Day One: Tuesday, October 1, 2024
10:00 EDT
15 minWelcome and Opening Remarks from the Chair
10:15 EDT
45 min
Understanding Privilege
Indira Naidoo-Harris, Associate Vice-President, Diversity and Human Rights, University of Guelph
- What is privilege?
- What privileges do you bring to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) work.
- Why acknowledging privilege is essential to DEI work.
- Why how we acknowledge our privilege and what we do with it that matters.
11:00 EDT
45 minCase Study in Progress and Learning in the Public Sector
- Accomplishing DEI at our organi zation – what has worked and what have we learned?
- How we are building resilience, culture, and the power of diversity.
- Engagement & Programs – Getting the biggest bang from your buck.
- Learning from mistakes and planning for the future.
11:45 EDT
45 min
Proactive Strategies For Responding To Backlash
Sandeep Tatla, Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leader, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
In today’s climate, there is a need for an integrated, empathic and data-informed approach to DEI pushback. Resilient strategies may include:
- A holistic approach to DEI.
- Measuring inclusion.
- Evidence-based strategy.
- Positively framing DEI programs.
- Effective communication.
- Regular feedback and monitoring.
- Transparency of process.
- Meaningful engagement with resistors.
- Continuous education.
12:30 EDT
60 minBreak
13:30 EDT
45 min
The IDEALLS Framework: A Comprehensive, Integrated Mental Health Equity Model
Nitika Chunilall, Director, Prevention and Promotion Initiatives, Mental Health Commission of Canada
Catherine Willinsky, Manager, Policy and Research, Mental Health Commission of Canada
14:15 EDT
45 min
Federal Employment Equity Act: Task Force Recommendations On Stricter DEI
- DEI recommendations of 2021 task force to strengthen and modernize Federal Employment Equity Act.
- Potential creation of 2SLGBT+ and Black employees as designated groups in addition to women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.
- Potential increased enforcement and possible fines.
- The need to review, revise and implement new policies around diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace.
- Hefty fines for cases on the misgendering of employees and discrimination complaints.
- Why all employers should comply with Federal Employment Equity Act.
15:00 EDT
15 minBreak
15:15 EDT
45 min
Understanding The Role Of DEI In Change Management
Adam Benn, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, VHA Home HealthCare
- How to factor DEI into demographic changes.
- Integrating younger and older team members and an increasingly global workforce.
- How can employers support workers at all stages of their careers to support equality and belonging?
- Ensuring that everyone is heard and avoiding systemic biases.
- Reshaping change management and understanding where HR sits in the process of.
16:00 EDT
End of Day One
Day Two: Wednesday, October 2, 2024
10:00 EDT
15 minWelcome and Opening Remarks from the Chair
10:15 EDT
45 min
Indigenous Inclusion in an Era of Truth and Reconciliation
Rebecca Chartrand, President & CEO, Indigenous Strategy Alliance
- Systemic racism and discrimination.
- Indigenous-focussed recruitment.
- Training and mentoring.
- Initiatives to create indigenous leadership roles.
- Indigenous culture, traditions and history.
11:00 EDT
45 min
Accommodating Employees with Episodic Disability
Workers with episodic physical and mental health conditions often struggle when deciding whether to seek support from their workplace and how to get support. This presentation highlights research and new resources related to:
- Worker decisions whether to disclose private health information in the workplace and the factors considered when making a decision.
- Employer perspectives on the challenges of support provision to workers with episodic and invisible disabilities
Support needs and strategies. - New resources, including the Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool (JDAPT).
11:45 EDT
45 min
The Diversity Challenge - Towards Evidence-Based Change
Shereen Samuels, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Gowling WLG
- Implementing anti-racism training across Canada.
- Collaborating with the Canadian Centre for Gender & Sexual Diversity to expand the firm’s pro bono gender-marker and name-change initiative.
- Executing the firm’s Reconciliation Action Plan, launched in 2020.
- Helping the organization build the muscles to engage in sensitive conversations and face nuanced topics head-on.
12:30 EDT
60 minBreak
13:30 EDT
45 minUnderstanding Diversity and Intersectionality in Your Organization
- Intersectionality is the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups.
- Cumulative disadvantages and erasure faced by – for example – women of colour, undocumented women, women with disabilities, women with children, queer and transwomen, and women who live at the intersections of multiple identities.
- What do you need to know about intersectionality in your organization?
14:15 EDT
45 min
How AI Can Advance The Creation Of A Diverse Workforce
AI is a tool and its impact depends on how it is designed, developed, and deployed. To ensure AI’s positive impact on diversity and inclusion, it is essential to have diverse teams of developers and researchers working on AI projects and incorporating ethical considerations throughout the entire AI development lifecycle.
This session will help you understand how AI can:
- Address biases, promote fairness, and enable equitable opportunities.
- Create inclusive design solutions for disabled people and people with different cognitive abilities.
- Make digital products and services more inclusive for all users.
- Provide decision support tools that help reduce bias in human decision-making processes.
- Allow for better accountability and auditing of decisions made.
- Raise awareness about diversity and inclusion issues via Chatbots, virtual assistants, and educational platforms providing information, resources, and training.
- Create personalized experiences and recommendations.
- Auditing Human Capital: Reviewing Policies And Practices To Ensure Dei.
15:00 EDT
15 minBreak
15:15 EDT
45 minResponding To The Needs / Complying With Legal Rights Of Transgender Employees
- Changing needs throughout transition.
- Individualized gender transition accommodation plan.
- Workplace training and education.
- Gender-neutral facilities.
16:00 EDT
45 minAuditing Human Capital: Reviewing Policies And Practices To Ensure DEI
- Make sure you review policies and procedures to ensure you do not unintentionally create barriers to your diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
- What policies and procedures to review.
- Problems to be aware of.
- The need for clarification.
16:45 EDT
End of Day Two