Advent International’s Nicolas Chavanne: Allyship is universal
Freely talking about your home life or what you did over the weekend is something many take for granted in the workplace. For many members of the LGBTQ+ community however, sharing even small details can require careful consideration. That is why improving trust, getting to know your colleagues and strong allyship are a part of making private equity firms places where people of the LGBTQ+ community can succeed, Nicolas Chavanne , managing director at Advent International , told affiliate reporter Nina Lindholm .
Chavanne, the latest interviewee in our series elevating the voices of members of the LGBTQ+ community in private equity, is based in Advent’s London office. Originally from France, he joined Advent in 2020 from TowerBrook, where his private equity career started.
“It’s where I had my first experience of coming out,” said Chavanne. “I can’t say for certain, but I believe I was one of the first gay employees at TowerBrook at the time.”
Chavanne’s conversations with co-workers rarely touched topics such as sexual identity or preference. He was focused on how to better perform at work and how to reach the next promotion. “Then you realize pretty quickly that as an individual, you share an environment with your colleagues, and you talk about other things in your life,” he said.
“On a Monday, you might discuss the weekend. It was more difficult for me – I didn’t feel like sharing that with my colleagues. It was a burden I put on myself.”
Eventually, when catching up with some colleagues in Paris, Chavanne took a leap of faith after hearing about the nice things his friends had done over the summer. “At first I didn’t want to share anything myself even though my boyfriend and I had a fantastic time,” he said. “I then let my guard down and told them I was tired of having secrets.”
Now Chavanne wants to make sure other colleagues find it easier at work. “If you look at the private equity industry, to succeed in being a great place to work for LGBTQ+ employees, you need to be able to engage with the leaders of the firm,” he said. “That’s about improving trust at work, getting to know your colleagues.”
Read the full interview here.