George Brown College
PA-5: Diversity and Equity Coordination

Following the consultation by Charles C. Smith as cited in the STARS section re; Diversity and Equity Assessment, the College is implementing two committees: the Indigenous Council and the Anti-Racism Council. These councils are established with Terms of Reference and an organizational mandate including a clear process to build the Councils and ensure the proper support and resourcing are in place to provide for the important work of these groups. These councils will provide their consultation to the Indigenous Services and Anti-Racism/Equity offices as they set their strategic direction and mandate for the office to engage with administrative departments, faculties students and Indigenous community organizations to align it operations, policy and procedure consistent with the Ontario Human Rights Code and relevant policies within the College.

Human Rights Discrimination and Harassment, Sexual Assault and Sexual Violence Prevention and Support, Positive Space
The Diversity, Equity and Human Rights Services (DEHRS) office provides a range of training in the areas of sexual violence (total of ~1200 ppl through either individual or group) and human rights (~550 ppl through either individual or group) for students and employees. DEHRS provided consultation on implementing classroom accommodations from an equity perspective for more the 30 cases and participated in cross-college partnerships in 9 College-wide events.

Training consisted of understanding the College policies on Sexual Assault and Sexual Violence, and Human Rights Discrimination and Harassment. This past year the College had developed a consistent complaints resolution process so that complainants/respondents could forward a concern without being subjected to unconscious biases, or inconsistent practices. This created an environment where complainants could be brought forward and handled in a manner that was consistent and transparent for the parties whether they were a student, an employee, from an equity group or in a position of trust. Cross-department collaborations were increased so that prevention and coaching activities could be implemented in a directed and timely manner. The College undertook a comprehensive review of his practices, policies and processes with respect to Indigenization and Anti-Racism and has embarrassed a plan to develop a clear mandate and terms of reference for these divisions to benchmark our activities and programs in a forward-thinking way. For the first time, there will be an Indigenous Council and an Anti-Racism Council that will provide input to the respective departments and help each reach its goals of equity and inclusivity through the aforementioned lens.

Employee Presentations
Several presentations were specifically designed for employee groups, for example, Practical Nursing faculty, Marketing and Communications staff, Construction and Engineering Technologies, Business, Community Services and Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts. These employee groups were important places to provide instrumental prevention and education activities in equity and inclusion to support their overall programming at the academic and experiential learning level.

In addition to general education and training, the DEHRS Office is leading a series on Sexual Violence Awareness Training. This is a train-the-trainer series to develop a Community of Practice group knowledgeable in handling sexual violence disclosures and the process of referring the survivor to the Sexual Violence Response Advsior for supports and a discussion of their options to address the incident. For 2020 DEHRS is launching its two programs: "Consent - Get it!" under the Sexual Assault and Sexual Violence Policy initiative, and "Education with Dignity" under the Human Rights Discrimination and Harassment Initiative. Finally, DEHRS is in its early stages of collaborating with key College Stakeholders in examining D&I principles in recruitment, onboarding and retaining its employees.