Bobbi Pickard

Bobbi Pickard is a British human rights and LGBTQIA+ rights campaigner, and founder of Trans in the City.^[1] She was the first openly transgender employee at BP, and runs a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultancy firm.^[2][3]

Bobbi Pickard speaking at the Trans in the City Awards 2022

Life

Bobbi Pickard was born in January 1969,^[4] and grew up struggling with gender dysphoria from the age three.^[5] She was open with her gender identity until aged six, when her father told her that boys didn't wear dresses or play with dolls. Growing up, she struggled to hide her identity, becoming isolated at school. The emotional toll of hiding her true self culminated in a suicide attempt at age 14, when puberty intensified her gender dysphoria.^[2] She first shared her gender identity with a select group of people in 1991. Over two decades later, she was able to medically transition in 2015, before publicly coming out in her workplace at BP in 2017.^[5][6][7]

Pickard has previously worked for British Aerospace, Kodak, Computer Weekly, before becoming self-employed and starting her own business in the early 2000s.^[6] Later, she began working at BP.^[8] She became the Co-Chair of BP Pride’s Transgender Group.^[9]

Trans in the City was founded by Pickard in 2017, as a UK based not-for-profit organisation championing equality for trans and non-binary people in business. Pickard is the organisation's CEO.^[10][3]

In 2021 Pickard became the first openly trans person to close the London Stock Exchange,^[11] is a patron of the LGBTQIA+ parents charity FFLAG,^[12][13] and a Golden champion of the LGBTQIA+ homelessness charity Stonewall Housing.^[12][14] In the past she has been a trustee for Mermaids^[15] and an ambassador for MindOut.^[16] She has raised several hundred thousand pounds for trans charities since 2016.^[10]

Through her consultancy work, Bobbi has spoken at a variety of events, teaching businesses and workplaces how they can be supportive of their transgender and non-binary employees.^[15][17][18]

Accolades and awards

In 2019 Pickard was included in PwC's Stonewall 50 Inspirational Role Models List,^[19] was #1 in the Yahoo Finance OUTstanding 50 LGBT+ Future Leaders’ List and received the Rainbow Honours LGBTQ Champion Award.^[6][20]

In 2020 Pickard became British LGBT Awards Nestle Diversity Champion,^[21] placed #4 in the Yahoo Finance OUTstanding 50 LGBT+ Future Leaders’ List^[22] and #14 in the Pride Power List.^[23]

In 2021, Pickard was named Diversity Hero at the European Diversity Awards,^[24] and placed #12 in the Pride Power List.^[25]

Pickard was named Stonewall Changemaker of the Year in 2022.^[26]