Marjolein Dennissen

26 The Herculean task of diversity networks union’s location or Govt’s, the women’s network was able to make use of the facilities available to them without extremely high costs. Although they have organized multiple events in the past (e.g., keynotes on feminism, anti-stress workshops, eco-coaching and guerilla-gardening ), the network is inactive at the moment. Two reasons exist for this inactivity. First, because Govt announced its work on a proposal to facilitate their diversity networks, the women’s network is awaiting the results. Second, the board members indicated that they are too occupied by their regular jobs to do voluntary network-related work. LGBT network. The national LGBT network within Govt is a collective network of all regional LGBT networks. In 1994, the first regional LGBT network was initiated by LGBT employees to foster LGBT emancipation in the organization. The LGBT network has a chairman who chairs the network meetings, but decisions are made collaboratively. The network has several committees for organizing various actions, including events such as the national Pride parade, secretary and communication, internal safety and inclusion, and contact with the organizational management. The goals of the LGBT network are twofold: ensuring internal safety for LGBT colleagues and connecting to the LGBT community outside the organization. The national network consists of approximately 20 active members, whereas regional networks consist of approximately 25 members. Regionally, the networks used to receive a budget per year, but the organization is working on a proposal to facilitate their diversity networks and provide a future budget on a national level. Disability network. The disability network is the initiative of one employee with a chronical illness. Getting diagnosed with cancer, he noticed that the organization tended to write him off. Then, he heard other stories about managers who ignored sick employees and applied policy measures incorrectly. In 2014, he organized a meeting with 15 colleagues with a chronic illness, and his suspicion of sick employees being maltreated by the organization was confirmed. After the meeting, he formed a small group of five people to set up a network and explore possible counteractions. Since then, they have organized several meetings and a small symposium to exchange experiences and knowledge. The goals of the network are to support, help, and advise colleagues and the organization, as well as to challenge the organization to treat sick employees as full and worthy employees and recognize what can be done rather than disregarding them. The first meetings were organized with the (financial) support of an independent foundation that advocates for a more inclusive culture within Govt, tailored to employees’ needs. Currently, the network is officially acknowledged by the organizational HR department and subsequently time and resources has been allotted to them. Young employee network. In 2012, a fusion of several regional young employee networks resulted in the young employee network of Govt on a national level. The goals of the network are fourfold: to present a community for (young) colleagues, to stimulate personal development, to contribute to organizational innovation, and to function as sounding board. Underlying the latter two goals is the objective to change and improve the organizational culture within Govt. Working practices are taken for granted and young (new) employees have no voice. The