The Voice - Winter 2020 - 15

NEWS & EVENTS

Talent " , featured a number of senior leaders across sectors,
and generated key strategies for how organizations can
reach diverse candidates, and ensure that they retain them
once they get through the door. The second panel titled,
" Case Studies from Government " , featured leaders within
government departments and agencies, and focused on
sharing challenges, opportunities, and best practices with
the audience.
Day one concluded with a summary from personal finance
expert and national media personality, Melissa Leong, the
event emcee which outlined the key takeaways from the
day's discussion and directed attendees to a networking
period.

November 27, 2020 - Day Two

Day two began with a keynote from Rebecca Demchuk,
Associate Vice President, St. Clair College, outlining the day
to day work of diversity and inclusion. Demchuk discussed
how building inclusive workplaces requires organizational
culture to shift and evolve. It means creating environments
where differences, learning, and discovery are valued. It
demands that employers and fellow employees respect and
listen to new perspectives and ideas, and understand that
these will enable the organization to thrive. The overall
focus was on ensuring that diversity and inclusion become
common place in organizations, and how to create spaces
to discuss situations that may be uncomfortable to advance
inclusion.
The keynote was followed by two concurrent panel
sessions. The first, titled Path to Leadership: Understanding
the Experiences of Equity Seeking Groups, featured a
number of professionals in managerial and senior executive
roles, who discussed their experiences navigating their
careers as members of underrepresented groups in
engineering and STEM more broadly. The second, titled
" The Ins and Outs of Allyship " , featured a diverse group of
professionals, some in the position to be allies and others
in the position to benefit from allyship. The speakers had
a candid discussion about what makes a good ally and why
allyship is essential to achieve diversity and inclusion.
The panels were followed by a workshop style session
titled, " Managing Across Cultures " , delivered by Hamlin
Grange. Grange utilized the data presented in his day one
session to provide senior leaders and managers with key
tools to move their organizations across the continuum
of cultural competence. The audience was presented with
several actionable strategies they could implement within
their own organizations to take this important step towards
achieving the equity, diversity, and inclusion advantage.
Finally, the event concluded with an inspirational
speech from Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Nancy

Chahwan, which focused on what is next, with a focus on the positive
outcomes, and the importance of collaboration. The speaker discussed
exciting plans in government and left the audience with important
takeaways and a sense of urgency to act on this now.
Both days featured networking periods, providing attendees the
opportunity to connect with partners and each other through chat
boxes and video conferences. OSPE Board Director and Chair of OSPE's
Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, Angela Wojtyla, P.Eng., delivered
an on-demand session, available to all attendees, on what the Task
Force is working on. Attendees had the opportunity to participate in
gamification and raffles to win prizes and stay engaged throughout the
event!
Of course, OSPE continues to work to create a movement that will
change the engineering and STEM sectors for the better. We could not
do so without our valued partners. Thank you to all our partners, without
whom this would not be possible. We look forward to continuing to work
together to reach The#EDIAdvantage.

Thank you to all our partners!

Environment and Climate Change Canada /
Environnement et Changement climatique Canada

The

#EDIAdvantage

Winter 2021 THE VOICE

15
The Voice - Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Voice - Winter 2020
