CEC Featured in the Canadian Press
The Canadian Press published an article on the switch from DEI policy to ACB, featuring Canadian Equality Consulting (CEC). Marcie Hawranik, Founder & President of CEC, spoke on the change.
Marcie Hawranik, founder and president of Calgary-based Canadian Equality Consulting, said rebranding diversity programs is trending in Canada in response to what’s happening in the U.S.
“The majority of our clients are non-profits, universities and government, and everyone’s talking about it,” she said.
The University of Alberta’s rebrand appears “superficial,” she added, as the policy’s replacement terms may be less polarizing but really aren’t that different.
Diversity initiatives have existed since the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1960s and evolved through the labour movement of the 1980s and the recent #MeToo movement, Hawranik said. Canadian and American governments, corporations and schools adopted diversity policies in earnest after George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer, sparking protests worldwide.
“What it’s always really been about is fairness in workplaces, about anti-harassment and discrimination policies, accessibility for people with disabilities and any initiatives that foster employee retention and build inclusive cultures,” said Hawranik.
She said the University of Alberta’s rebrand seems to give into the growing momentum against DEI and to be an attempt to build a better relationship with the provincial government.
Read the full article here.