If you live in Toronto or another city celebrating this month, Happy Pride! It’s Pride week here and all month rainbow flags have been waving all over the city. In fact, Scotiabank has PROUD in large letters outside their plaza. I walked by it the other day, remembering a time not too long ago … [Continue reading] The Gay Glass Ceiling
The Systemic Nature of Bias
On Monday, Starbucks Canada closed their stores for Anti-Bias training, and I was on the radio again to speak about it; this time with Alan Neal at CBC Ottawa’s All in a Day. What strikes me the most about conversations regarding bias is that we tend to focus on behaviours and individuals. This … [Continue reading] The Systemic Nature of Bias
Leadership, Starbucks, and ABC
We have seen some big decisions in the last week related to anti-bias and Diversity & Inclusion. Last week I wrote (a spoke on CBC Radio) about Starbucks’ anti-bias training held across the USA on Tuesday. On that same day, ABC (the TV network) made a bold statement of its own by cancelling … [Continue reading] Leadership, Starbucks, and ABC
Starbucks and Anti-Bias Training
Yesterday Starbucks closed most of its stores in the USA to provide anti-bias training for their staff. This was part of their response to the incident at one of their locations in Philadelphia where the police were called and two Black men were arrested as they waited for their friend. Starbucks … [Continue reading] Starbucks and Anti-Bias Training
The Royal Wedding, Diversity, and Inclusion
Yes, I admit it! I watched parts of the Royal Wedding on the weekend. I wasn’t planning to, but then the thought of showing my 5-year-old a non-white princess got the better of me at 8pm. And I heard the commotion about the sermon by “the Black preacher”, so I had to watch. I was inspired by … [Continue reading] The Royal Wedding, Diversity, and Inclusion
“No Homo”…?!
I recently participated in a city tour of Toronto run by Peter Odle – a friend and colleague of mine (check out UrbanExpeditions.com). It was fabulous and I saw parts of the city I have never seen before, in addition to learning a lot about the city’s history. (By the way, Peter and I are running an … [Continue reading] “No Homo”…?!
Intersectionality and LGBTQ+ Inclusion
Last week I was honoured to be part of the Pride@Work Workplace Summit 2018. Pride@Work is an organization dedicated to “building a nation where LGBTQ+ Canadians can achieve their full potential at work.” Why is Intersectionality Important? At the Summit, I moderated a panel about … [Continue reading] Intersectionality and LGBTQ+ Inclusion
What Does Anti-Black Racism Look Like?
Yesterday, a story ran in the Globe and Mail about an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ruling for a restaurant to pay a Black man $10,000.00 in compensation. He and his (Black) friends were asked to prepay for their food. You can read the article here. It’s more evidence of anti-Black racism in … [Continue reading] What Does Anti-Black Racism Look Like?
What do you think you know?
Two weekends ago I was in Owen Sound Ontario (yes, in the snowstorm!) attending a workshop called The Mastery of Self Expression. It’s an amazing few days of getting to know ourselves better and challenging ourselves to be more of who we are. One of the things we talked a lot about over the … [Continue reading] What do you think you know?
Starbucks Anti-Bias Training – the tip of the iceberg
In the wake of last week’s events where two Black men were arrested for hanging around a Starbucks while waiting for a friend, Starbucks has announced it will be closing 8,000 stores in the USA to offer anti-bias training. That equals about 175,000 employees. When you do the math, that’s a fairly … [Continue reading] Starbucks Anti-Bias Training – the tip of the iceberg