Diversity Charter Sweden has shortlisted nine finalists for this year’s Diversity Charter Sweden Awards. The awards recognise employers who demonstrate that an inclusive workplace can be created regardless of sector or size. The winners will be announced at the Signatory Event on 29 September.
The Diversity Charter Sweden Awards are presented in three categories. The ‘Long-term Approach’ category recognises initiatives that have, over time, strengthened inclusion and linked it to business or operational benefits. ‘Innovation’ recognises organisations that have solved a challenge in an innovative way. The 2026 Special Award has the theme An inclusive labour market for all in line with the EU’s Diversity Month 2026, and highlights initiatives that have broadened the pathways into working life.
– Swedish employers have a great deal of knowledge about how diversity and inclusion can be put into practice, but this needs to be highlighted and shared. This year’s finalists demonstrate in various ways how concrete approaches can deliver results within organisations. Through the Diversity Charter Sweden Awards, we want to highlight these experiences and make it easier for more employers to learn from what actually works,” says Petra Karmteg, Chair of the Board at Diversity Charter Sweden.
In the ‘Long-term perspective’ category, Swedbank one of three finalists. Over the past ten years, the bank has increased the proportion of women in group management from 32 to 47 per cent and embedded gender equality in management recruitment and succession planning. Also Vattenfall has been shortlisted for her work in increasing the proportion of women in leadership roles in an otherwise male-dominated industry. The third finalist is JYSK has offered language tuition during paid working hours to nearly 100 staff members. By not viewing limited language skills as a barrier, they have broadened their recruitment base and tapped into the potential of more people.
The ‘Innovation’ category includes Apotek Hjärtat whose pilot project Friendly care provided staff with paid working hours and financial support to foster friendships in the fight against involuntary loneliness. The initiative has attracted attention both nationally and internationally from, amongst others, BBC and Fortune. Sodexo is a finalist for its work on domestic violence. The service company is exploring a way of broadening the employer’s role in an issue that has traditionally been regarded as a private matter. Transport companies reaches the final with Progress. This digital tool enables an entire sector to carry out work on gender equality in line with its own circumstances.
In the Special Prize 2026 category, there is Ambea A finalist for an approach in which 450 mentors and 150 language representatives have become an integral part of the induction process for new staff. This initiative has helped the company to take on nearly 3,000 people through labour market schemes since 2016. Pharmacy AB is a finalist for a settlement scheme that enables pharmacists from other EU countries to enter the profession, based on the experiences of one of the company’s own employees who has been through the process themselves. Right By Me rounds off the line-up of finalists with The Development Ladder, a model in which young people from ethnic minority backgrounds progress step by step from being participants to taking on paid assignments, leadership roles and permanent employment. As a result of this model, almost half of the organisation’s full-time staff started out as participants themselves.
The winners in each category will be announced at Diversity Charter Sweden’s Signatory Event in Stockholm on 29 September. The jury’s full statements of reasons can be found at awards.diversitycharter.se.
About Diversity Charter Sweden
Diversity Charter Sweden is part of the world’s largest official network for and by employers working towards a more inclusive labour market. The network brings together around 170 member organisations in Sweden, including some of the country’s largest companies, public sector organisations and local authorities.
Anna Carlsson Sigstedt
Secretary-General, Diversity Charter Sweden
Telephone: 073 733 89 37
Email: anna.carlssonsigstedt@diversitycharter.se
Press contact
Petra Karmteg
Chairman, Diversity Charter Sweden
petra.karmteg@diversitycharter.se
Anna Carlsson Sigstedt
Secretary General, Diversity Charter Sweden
anna.carlssonsigstedt@diversitycharter.se
Press photos
Available to download here: https://diversitycharter.se/en/press/