Growing up in Bucharest in the 90s gave Razvan Bran a unique perspective and a lifelong passion for fostering diversity and equality. Now, as Leader, EMEA Customer Demand, Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) in Lenovo Romania, he continues to support and empower those around him through active allyship and D&I initiatives.
How did your childhood inspire you to empower and support those around you?
I was born one month after the Communist regime ended in Romania. My mother was a teacher in foster care and would bring children home to spend the weekend with me and my sister. By doing this, she taught us a powerful life lesson—to share and not take things for granted. That foundation helped me understand that there are many different situations and people in life. You should always seek to understand; you never know what someone else is going through.
What did you learn in your childhood about the importance of giving back?
My father’s job meant that we were always moving from one city to another, and through that, I met lots of different people, many of whom were less privileged. I remember being so disappointed once in high school that I didn’t have the financial resources to support friends who couldn’t afford summer camp. I proposed that everyone in my class donate a small amount of money to enable that, but more was needed for everyone to be able to go. So, I promised myself that whenever I was in a position where I could change things, I would do it, and I’ve kept my word.
Why is it important for people to recognise different kinds of diversity?
The best moments in humanity’s history are a testament to the good things that can happen when everyone is happy in all their diversity. Diversity is important because it brings people together, and they can learn from each other. I built my team at Lenovo from scratch and knew I wanted people with character, skills, and appetite. Now, my team has people of all ages and from different cultural and educational backgrounds, and it’s one of my biggest achievements. Each of them is good at something, and combining those unique talents highlights why diversity is so important.
How do you feel empowered by Lenovo to support your passion for diversity and equality?
When I joined the company, I asked my hiring manager whether Lenovo had volunteering opportunities because that was a dealbreaker for me. He assured me he would support me fully in any volunteering, and as a result, I have managed to take things to a level here that I wasn’t expecting. ESG is embedded in Lenovo’s culture. I have met such amazing people—not just through our initiatives but also through everywoman, which is a great partnership for us. It can be so easy to look the other way in life, but it’s more important to acknowledge your privilege and say, ‘I can help you’. Working every day to make things better and more equal is how to ensure you have a fulfilling life because job titles, promotions and money come and go. This is the way you can leave something that will last.
How have you supported development in the D&I space at Lenovo?
When I joined Lenovo three years ago, I started with one small NGO focused on renovating school classrooms and planting trees. I then met the head of philanthropy for EMEA at Lenovo, and I liked that he started to challenge me in a positive way. He gave me the pieces to help build an Employee Resource Group that today supports D&I through all its expressions, Pride, cultural diversity, mental health, and wellbeing initiatives, too. It has grown so big, with so many project leaders supporting it, that we’ve already accomplished more than we thought we could when we started three years ago.
How have you ensured diversity, equity, and inclusion within your teams throughout your career?
My approach has always been to bring everyone together and talk honestly and openly. As a team leader, you are responsible for setting the tone others will follow. It’s so important to tell people what you measure and care about so that they understand the foundation of the culture. You also need to speak with transparency and practice active listening. You need to foster this type of environment because it will pay later—productivity will be better, and you and your team will be happier.
What does allyship mean to you and how can people become better allies?
For me, allyship means coming together to support a cause. The first thing is to recognise a difference between you and others. In some cases, we are privileged through our experience, and allyship means standing next to those who don’t have that privilege and who may be suffering or marginalised. Allyship is a way to express gratitude and ‘pay it forward’. However, I became a better ally by also recognising the mistakes that I was making. In a world that changes so quickly, you’ll always make mistakes. But you need to keep an open mind and heart, continue to educate yourself and be open to feedback.
How are you helping LGBTQ+ employees feel supported and seen at work?
In 2023, we did a lot of work to support. In Romania, Pride is not something where you say, ‘Hey, I want to do this’; you need to prepare people because they might not understand. We tested perceptions within the company and built a programme based on those results. Our first decision was to set up a workshop at the office to talk about recognising our biases and to help people understand what diversity is and why it’s important. We also wanted to help people realise that someone close to them might be going through something that they couldn’t be open about. I was expecting around 20 people out of 300, but over 70 joined the workshop in the end. People also told us they were keen to participate in Pride, so we organised a march and an evening party for Lenovo allies and celebrated at the office. It was the first time we had done this as an office, and this year’s Pride in Romania had the biggest attendance since it began. All of this work couldn’t have been done without the invaluable support from our colleagues including Georgiana Dimancea, Inside Channel Account Manager, Lenovo Romania and Laura Coman, Instructional Designer, Lenovo Romania.
What wider impacts have you seen through this sense of support and visibility?
A couple of weeks ago, we talked about something in the office to do with D&I and Pride, and some of the body language, which had previously been quite closed, was now much more open and relaxed because the topic had been normalised. This is why I believe strongly in taking time to help people understand. This change in body language is a sign that that’s the way forward. And when people know better, they do better.
