TRIECPartnershipPartnership storiesGrowing inclusive leadership: partnership with ONN

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The Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) has identified diversity as one of the top five challenges for non-profit leaders (Shaping the Future: Leadership in Ontario’s Nonprofit Labour Force, The Mowat Centre, University of Toronto, September 2014.). From sources of recruitment to hiring practices, onboarding and professional development – ONN concluded that when it comes to cultural diversity and inclusion, non-profit leaders need support in taking action to build inclusive workplaces.

gray-quotation-marks I learned about the e-learning Campus, that it is fantastic, and the different methods of incorporating diversity in every level of an organization. – Camila Alves, Multicultural Council, Windsor and Essex

 

A Non-Profit Sector Leadership Program to Build Culturally Inclusive Workplaces was developed by the TRIEC Campus team and delivered from February to June 2015 to leaders in the nonprofit sector. Two cohorts of participants: one for the Greater Toronto Area and one for Ontario (held in London, ON), with a total of 20 participants representing a cross section of organizations from different sub sectors, sizes and locations.

The focus for this program was threefold and aimed to:

  • move beyond value statements about diversity in the workplace to making it happen
  • provide tools to support inclusive hiring and retention, and
  • build awareness and deepen the understanding of diversity in the workplace; how to do it, why it matters, and what difference it makes.

The participants met monthly for a live workshop or webinar and completed pre and post-work for each session.

Here is what some of the participants had to say about the program:

“I learned about a strategy for engaging senior leadership and the board around aligning organizational priorities with commitment to equity/diversity. Concrete tools we can use to engage different levels of the organization, specifically our HR team and senior management.”

Ilaneet Goren, Community Living Toronto
“Excellent resources/templates, practical examples – I have a more thorough understanding of the issues at all levels of engaging new employees.”


Dorothy Davis, ED, Caledon/Dufferin Victim Services
 “I was made aware of many things that I had previously not even thought of, for example having slang/jargon in interview questions or tapping into cultural professional groups for talent.”


Skylar Franke, Reforest London, London, ON
 “For our organization, I think we will focus on better hiring and on-board practices that will help us recruit and train newcomers as well as other groups of diverse people.”

Dusha Sritharan, Toronto Environmental Alliance
“There was a lot of great content in this program that I found very valuable. I feel as though I came into the program with a strong sense of knowledge and understanding of the concept of cultural competency from a learning/training perspective, but felt less confident in my abilities and knowledge of how to put that into practice in a leadership role. I feel more able and confident to do so now, and really value the tools and strategies that were shared to do so.”

 

Shannon O’Donnell, ED, Information Orillia

Building on the success of the pilot, TRIEC Campus and ONN will continue to offer diversity and inclusion training to non-profit leaders and members this year and in 2016.

Here is a sneak peek at the training curriculum.

If your organization is a member of ONN and you would like to join the next training, let us – email us at trieccampus@triec.ca