Inclusion Infusions Livestream Speaker Series

This speaker series is designed to spark curiosity about inclusion and diversity by inviting leading thinkers to share their expertise, and engage in conversation with Algonquin College employees on exciting and challenging topics. Everyone welcome!

Can’t make it? Visit to https://employeelearningcatalogue.algonquincollege.com/ register for the Inclusion Infusions Livestream course to view all of the speaker events.

Building Belonging: Race, Allyship and Work in a Time of Crisis
1:00-2:00pm November 12, 2020

Over the past 10 years, research has exploded into the diversity and inclusion field, built on breakthroughs in the neurocognitive sciences and hundreds of new studies. What insights do they provide into how we think and how that thinking shapes our workplace behavior? Are these insights being misunderstood or misused? And how can we examine the data—and our own biases—to prosper in an increasingly diverse and global workplace, society and competitive landscape?

In this game-changing presentation, based on years of neuro-cognitive and social science research and practical experience, Howard Ross shares proven strategies that both individuals and organizations can use to create more culturally competent and inclusive organizations. Revealing new research, case studies and practical applications that have diversity practitioners re-thinking old strategies, Ross shows how we can overcome unconscious bias to truly transform the way we work on both a personal and organizational level. This highly reflective and often inspiring presentation gives participants the opportunity to explore their own relationship with bias and its presence in their own organizations—beginning the journey toward self-discovery that is at the heart of inclusion.

REGISTER HERE:https://algonquincollege.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3ThZ0JlTSzO-nO5h3UszlA

Speaker: Howard Ross

Howard Ross is a lifelong social justice advocate and is considered one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias. He is the author of ReInventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance, and the Washington Post best seller, Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives. His latest book, Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart won the 2019 Nautilus Book Award Gold Medal for Social Change and Social Justice.

Howard has specialized in the synthesis of neuro-cognitive and social science research and direct application re: Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Accessibility work. His client work has focused on the areas of corporate culture change, leadership development, and managing diversity. Ross has successfully implemented large-scale organizational culture change efforts in the area of managing diversity and cultural integration in academic institutions, professional services corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and retail, health care, media, and governmental institutions in 47 of the United States and over 40 countries worldwide. In addition, Howard has delivered programs at Harvard University Medical School, Stanford University Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, the Wharton School of Business, Duke University and Washington University Medical School and over 20 other colleges and Universities. Howard served as the 2007-2008 Johnnetta B. Cole Professor of Diversity Professor of Diversity at Bennett College for Women, the first time a white man had ever served in such a position at an HBCU.

Howard’s writings have been published by the Harvard Business Review, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Fast Company Magazine, Diversity Women Magazine, Forbes Magazine, Fortune Magazine and dozens of other publications. He appears monthly on National Public Radio. He was also named an Honorary Medicine Man by the Eastern Cherokee Reservation in N.C., and given Medicine Holder designation by the Pawnee Nation.

Howard is also a former Rock ‘n Roll Musician and has taught meditation and mindfulness for more than 20 years, including his role as co-founder and Lead Facilitator for the Inner Journey Seminars.

A Panel Discussion on Race in Education
10:00-11:00am September 23, 2020

Join the Algonquin College community for a a candid conversation on Race in Education. Our panel will feature three experts:

• Meghan Wills: Chair for Parents for Diversity – Parents for Diversity a collective of parents committed to achieving inclusive and non-discriminatory learning environments that allow children to fulfill their true potential in this world.
• Tim McCaskell: He is author of the book Race to Equity: Disrupting Educational Inequality. Tim is a longtime equity activist who will share his experiences in the struggle to reshape Toronto’s education system in delivering anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-homophobic education.
• Pascale Diverlus: is a communications specialist, digital strategist, educator and community organizer. She also co-founded Black Lives Matter -Toronto; a trans-feminist movement committed to the preservation of black art, black space, black families, and black life.

The Cultural Dimension of the Pandemic
10:00-11:30am July 21st, 2020 hosted by HR Programs, Learning & Teaching Services, & International

The rapid spread of the coronavirus around the globe has brought the same challenges to just about every country, government and organization at almost the same time. Yet, countries, government and organizations have reacted to the very same event in very different ways. By comparing and contrasting these different responses, this webinar highlights the different mental models that people have of how the world works and provides concrete suggestions on what and how we can learn from this pandemic to support intercultural competence.

Coping with Culture Change – what can we learn from Immigrants and International Students
10:00-11:30am August 18th, 2020 hosted by HR Programs, Learning & Teaching Services, & International

For many people, the pandemic and the changes it brought to their everyday lives is probably the closest they will come to experiencing what being an immigrant or a foreign student feels like. Indeed, the rapid spread of the coronavirus around the world had forced billions of people to change the way they do things on very short notice – just like foreign students and immigrants experience when they arrive in their new home country. By looking at the experiences of foreign students and immigrants and comparing the long-term consequences of various approaches, we can identify best practises that everyone can apply when dealing with this pandemic and/or any rapid change that is thrust upon us.

Both sessions will be lead by Dr. Lionel Laroche.

Over the past 18 years, Lionel Laroche has provided cross-cultural training, coaching and consulting services to over 75,000 people in 18 countries. Lionel specializes in helping professionals and organizations turn the challenges that cultural differences create initially in most organizations into a source of creativity and innovation. Lionel Laroche is a very dynamic, entertaining and educational speaker / facilitator. He has presented at over 250 conferences and venues all over the world.

Lionel Laroche has written three books:
● Managing Cultural Diversity in Technical Professions (2002).
● Recruiting, Retaining and Promoting Culturally Diverse Employees (2007).
● Danger and Opportunity: Bridging Cultural Diversity for Competitive Advantage (2013).

Lionel makes use of his 30 years of international experience, working with people from over 60 countries including in eight different countries for several multinational companies,
including Xerox, Procter & Gamble, British Petroleum, and Jeumont-Schneider.
Born in France, Lionel Laroche obtained his Diplôme d’Ingénieur Polytechnicien from the Ecole Polytechnique de Paris. Laroche also holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology.

Spirituality at Work
10:00-11:30am January 21st, 2020 in C100 Nawapon

Is talking about spirituality and religion ‘off-limits’ at work? What can I do to be respectful of a religion I’m not knowledgeable about? How do I accommodate Friday prayer? Wait – Friday is a day for prayer?
If you have ever thought about any of these issues, this first panel on spirituality in the workplace is for you. Join us for coffee and a conversation with Algonquin’s Christian Chaplin Yuriy Derkach, Imam Mohammad Jebara and Rabbi (TBD) to talk about their spiritual beliefs, background, influences, and how that applies to our workplace and campus interactions. This conversation hosted by Student Support Services and Human Resources will help you foster your curiosity about others, and provide an opportunity to ask honest questions on how to be inclusive and respectful to others through the lens of spirituality.

You can watch the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcF2IF0Kmgw&feature=youtu.be

Beyond Inclusion: Black Liberation Otherwise
10:00-11:30am February 5th, 2020 in C100 Nawapon

Robyn Maynard is the author of Policing Black Lives: State violence in Canada from slavery to the present (Fernwood 2017). The book is a CBC national bestseller, currently in its third printing, designated as one of the “best 100 books of 2017” by the Hill Times, listed in The Walrus’s “best books of 2018″, shortlisted for an Atlantic Book Award, the Concordia University First Book Prize and the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-fiction, and the winner of the 2017 Annual Errol Morris Book Prize, later published in French with Mémoire d’encrier, titled NoirEs sous surveillance. Esclavage, répression et violence d’Étatau Canada. Her writing on race, gender, and discrimination is taught widely in universities across Canada and the United States and she has spoken before Parliamentary subcommittees, the Human Rights Committee of the Senate, and the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.

Maynard has a long history of involvement in community activism and advocacy. She been a part of grassroots movements against racial profiling, police violence, detention and deportation for over a decade. She is currently a PhD student and Vanier scholar at the University of Toronto in the Women and Gender Studies Institute.

You can read a summary here: https://algonquincollege.force.com/myAC/EC_CommunityNewsDetail?id=a3h3b0000026OhvAAE&name=Diversity%20and%20inclusion%20focus%20of%20hard-hitting%20presentation