Diversity at work. Your work

The global faces of business?: Diversity needed

When I look at the bio photos of company board members and senior managers, I see a sea of smiling faces that are remarkably similar: accomplished, intelligent and… mostly, white. So, what’s the big deal?

Immigration is a critical part of building future prosperity and reports estimate that the Canadian economy is losing billions of dollars every year because we are failing to leverage the skills and experience of immigrants.

What can businesses like yours do about this problem?

I work for Skills for Change, an organization that provides services for immigrants and refugees, but we are actually in the prosperity business. Prosperity is what our one-day conference “Diversity@Work” is all about.

We ask: “What is corporate Canada doing about diversity?” And we explore this important question by inviting human resource leaders from corporate Canada to share their strategies and discuss what’s required to build the workforce (and the boardrooms) of the future.

And, of course, social innovation plays a part. Allyson Hewitt, Director, Social Entrepreneurship at MaRS, will put a social innovation lens on the morning panel discussion.

Here are the facts that drive our agenda for change:

Convinced yet to start thinking about diversity in your workplace?