EDI WORK

FTP’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Journey

In late fall of 2022, FTP embarked on an ambitious and intensive project to increase our knowledge of and commitment to our value of Equity.

After seeking proposals from a number of consultants, we engaged Annemarie Schroeder International (ASI) to lead us in this work. Annemarie had previously conducted a training program for staff called the ABC’s of Inclusion and already had a sense of where we were on our journey to a more inclusive work environment.

The project included two separate but equally important streams. The first piece of work focussed on the leadership of the organization.

Inclusive Leadership is a crucial component of an organization’s D&I commitment—because if [leadership] “gets it,” then they help create the culture that supports a sense of belonging (and with it, diversity).

The goal of the Inclusive Leadership Program (ILP) is to help develop an inclusive leadership mindset, so that diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging becomes the lenses through which you lead.” (ASI website, 2023)

The second stream of the project was based on an eight-stage process designed by ASI to “assist in the creation of healthy workplace communities from the inside out, by journeying with organisations [sic] in order to help them understand and step into their commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Equity.” (Schroeder, A.)

We began with the development of a team comprised of a diverse cross-section of the agency. Once the team was in place, we worked on creating a vision and mission to specifically guide our work in equity, diversity and inclusion, and to make clear the ideal state we are working towards.

Six months later, we have an in-depth plan consisting of eleven specific objectives that starts with consciously creating the space for the conversations that will challenge our biases. Although our agency is changing to reflect a much broader range of diversities than it traditionally has, another objective included in the plan is to change the face of the organization even further, so that no matter the colour of skin, gender identity, sexual orientation, or social location, anyone in our community needing help can find a place at FTP where they will feel they can be understood and truly belong.

There is a big piece of work ahead of us. Developing a plan often feels like an end in and of itself, but we all know that it is only the beginning. The real work starts now. We are very grateful that we have commitment starting at the board level, through the agency leadership team and across all divisions of the organization to make this work a priority.

We are grateful to all of the members of the strategy development group for the brave conversations and passion for the work we have done together. Each and every one of the team is committed to continuing to support the roll out of the plan. Heartfelt gratitude to:

• Christina Gonzalez

• Keely Horan

• Nealia Lewis

• Tiffany McMillan

• Femi Oke

• Lynette Pole-Langdon

• Jordan Start

• Bonnie Waterfield

We are also grateful to our stellar leadership team who ambitiously embarked on this work and bravely held space for some deep introspection.