Diversity and Inclusion 

At Always Connected, a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace is one where all employees and partners, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, feels valued and respected. ACTN is committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provides equal opportunity for employment and advancement in all of our departments, programs, and worksites. ACTN respects and values diverse life experiences and heritages and ensures that all voices are valued and heard. 

ACTN is committed to modeling diversity and inclusion within the communities ACTN serves, and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all. Diversity and inclusion at Always Connected includes: 

  • Cultural Awareness (an attitude that includes awareness about differences between cultures);

  • Cultural Sensitivity (an attitude that recognizes the differences between cultures and that these differences are important to acknowledge);

  • Cultural Competency (focuses on individuals obtaining skills, knowledge, and attitudes to work in more effective and respectful ways with indigenous clients/partners and people of different cultures);

  • Cultural Humility (an approach based on humble acknowledgement of onself as a learner when it comes to understanding a person’s experience; a life-long process of learning and being self-reflective);

  • Cultural Safety (considers how social and historical contexts, as well as structural and interpersonal power imbalances, shape experiences.

To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, Always Connected strives to: 

  • See diversity, inclusion, and equity as connected to our mission and critical to ensure the well-being of our staff and the communities ACTN serves.

  • Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and continually update and report organization progress.

  • Explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness.

  • Advocate for and support board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.

  • Help to challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader at our organization, and who is well-positioned to provide leadership.

  • Practice and encourage transparent communication in all interactions.

  • Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, committee, and advisory bodies.

  • Lead with respect and tolerance. ACTN expects all employees to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.


Always Connected abides by the following action items to help promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace: 

  • Pursue cultural competency throughout our organization by creating substantive learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies.

  • Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress toward the visibility of our diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts. Once the content is curated it will be added to our website so others can access.

  • Improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of Canadian society.

  • Pool resources and expand offerings for underrepresented constituents by connecting with other engineering organizations and partners committed to diversity and inclusion efforts.

  • Develop and present sessions on diversity, inclusion, and equity to provide information and resources internally, and to members, the community, and the arts industry.

  • Develop a system for being more intentional and conscious of bias during the hiring, promoting, or evaluating process. Train our hiring team on equitable practices.

  • Include a salary range with all public job descriptions.

  • Advocate for public and private-sector policy that promotes diversity, inclusion, and equity. Challenge systems and policies that create inequity, oppression and disparity.

 

Principles of cultural safety practiced at Always Connected 

  • To reflect on your own practice is a critical aspect of cultural safety practice.

  • Need to minimize the power differentials between yourself and your peers, partners or clients.

  • Engage in a conversation with the client, partner or peer to learn a bit about them.

  • Undertake a process of decolonization.

  • Ensure that you do not diminish, demean or disempower others through your actions. 


Last Updated: July 2023

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