Hello Everyone,

On Wednesday, we came together for our first all-employee Diversity & Inclusion training session. Thank you for your participation and in particular Nathalie Sato, co-hosts Akilah Child and Audrey Hudson, and presenters Elder Dallaire and Leticia Rose. Thank you also to the IDEA Group for helping to advance these important conversations within the AGO. (Edit: volunteers – Diversity & Inclusion training will be announced for you as well; we’ll keep you posted)

One of the key learnings from Leticia’s presentation was definitions of certain words that I would like to reiterate here:

Diversity – the presence of difference within a given setting

Inclusion – the integration and consideration of different identities within places and spaces to increase participation, visibility and value

Equity – an approach that ensures everyone has access to the same opportunities

I encourage you to think about these definitions and their relation to your work and engagement amongst each other and the public at the AGO.

With an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Toronto and new restrictions to social gatherings numbers, we must all be reminded that this pandemic is very real. And, unfortunately, it is having a very real impact on the AGO’s ability to generate revenue and provide meaningful work in some areas. We will continue to do our best to navigate challenges – and I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished together so far – but I do want to acknowledge this is a difficult period for the AGO. Let’s be kind and supportive of one another.

Thank you,

Stephan