GE Aerospace manager Liam Richards uses a leadership program and Pride Alliance to push inclusion from the shop floor to public life

Liam Richards remembers the exact silence after a nurse told him he could not donate blood because he is gay. The episode happened at a blood drive while he was an intern at a GE Aerospace facility near Cardiff, Wales, and it landed with extra force because Richards said he was still learning how LGBTQ+ rights were discussed in the workplace. More than a decade later, he credits that shock with turning him from a private person into what GE Aerospace calls a global advocate for inclusion through its Pride Alliance.

Richards grew up in England’s Midlands and trained his confidence as much through music as through aviation. He later joined Avio Aero in Turin, a GE Aerospace company that designs and manufactures aircraft engine systems and components. In GE’s account of his career, he draws a parallel between aviation operators and musicians, saying strong performance depends on listening, quality, and developing teams rather than “scrutinizing each note.” That shop-floor mindset now sits alongside a leadership mission that targets belonging and education, especially for employees who are early in their careers.

GE Aerospace describes the Pride Alliance as one of its most active employee resource groups, supporting employees who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual, or intersex, as well as allies. Richards joined the group after his blood-drive experience and adopted education as a core principle. He said he visited all of GE Aerospace’s U.K. sites to promote inclusive workplaces, aiming to reduce fear about coming out and to encourage staff to see inclusion as part of day-to-day work rather than an abstract goal.

GE Aerospace also ties Richards’s leadership approach to its Operations Management Leadership Program (OMLP), a two-year early-career program designed to develop leaders across Operations, Supply Chain, Manufacturing Quality, and Environmental Health & Safety. The program includes three different rotations across the business, giving participants experience throughout the supply chain. In GE’s description, Richards said OMLP forced him to confront public speaking anxiety and shifted his mindset from expecting to be judged to accepting that colleagues were “rooting for me.”

As co-leader of Pride Alliance for GE Aerospace, Richards has helped Avio Aero extend inclusion efforts beyond internal meetings. GE’s article says that in 2022 Avio Aero became the first metalworking manufacturer to sponsor Pride parades in cities where it has plants, including three locations in Italy, and then expanded sponsorship to a fourth location in the Czech Republic in 2023. The emphasis, Richards said, is giving a public voice to employees who feel they do not have one, based on his own memory of being in the closet.

GE Aerospace’s inclusion story also intersects with the company’s corporate separation plans in early 2024. Richards told GE that on April 2 he would be in New York with GE Aerospace colleague Vanessa Moo Young to witness the opening bell as GE Chairman and CEO Larry Culp announced the establishment of GE Vernova and GE Aerospace as separate independent companies. GE’s investor communications also said the GE board approved the GE Vernova spin-off, with both companies slated to launch on April 2, 2024, with GE Vernova expected to begin trading on the NYSE under the ticker “GEV” after the spin-off.

For GE Aerospace, programs like OMLP and employee resource groups are part of how it recruits and develops talent across a global operations footprint. The company describes itself as a provider of jet and turboprop engines and integrated systems for commercial, military, business, and general aviation aircraft, an industry where operational competence and coordination across teams matter. GE’s narrative suggests Richards’s focus is not just policy, but practical influence, including teaching newer graduates how to build relationships with operators and technical experts who may have decades of experience.

GE Aerospace did not provide figures in the announcement for how these specific inclusion initiatives have affected retention, promotions, or employee engagement scores. It also did not disclose participation rates for Pride Alliance activities, budgets for event sponsorship, or any formal outcomes tied to the OMLP leadership track. The account is therefore best read as a personal profile of how one manager’s experiences shaped an inclusion agenda, rather than a report of measurable business impact.