Beyond the rainbow: Canva’s Chardy Yabut on championing authentic belonging and psychological safety

“I get this question a lot, and I love it. People hear ‘Vibe’ and picture snacks and parties,” the Yabut explains. “Those are fun, but they’re the smallest part of what we do. For me, Vibe is about the whole experience of being a Canvanaut, and a huge part of that is how people feel, mentally and emotionally, when they show up to work.”

This ethos revolves around ensuring that employees are genuinely advocated for and cared for, particularly those from minority backgrounds who may not have always felt included in traditional corporate spaces. “What I really want is for our campuses across the region to feel like a safe space, somewhere people can be their most authentic selves no matter who they are,” they note. “That’s where psychological safety starts. Not with the perks, but with the feeling that you belong, exactly as you are.”

The link between feeling a deep sense of belonging and the ability to do one’s best work is undeniable. In many workplaces, individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community spend an immense amount of energy hiding their true selves—managing their image, reading the room and constantly deciding what is safe to share.

“That’s energy being taken away from you that could be placed into putting your best foot forward at work instead,” the Yabut shares. “I know this because I lived it. When I started at Canva, nobody asked me if I was part of the LGBTQIA+ community. They just accepted me, sparkles, hair and all. Nobody asked. They just made space.”

Lifting the pressure to assimilate allows employees to show up fully. By focusing on creating an environment where people are not forced to spend their energy fitting in, Canva empowers its workforce to pour that energy into doing the best work of their lives. When addressing traditional business leaders who might view inclusion as a ‘soft metric’, the message is clear: an organisation is only ever as healthy as its people. A genuinely cared-for community is not a corporate cost; it is the fundamental engine that powers a healthy bottom line.

Translating global inclusion strategies into authentic, local experiences is a complex task, especially in a region as diverse as Southeast Asia. The cultural and legal realities for LGBTQIA+ individuals vary wildly across different markets.

“Our starting question is always: ‘How does Pride resonate in your country?’” Yabut states. “Even within Southeast Asia, the experience varies widely. In the Philippines, being part of the LGBTQ+ community is largely tolerated—but not yet fully accepted. In some neighbouring countries, that reality looks very different. So we adapt, calibrating each celebration to fit the local context.”

In the Philippines, celebrations can afford to be open and highly visible. Conversely, in more sensitive markets where outward Pride campaigns might put employees at risk, Canva shifts its approach. “In those markets, we take a different approach. Instead of taking Pride outward, we make the campus itself the safe space—somewhere our Canvanauts can celebrate and be themselves within our own walls, on their own terms,” he explains. “The celebration is quieter and more personal, but no less meaningful. If anything, it’s more”.

This adaptive strategy ensures that the global mandate of safety and belonging is upheld without imposing a tone-deaf, one-size-fits-all approach on distinct cultural landscapes.

To guarantee that minority voices have a dedicated platform to be heard and consulted, Canva established ‘Collectives’. These are employee-led spaces where individuals from underrepresented groups, alongside their allies, can connect and strengthen the workplace community. Key groups include the Women Collective, People of Color, People with Disabilities/Neurodiversity and the Pride Collective.

The Pride Collective, which spans four regions, including Asia, operates on a hybrid global-and-regional model rather than a top-down mandate. Global co-leads set the overall direction alongside regional leads, who then tailor the shared priorities to fit their local grounds.

This structure results in rich, varied expressions of Pride globally:

In Australia, Canva has participated in the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras since 2022, funding 15 grants of US$5,000 each in 2025 and 2026 to help LGBTQIA+ community organisations bring their parade entries to life.

In Europe, the team unveiled a Pride Collective Mural at the London headquarters, created by queer artist Finn Yvo, and established a fund to help members across the EMEA region attend local Pride parades.

In the United States, employees marched in the Austin Pride Parade and partnered with Maven Youth to host a Canva 101 Summer Camp for LGBTQIA+ youth.

In Asia, the community raised PHP123,000 for the Philippine youth-led organisation PANTAY and proudly marched in the LOV3LABAN 2025 parade in UP Diliman alongside roughly 100,000 attendees. 

During Pride Month, the UP Diliman campus hosted a vibrant array of activities tailored for Filipino LGBTQIA+ Canvanauts and their allies. A month-long installation called Pride Pin Wall allowed employees to select pins representing allyship, identity and love. Every Wednesday, the campus screened LGBTQIA+ films recommended by the local community. Last June 3, a PH Pride Quiz Night was held. Then, as part of Canva’s ‘Step Two’ initiative, they partnered with KadaKareer on June 16 to help unlock economic opportunities for underserved LGBTQ+ students by providing a safe space to explore future career paths. Finally, electrifying performances from six drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race Philippines were showcased on Manila Drag Night last June 18.

While June is filled with celebrations, Canva recognises that visibility and support cannot be tied to a single month. “For us, Pride isn’t a one-month campaign. The real test of any company’s commitment is what happens in the other eleven months, when no one’s watching, and there’s no rainbow logo to post,” the Yabut asserts.

The Pride Collective’s work is structurally integrated into Canva's annual goals and locked into the yearly budget, ensuring that belonging is intentionally resourced. Year-round programming includes Trans Awareness Week, Voices of Inclusion and ongoing allyship education.

This cultural ethos is heavily fortified by concrete workplace policies designed to protect and support all employees: a mandatory annual training programme that teaches employees how to foster an equitable workplace free from discrimination, bullying and harassment, featuring bespoke modules for Individual Contributors and Coaches. Canva offers up to 8 weeks of paid leave to support legal, medical and social gender affirmation. Employees are offered 18 weeks of gender-neutral paid parental leave, accompanied by flexible return-to-work support for all types of families. To assist employees experiencing domestic or family violence, Canva provides 10 days of paid leave, along with a one-off allowance. And in the tragic event of a neonatal death or stillbirth, full paid parental leave is offered to support employees through the difficult time. 

Because of frameworks like these, Canva Philippines earned Great Place Certifications in both 2020 and 2021 for cultivating an environment that champions inclusivity.

As workforces become increasingly distributed and hybrid, the role of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) like the Canva Collectives will inevitably evolve. Yabut predicts that these groups will transition into digitally networked communities, serving as vital feedback loops that enable leadership to gauge how people feel in real time across borders.

However, the most crucial element of ongoing inclusion work is representation. “The most overlooked practice in inclusion work is putting people from underrepresented groups into visible leadership—and then letting them lead fully as themselves,” he points out. “It tells everyone else that you can be fully yourself here, and you can rise. You don’t have to choose”.

For company leaders who realise that their current inclusion efforts might be purely symbolic, Canva’s advice is incredibly straightforward. “The first step is to listen—genuinely and intentionally,” Yabut advises. “Creating safe channels where people from minority communities can share what they actually need is where meaningful inclusion work begins.”

By transforming feedback into concrete policy changes and ensuring consistent, visible advocacy, any organisation can begin to build an environment where every employee is truly empowered to do the best work of their lives.

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