The Power of a Tribe: “I Wish Everyone Could Experience the Feeling of Belonging­

Service designer André Moreira Dias grew up in southern Brazil, thousands of kilometres away from Amsterdam. Yet when he reflects on the communities that have shaped him over the years – at work, in sport and in life – a common thread emerges. “Find your peers,” he says. “Find your safe place.” It is advice born from experience.

André moved to the Netherlands ten years ago, originally intending to broaden his horizons by studying abroad. What began as an adventure turned into a new life. “I am originally Brazilian and moved here from the southernmost state of Brazil, close to Uruguay and Argentina. We barbecue a lot,” he says with a laugh. “There’s a strong Argentinian gaucho culture there. But it’s also a place with quite a macho culture, so that gives you a sense of the environment I grew up in.”

He chose Delft University of Technology over another attractive option in Finland. “Both universities were excellent,” he says. “But in the end I thought: Finland is way too cold.” The decision changed the course of his life.

Welcoming complexity

After completing his master's degree, André built a career in design and consulting before eventually joining Rabobank, where he now works as a service designer within Wholesale & Rural. His role is less about creating screens or campaigns and more about helping the bank understand and improve the journeys of clients and employees.

“We identify different customer and employee journeys and help measure them so we know we're investing in the right improvements,” he explains. “What I really like about Rabobank is that it’s a complex organisation. That complexity makes design valuable, because there are so many experiences to improve.”

Finding his tribe on the volleyball court

If Rainbow helped André find community at work, volleyball helped him find it outside work. Five years ago, he joined Netzo, Amsterdam’s queer volleyball club. Today, the club has grown into a thriving community of roughly 250 members. “It’s much more than a sports club,” André says. “It’s a community.”

That experience shaped the way he views sport today. For many people, joining a sports club is straightforward: they simply show up and play. But for LGBTI+ people who have experienced exclusion, judgement or intimidation, sport can feel very different. What Netzo offered André was not just volleyball. “It gave me a sense of community,” he says. “At this club, all the members can bring their full selves to the court.”

A safe place to be yourself

The thirty-year-old club Netzo is one of several queer sports clubs in the Netherlands and participates in both regular competitions and LGBTI+ sporting events. On the volleyball court, Netzo competes against university teams, neighbourhood clubs and other local teams.
“Although we play in the 'regular' league, we empower ourselves within our teams to excel in the same environment,” André says. “At the same time, the club provides something that goes beyond athletic achievement. There’s a cultural aspect as well. We share experiences, festivals, Pride celebrations. There’s a queer culture embedded in the club that makes it unique.”

For André, true progress will be visible when athletes no longer need to choose between authenticity and success. “When people are hired, selected and celebrated for their talent regardless of their identity, that’s progress.”

What sport and work have in common

Interestingly, André sees strong parallels between inclusion in sport and inclusion in the workplace. The biggest difference, he says, is visibility. “In sport, you have to communicate constantly. If you don’t speak up, you don’t get the ball. In the workplace, things are often much more subtle. It can be harder to explain your needs or make yourself heard. That challenge is familiar to many people, whether they belong to the LGBTI+ community, are women in leadership, or come from an international background.”

As a Brazilian professional navigating Dutch corporate culture, André experienced this himself. For a period, he worked primarily in Dutch and invested significant effort in mastering the language. “But at some point I realised I would never be able to express myself as professionally in Dutch as I can in English,” he says. “Communication shapes how people perceive expertise and credibility. That can be difficult because communication is the key to everything. The result is that many people learn to adapt. We all conform a little bit depending on the environment. Which is exactly why networks, communities and safe spaces matter.”

When asked what advice he would give colleagues who feel different or who struggle to find a place where they can fully be themselves, his answer comes immediately: “Find your network. Not necessarily within your own team. It may be Rainbow. It may be RaboWomen. It may be a colleague, mentor or community outside the bank. Rabobank is huge, there is definitely someone going through similar things.”