 www.prideatworkcanada.ca
WHO Pride at Work Canada
WHAT A volunteer-driven professional organization created to support the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Canadian workplaces.
WHERE Toronto, with board members in Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary.
WHEN 2006
WHY Just back from an Out & Equal conference in the States, Michael Bach, KPMG’s National Director of Diversity, thought ‘Why can’t we do something like this in Canada?”
HOW Jenn Finan, a board member with Pride at Work Canada since its inception, says the organization has taken its cue from other leading LGBT workplace advocates: Stonewall in the UK and Out & Equal in the US. “Those are all models that we’re looking at,” she says. “And we’re hoping to take the best parts of those and the ones that best fit with the realities of Canada.”
MISSION To support the work of LGBT Employment Resource Groups (ERGs), HR professionals, diversity specialists to effect positive change for LGBT employees in the workplace.
QUICK CLICKS You can go online and download information on how to start an LGBT Employee Resource Group (ERG) or read about the business case for a LGBT-positive workplace.
STATS Pride at Work currently has 18 corporate partners on board, a number it sees increasing to 30 by next June.
WHAT’S NEXT “We’re looking forward to (Pride at Work) being a fully-representative-across-Canada organization that works with both corporations and employees to build more inclusive work environments,” Finan says.
HOW MUCH? There are 2 categories of membership: Organizational and Associate. Associate members include employees and business consultants and the cost is free. Organizational members include private and public sector employers and pay $5000 per year. Despite the high price tag for corporate partners, the organization is getting “a lot of support, even in these economic times where dollars are tight,” Finan says. “It’s nice to see that corporations still really value diversity and want to do a better job.” BOTTOM LINE Recent reports have revealed that many employees still don’t feel comfortable coming out in the workplace and that those barriers restrict their opportunity for advancement. Pride at Work takes this as a signal to work even harder. “When you work for more inclusive work environments for one marginalized group,” Finan says, “it also helps all marginalized groups.” |
