Every year on March 21, The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is marked globally to draw attention to issues surrounding all forms of racism and racial discrimination. Holland Bloorview joins in recognizing this day and re-affirming our commitment to confronting all forms of discrimination and fostering an inclusive, diverse, equitable, accessible and anti-racist environment where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect.
“At Holland Bloorview our commitment to elimination of racial discrimination is expressed though advancing care that is socially accountable and our commitment to IDEAA – inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility and anti-racism,” says Julia Hanigsberg, president and CEO, Holland Bloorview. “We are learning (and unlearning) together and taking concrete steps for children, youth, families and the Holland Bloorview team.”
Examples of how Holland Bloorview is confronting racism and all forms of discrimination include:
- Forming the IDEAA Task Force to give committed and knowledgeable staff, youth and family leaders a voice in establishing priorities and actions.
- Engaging expert advisor Dr. Notisha Massaquoi to help us survey and understand the experience of Black employees and using this data to develop our anti-Black racism action plan (PDF).
- Establishing a Workplace Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Policy. We pledge zero tolerance with respect to acts of prejudice, discrimination or racism .
- Enabling the formation of employee resource groups (ERGs) to enable members of our team to connect and share experiences with others of similar backgrounds.
- Collecting sociodemographic data from clients, job applicants and existing employees to better understand and support the unique social needs of each family we serve, as well as foster and attract a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve.
- Establishing an annual anti-racism learning series as well as additional learning opportunities to meet the needs of our team.
- Creating of a social needs screening (SNS) initiative and Family Navigation Hub, to help address health inequities and social determinants.
- Increasing the capacity of the IDEAA Office with two new roles: anti-Racism implementation specialist and an Indigenous health equity & experience specialist
For more information about our anti-racism initiatives please visit our IDEAA web page.
Read about Lorraine Thomas, manager, IDEAA.
