many have decided to run for the position of Equal Opportunities Officer of the Digital Engineering Faculty.

HPI: You are currently creating a roadmap for DEI at HPI. What is the current status?

Oliwia: The roadmap is the result of a joint process in which we examined how promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion can contribute to our vision and which main target groups we should focus on in the near future. Our goal is to develop customized strategies that make HPI a diverse and inclusive place where the individual needs of underrepresented groups are addressed. (Thanks to Annie and Mara for guiding us through this process.)

HPI: What else do you have planned for this year?

Oliwia: This year, we are working on a very important topic — together, the DEF and HPI are creating an equality plan for academic operations that will be valid until 2030. It's a great opportunity, and I'm looking forward to the final version and future work with the plan. An Incident Response System for Discrimination, Harassment, or Violence will also be launched in autumn, which will allow those affected to report incidents quickly. This way, we want to promote a safe and inclusive environment and create transparency.

HPI: Pride Month starts on 1 June. What is your wish for this year's Pride Month?

Oliwia: I want HPI to be a place where everyone, whether students, WiMis, professors, or employees, feels welcome and safe.

HPI: And finally, please complete the following sentence: For me, HPI is...?

Oliwia: ... a place where there is no room for sexism, homophobia, or racism.

Thank you very much for the interview!