ResMed director speaks to myGwork about journey of self-discovery and authenticity

Alexander Toro Alvarez, director and people business partner in Germany at ResMed, spoke to myGwork about growing up in rural Germany, finding community, and stepping into the confidence to be visible in his authentic self.

Growing up, Alexander Toro Alvarez always had a lingering feeling that he didn’t belong. With a Peruvian father and German mother who divorced when he was just five years old, he moved to rural North Germany with his mother and sister. Here, he had a nice childhood along with friends and community. But still, that feeling of not fitting in persisted. On reflection, Alexander admits it likely stemmed from them having little money. 

On top of this, Alexander knew early on that he might be gay and initially found this difficult to process. Living in a small town without a visible LGBTQ+ community, he didn’t have much information on identities outside of what he saw, which was all heterosexual. Turning to the internet, he slowly learnt more about LGBTQ+ identities. He was able to connect with a community, seeing that he wasn’t the only one who felt like this was a beacon of hope and support. Alexander then met his first boyfriend around seventeen, who further introduced him to other LGBTQ+ people. “I think that was important for me not to feel so alone, this showed me there were others like me,” Alexander explains.

Ambition instilled from early age

Alexander’s father was always very hard-working and ambitious. Having himself come from a loving family that struggled with money, it was important for his father to apply himself and achieve throughout his life. Reflecting on this, Alexander realizes this ambition was instilled in him too. Growing up, he applied himself to his studies, performing well in school and then completing a bachelor’s in business administration at Göttingen University.

During Alexander’s time at university, he was given the opportunity to spend a semester in Sweden. It was a nice change of scenery and his first experience of a big city, Stockholm, which was close to where he studied, with a thriving LGBTQ+ community. Then after finishing his master’s, he jumped on the chance to move to Hamburg. There, he entered the professional world with a role in HR.

Making his way up the career ladder within recruitment and HR, Alexander had the chance to travel for work, going to India, South Africa, and China. Then two-and-a-half years ago, he landed a role at an international digital health and connected medical device company, ResMed. He describes this as a “completely different experience,” having only worked for German companies previously.

Inclusive working culture

ResMed is known for pioneering innovative solutions that treat and keep people out of hospital, empowering them to live healthier, higher-quality lives. On top of this, Alexander noticed that at ResMed, an international company, the diversity and inclusion initiatives were more mature than in other places he had worked. This greatly impacted the culture, creating an inclusive feeling he had not experienced anywhere before. “This was the first time where I really felt that I could be more open and authentic about myself.”

This led Alexander to become more involved in diversity and inclusion initiatives himself. Seeing firsthand how much of a difference they made to his own experience, he immediately saw their value. Throughout his time here, he’s taken this attitude to multiple roles, and now as HR Director, leading a team of nine people, it’s embedded in all he does.

ResMed takes a holistic approach to inclusivity from all angles of the business, from patients and the design of their products to policies and people – every element of the company considers inclusion. They also have a dedicated global team focusing on inclusion building across forty countries and supporting their fifteen employee resource groups – including ResPect, their community for LGBTQ+ colleagues and their allies. When it comes to ensuring inclusion is engrained in all they do, for Alexander, it comes down to one key reason: “All of it is connected – it’s about making people feel seen, valued, appreciated.”

Coming out journey

Coming out for Alexander was a gradual process. He’s not the type of person to stand up in front of everyone and make a big announcement, he explains, and he struggled to let his guard down and admit to people he was gay. Then one day, a friend asked him, “What’s the worst that can happen if you were to come out?” And this stayed with him as he slowly realized it likely would be okay. On top of this, seeing other openly LGBTQ+ people across the organization and the acceptance they received inspired Alexander further.

“What helped me was seeing others, such as my colleagues, being outspoken in who they are. I would see them being open and found it inspiring. It was helpful for me to see the support they were getting. I thought, ‘Okay, maybe I’ll just give it a try and see, see what happens, right?’

“In the beginning, I really felt that I needed to be brave, and it took time, but I’m getting there. Even just opening up right here in this interview is not something that would be usual for me in the past, so it feels like the next step on my journey to be able to show up as my authentic self.”

Completely new reality

Reflecting on the time it took for him to visibly show up as himself, Alexander can see this was two-sided. On the one hand, surrounded by heteronormativity, there were no visible LGBTQ+ role models he could see; no blueprint to follow. At the same time, he thinks maybe if he had come out sooner, it could have been accepted, and some of his hesitance was an internalized fear.

Regardless, Alexander has now created a life for himself where he actively shows up as who he is every day at work and outside of this too. Regularly attending Hamburg Pride, with a community of LGBTQ+ friends, colleagues, and allies, it’s a completely different reality compared to the small village without any representation that he grew up in.

Building a naturally welcoming culture

The work that ResMed had done on diversity and inclusion in the years leading up to Alexander joining meant they had built a culture that was naturally welcoming, and he is now able to further add to this and push these initiatives even further – ensuring everyone has that same feeling on joining the company.

In a full circle way, Alexander has become the representation he needed when he was younger. Joining ResMed and seeing his visible LGBTQ+ colleagues has allowed him to now become that role model for someone else; showing that you can show up every day as yourself and be accepted.

“I would encourage people who are afraid of coming out to really reflect on how authentic and open they can be about who they are. Maybe start giving it a try and you might be surprised at how much support and positivity you receive. Try to be brave and dare to be you.”

ResMed is a proud partner of myGwork, the LGBTQ+ business community. Find out more about job opportunities at ResMed.