At Canva, we believe a truly diverse team, with authentic inclusion, goes beyond the numbers — it relies on kind and thoughtful people who are united by shared values. We feel every single one of us right around the world has a responsibility to foster true inclusion and champion diversity and representation in every aspect of our work – and to create a space where everyone is heard, seen, respected, and celebrated.

Pride Month is a fantastic occasion for everyone to celebrate and recognise the LGBTQIA+ community, spark meaningful conversations, address misconceptions, and take action towards building inclusive teams and cultures.

Building a More Inclusive Team

Last year, we shared an update on the importance of inclusion and diversity at Canva and how we’re striving to constantly listen, learn and build on what we've created. We know that belonging is a key component of inclusion, and social support in our communities increases self-acceptance and self-expression. A sense of community and support is crucial towards making everyone feel comfortable and confident to express their true selves. A team that feels valued, appreciated, and respected is a team that’s more productive, innovative, and creative. We encourage our team to bring their full selves to work; respecting and valuing everyone for who they are, and trying to always listen and learn from our team around the world.

We recently shared an episode of Canva’s Meet the Makers which sheds some light on the stories behind our LGBTQIA+ community at Canva, and what Pride means to them. We also heard from our team that the inclusive practices we have at Canva can mean the most.

Our whole team has access to education and information about the LGBTQIA+ community through clubs such as #lgbtqia-pride-club and our Diversity Hub, and are encouraged to learn about how to be an ally, and support significant days such as IDAHOBIT and Wear It Purple to make meaningful change. Every Canvanaut is empowered to identify and share their pronouns proudly, and we share information on why it matters so much, and our paid parental leave and any other policies that include partners and families are also inclusive for rainbow families.

Building a More Representative Product

At Canva, we believe our team of more than 3,000 must be diverse and inclusive for us to live up to our mission to Empower The World To Design. Every day, millions of people from all over the world use Canva to bring their creative vision to life and it’s critical that our platform truly reflects the world they live in. We want Canva to become the place where everyone is empowered to express their identity through their craft, be it photography, illustrations, templates, and more. We recently launched Canva Represents, sharing a selection of artists who are capturing and creating content that celebrates individuality and reflects the diversity of our global community, contributing collections that celebrate different cultures, sexuality, and disability.

As well as some incredible photographs, we’ve also created a range of ready-to-use vibrant design templates empowering our global LGBTQIA+ community and allies to share their pride, in their way—and hope this will fuel even more creativity and self-expression.

To celebrate Pride Month, we asked some of our talented Canva Represents Artists to share with us their favourite Canva Pride templates and why:

Rachel Seidu

Rachel Seidu is a photographer based in Lagos. Rachel uses her art to challenge stereotypes and encourage conversations while breaking gender norms for men and women to produce unconventional photo stories that are understandable and relatable to a broader audience.

Rodrigo Oliveira

Rodrigo Oliveira is a photographer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His photographs illustrate the diversity of our world, exploring the ways in which humans express their identities and cultures. Rodrigo is currently documenting the queer BIPOC community inhabiting the peripheries of Rio — a work aiming to deconstruct the misrepresentation of queer bodies in the media through the expression of queer culture, gender-bending identities, and social resistance.

María Mejia

María is a queer woman of colour, photographer, and drag artist living in the Dominican Republic. Surrounded by warmth, colourful scenarios, and a weakness for beauty, her work portrays the idealistic way of being: free, beautiful, and full of light and colour.

Striking Impactful Partnerships

Earlier this year, we announced our multi-year partnership with Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and WorldPride as another step in our continued mission to celebrate and empower the LGBTQIA+ community around the world. As the Official Design partner of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, we hosted the ‘Drag and Drop Studio’ at Fair Day, raising a total of $20,000 through the photo booth for Out For Australia, a nonprofit providing role models, mentors, events and support to LGBTQIA+ students and young professionals, in the hope to improve their confidence and sense of self whilst reaching their career goals.

As part of the celebration, some of our amazing Sydney team took part in the world-famous Parade, dancing around the Sydney Cricket Ground in a dazzling display of colour and self-expression. Our team was honoured to participate in a tradition that stands against the inequalities that the LGBTQIA+ community has faced, and continue to face today. The iconic Parade is a reminder of the strength that our history shows—we have the power to create a more equitable society.

For us, this is only just the beginning. We’re constantly listening and learning to ensure we’re making the most impact for our global LGBTQIA+ community and allies. Celebrating Pride Month is one thing we can do to contribute to the self-confidence, resilience, and overall wellbeing of our community.

There’s plenty more to come; we’ve also been named the Official Design Partner of Sydney WorldPride for 2023 which is sure to be a memorable few weeks, coinciding with some significant milestones such as Australia’s 50th anniversary of the first Gay Pride Week and the 45th anniversary of the first Mardi Gras Parade.

We remain committed to listening and learning about how we can create the most inclusive and diverse workplace — we certainly don’t have it all figured out, we’re driven to keep learning and developing to build a truly inclusive and diverse team and product.

You can check out some of the pieces at canva.com/pride. If you have any questions, thoughts, ideas, or just want to talk about all things inclusion and diversity, please reach out any time.