This panel will be conducted in French. Synchronous English translation is available.
Join us for an enlightening 60-minute discussion followed by a 15-minute discussion period with the audience.
In 2023 we can no longer afford to overlook the 12.5% of people who are LGBTQ+ and the asset these individuals can be to a diverse and vibrant workplace. However, it can be difficult to know where to start when you don’t have a dedicated EDI person or even an HR department.
This panel brings together 4 experts in the field, each of whom will bring their perspectives of working in Canadian SMEs and non-profit along with some practical ideas for bringing about positive change in your organization.
Date: June 1, 2023
Time: 12:00pm to 1:15pm ET
This panel will be conducted in French. Synchronous English translation is available.
Key points
- What is an inclusive culture? Diversity and inclusion are essential to an organization’s productivity, creativity and growth. But what does it look like on a small scale?
- Where to start: Deciding to make your organization more inclusive is relatively easy, but where do you start? To avoid getting overwhelmed when faced with a mountain of things to change, we’ll talk about the 3 main steps you need to take to insure a welcoming workplace for LGBTQ+ people :
- Laying the groundwork: what steps can you take to make your environment more inclusive?
- Recruiting Diversity: How do you ensure that marginalized people apply to your openings? We will also discuss the different steps in the hiring process.
- Integrating and retaining diversity: Acquiring employees with diverse identities and backgrounds is a good first step, but how do you ensure that LGBTQ+ people thrive in your workplace?
- Discussion period with the audience.
After this panel discussion, you will leave with a better understanding of the importance of an inclusive corporate culture and ideas for practical strategies to implement within your own organization. Join us to be part of the conversation and contribute to the movement toward a more inclusive future.
Speakers
Béatrice Robichaud (she/her)
Co-Founder, VP Marketing & Customer Experience, Panthera Dental Inc.
A visionary, transgender and passionate businesswoman, Beatrice is a go-getter and known for never giving up. In 2012 Beatrice co-founded Panthera Dental with her brother Gabriel. She is also VP Marketing & Customer Experience, allowing the company to position itself again among the most renowned. Since 2020, Beatrice sits on the sub-committee for EDI (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) of Laval University. She is the recipient of the Mercuriade “Relève Femme d’Affaires D’Exception BMO” award, the first trans woman to win this prestigious award.
Dimitri Girier (he/him)
Senior Advisor Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, University of Montreal
Dimitri Girier has been working in the field of EDI for more than fifteen years and joined the Human Resources Department of the University of Montreal as Chief Advisor in EDI in February 2019. His role at the University is to develop the EDI action plan for the talent component of the University action plan and to contribute via several committees to the other components of EDI within the University. His role at the University is to develop the EDI action plan for the talent component of the University action plan and to contribute via several committees to the other components of EDI within the University.
Florence Chenel (She/they)
Strategy & Development Manager at QueerTech
For the past 2 years, Florence has been working to defend the rights of the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in Quebec. Since June 2022, she has been co-president of the Conseil Québécois LGBT, a federation of more than 70 organizations representing the 2SLGBTQIA+ populations in Quebec. She is currently in charge of Strategy and Development for QueerTech, where she seeks to promote the development and growth of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in the technology industry.
Coves Larose (She/they)
Fondation Émergence
Coves Larose undertakes part of the research and writing at Fondation Émergence. They are involved in the research and design of tools for the 50-30 challenge and study at McGill University in Gender, Sexuality, Feminist, and Social Justice Studies. They identify as non-binary and uses the pronouns they in english and iel/elle in french.
Facilitator
Olivia Baker (she/her)
Program manager and LGBTQ+ inclusion instructor, Fondation Émergence
Olivia Baker has been program manager at Fondation Émergence since 2018. Émergence is a non-profit organisation aiming at educating, informing and raising awareness in the general population about the realities of LGBTQ+ people. Olivia is in charge of the ProAlly program, which offers training sessions, information tools and support for workplace who want to become more inclusive of sexual and gender diversity. Olivia has a masters in a communication from University of Montreal and she has been involved in LGBTQ+ communities for several years.
