2021 Conference: Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Policy Making
The annual conference for 2021 was modified and condensed to account for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our first guest was Allyson Collymore, who is the Director of the Capacity and Transformation Branch at the Anti-Racism Directorate, Ministry of the Solicitor General. Her diverse experiences foster racial equity and inclusion in the OPS and for the people of Ontario. Allyson has over two decades of experience in social justice and human services organizations in the OPS, municipal and not-for-profit sectors in the areas of policy and program development and service delivery.
Our second speaker, Nathalie Gargon, is the Associate Director of Outreach & Engagement for the Indigenous Learning Branch at the Canada School of Public Service. Her work has played an invaluable role in offering a growing suite of resources that have allowed public servants to enhance their cultural skills and awareness of issues related to First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples in Canada.
2019 Conference: Equity in Action
Lip service to equity is all around us but this conference examines how equity conversations play out in the everyday actions of governments, NGOs and communities. How do we take concrete steps to advance equity together? How do we bring equity to the forefront of every policy area?
Join the Gender, Diversity and Public Policy Initiative as we learn from and engage with experts from across the policy community.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:
9:00 - 9:30am - Coffee & Registration
9:30 - 10:30am - Keynote Address
Opening remarks and moderated discussion featuring MPP Mitzie Hunter.
10:40- 11:30am - Panel: Beyond Tokenism
Featuring: Anjum Sultana, Manager of Policy & Strategic Communications, YWCA Canada MP Jean Yip, Scarborough—Agincourt Hadiya Roderique, Lawyer, Journalist, Rotman PhD Candidate
11:30-12:00 – Lunch
12:00 - 1:15pm - Breakout Sessions: Equity across Sectors
How do we create equity best practices in all policy areas? How do we learn from past mistakes and ensure accountability? In these interactive sessions, participants will work collaboratively on answering these questions with experts in the field. All participants will get a chance to attend two of the breakout sessions.
Health
Dr. Stephanie Begun, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Work
To be announced
Innovation & Tech
Diana Rivera, Economist, Brookfield Institute
Stacey Ivanchuk, Director, MaRS Innovation
Environment
Dr. Tresa Kramarz, Co-director, Environmental Governance Lab
Emmay Mah, Executive Director, Toronto Environmental Alliance
Urban Planning
Dr. Zhixi Zhuang, Associate Professor, Interim Graduate Program Director at the Ryerson School of Urban and Regional Planning
Dr. Theresa Enright, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
1:15-1:30pm - Closing Remarks, Wrap up, Mix & Mingle
2018 Conference: Talk is Cheap
Diversity and inclusion is the new catch-all term for everything concerning equity. Governments are releasing anti-racism strategies, diversity blueprints and action plans to address the barriers that some Canadians face in their daily lives. Our politicians and elected representatives are also taking action by proposing legislation that tackles these complex issues. At the same time, the private sector is beginning to pay serious attention to attracting diverse employees and building more inclusive workplaces. But all along, grassroot organizers (in the form of non-profits or activists) have been doing this work for years. In fact, before movements like #metoo or #timesup, an entire generation of feminists and scholars were at the frontier of change. Needless to say: everyone is implicated.
But who is responsible and for what?
Should we mandate and regulate behavior, or is cultural change the answer? Is our dollar more valuable than our retweet? Should we boycott or hashtag? Is diverse political representation the answer? Or do we take a stand and march?
The Gender, Diversity and Public Policy Initiative at the University of Toronto seeks to answer these questions at our fourth annual conference Talk is Cheap: Whose role is it anyway to advance diversity and inclusion in Canada? This conference brings together policy practitioners, non-profit groups, politicians, employers, students and researchers to encourage discussion of diversity and inclusion in Canadian society. We want to unpack the new buzzword in town and ask serious questions about boundaries, accountability and partnership building.
Featuring Keynote Speaker The Honourable Senator Ratna Omdivar
Panel 1: Grassroots to Government: Diversifying our institutions
- What is the role of government and policy in this space?
- Does change start from within private sector organizations?
- Should there be boundaries (e.g. cultural change vs mandated change OR activism vs policy)
- Farah Ahmed, Advocacy Coordinator, Racialized Young Professionals
- Jo Flatt, Senior Manager, Policy & Partnerships, Evergreen
- Farah Huq, Director, Future of Canada Centre, Deloitte
- Fahmida Kamali, Senior Advisor, Ontario Digital Service; Founder, P.S I'm Muslim
- Have things changed? For better? For worse?
- Is there a generational divide about how to approach these complex issues?
- What can young women learn from those who came before them and vice versa?
- Arezoo Najibzadeh, Executive Director, Young Women's Leadership Network
- Saeed Selvam, Director of Public Policy, Laidlaw Foundation
- Kathleen Therriault, Director Wage Equity Branch, Ministry of Labour (OPS)
2017 Conference: Inclusion in a Changing World
The Gender, Diversity and Public Policy Initiative hosted our annual conference Thursday, April 13, 2017. It featured University of Toronto graduate students, faculty and policy practitioners engaging in thoughtful discussion on how to build a more inclusive Canadian society given present realities, progress to date, and the suitable steps to take forward.
The conference featured two dynamic panels:
Panel 1: Gender Based Violence and its Intersections
The conference featured two dynamic panels:
Panel 1: Gender Based Violence and its Intersections
- Stephanie Baird, PhD candidate at Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and Senior Doctoral Fellow with the Comparative Program on Health and Society at the Munk School of Global Affairs
- Heather Craig, Master of Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)
- Brieanne Berry-Crossfield, Master of Education in the Department of Social Justice Education (SJE) at OISE
- James Radner, Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy and Governance
- Debroy Chan, Director of Immigrant Employment Strategies at the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC)
- Kathy Vi, Program Coordinator at the University of Toronto Sexual & Gender Diversity Office (SGDO)
- Sizwe-Alexandre Inkingi, Bilingual coordinator for the Positive Spaces Initiative, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)
2016 Conference: Exploring Intersections of Gender, Public Policy, and Agency
The 2016 conference brought together a diverse group of students, researchers, and professionals from the University of Toronto community to present their research on an area of public policy that intersects with women's agency. The two-day conference highlighted the multiple dimensions of structure through which women can experience oppression or agency. In this regard, the conference used three categories of agency to structure the program, including economic agency, sexual agency, and agency in the public realm. For more information on the conference, including guest speakers, presenters, and content, please feel free to view the conference program.