A DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION (DEI) TRAINING PROGRAM
Times and expectations have changed. Today, companies and organizations recognize their success is linked to their sensitivity to Canada’s increasingly multicultural society. If they want an effective workforce, diversity, equity and inclusion are no longer a nice-to-have but rather a need-to-have. But what happens when that programming is itself not fully inclusive and doesn’t live up to the equity and diversity it’s supposed to ensure?
Providing a greater understanding of Canada’s Jewish community, our program, Antisemitism: Then and Now, helps employers and employees to ensure that Jewish voices are heard, respected and understood. Our 90-minute presentation covers historic and contemporary antisemitism, how to address it and ways to build allyship. As part of its content, it provides the following:
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The ability to name and identify multiple forms of antisemitism, old and new.
Knowledge of the origins of antisemitism, often referred to as “history’s oldest hatred.”
An understanding of the link between historical and current manifestations of antisemitism.
A recognition that antisemitism is an integral part of DEI discussions on hate and intolerance.
Knowledge of how to be an ally in the fight against antisemitism, as part of an overall commitment against hatred and intolerance of minorities.
While DEI-training in Canada promotes tolerance and a respect of multiculturalism, too often its content excludes Jews and ignores or downplays antisemitism. This despite Canadian Jews being the most targeted religious minority when it comes to hate crimes, according to Statistics Canada.
We have presented Antisemitism: Then and Now to leading companies, educational institutions and government agencies. Here’s a selection of private businesses and public bodies that requested that we help their DEI efforts through this seminar.
We welcome starting a conversation on this important issue. Please contact Zach Sadowski, Director of Antisemitism Programming and Outreach, at Friends of Simon Wiesenthel Center zsadowski@fswc.ca
Founded in 1989, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is one of Canada’s leading human rights organizations combatting antisemitism and other forms of hate. Through our extensive advocacy work and education programs teaching the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides, FSWC promotes the principles of tolerance, social justice and democracy. Based in Toronto, FSWC is affiliated with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international human rights organization headquartered in Los Angeles, which has an official NGO presence at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament.