Schema Magazine

Pecha Kucha Vancouver Vol. 8 | October 29, 2009

More info: http://www.causeandaffect.com/pechakucha/

Recently in Calgary

Canada

October 20, 2009 | National Manager's Community | Calgary
Guest speaker for the Learning and Development forum of the National Manager's Community Alberta Region. This is broken into two sessions: one on Diversity 2.0 and another on applying these new diversity concepts in the workforce and frontlines.

October 21, 2009 | Mount Royal University | Calgary
Presented by the Faculty of Communication Studies and the Office of Diversity and Human Rights of Mount Royal University.
Leacock Theatre, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta

Coordinated by:
Marc Chikinda
Dean, Communication Studies

Brad Clark
Faculty, Broadcasting

Jamie Fillion
Diversity and Human Rights Advisor

Recently

Canada

September 17, 2009 | UBC Graduate School of Journalism | Vancouver
Guest lecturer on Diversity & Journalism. Repeat of the lecture I have been giving annually.

September 18, 2009 | CBC/AAJA/UBC | Vancouver
I will be moderating a panel I helped to coordinate, in partnership with CBC, the Asian American Journalists Association and the UBC Graduate School of Journalism, on diversity, new media and journalism's future in Canada and the U.S. We'll be discussing innovations in business models, storytelling approaches, knowledge management in newsrooms. Panelists will include Winnie Hwo, News Director at Fairchild TV; Joanne Lee Young, Reporter at The Vancouver Sun (to be confirmed); Alfred Hermida, Professor of Digital Journalism at UBC; Sharon Chan, National President of the AAJA (to be confirmed). More info on Facebook.

October 2, 2009 | Institute of Canadian Citizenship | Toronto
Guest speaking/workshop for the Institute of Canadian Citizenship. I will be speaking at a closed session on Diversity 2.0. This session aims to help ICC's members learn more about diversity and how to work with it as well as be something that they feel is practically relevant to engaging new and established citizens in the practice of inclusive citizenship.

October 8th & 9th, 2009 | VIU | Nanaimo
I'll speaking at a number of sessions at the Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C. I'll be giving a general talk to university students on my career path, role models, hopefully lots of Q&A, targeting international students and recent immigrants (CVI Multicultural Society). Followed by a talk related to media and diversity, then another talk about the "diversity advantage" to business students. For Friday morning, they're hoping to arrange something with Nanaimo District Secondary School so I can speak a younger crowd.

Chinese Canadian identity from a history of contributions and discrimination | CFR

Canada

The Canadians For Reconciliation will be hosting a conference about Chinese Canadian identity from a history of contributions and discrimination.

Saturday April 25, 2009
Newbern Memorial Alliance Church | Map
626 East 58 Avenue Vancouver
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Speakers include:

Panorama by FlungingPictures.
Left to Right:
1. Bill CHU
2. Frank HUANG Global Chinese Press
3. Charlie SMITH, Georgia Straight
4. Eric CHAN, MingPao Daily
5. Alden HABACON, Canadian Broadcasting CORPORATION
6. Victor HO, SingTao Daily

Background:

After a century of racism in British Columbia, things have indeed been improving for Chinese-Canadians. However as BC had been the worst province in pressuring the federal government to restrict Chinese immigration and employment and no action had been taken to acknowledge BC's century long racist history towards the Chinese, there is a need for the Chinese community to come and explore issues worthy of some thoughtful discussions.

For Chinese who have been here longer, there is a need for healing. For those who immigrated here within the last two three decades, there is a need to be made aware of what happened before so that they too can be sensitive to the pain of tens and thousands of Chinese who came before them.

However with a missing Chinese history in BC, how can our next generation find their roots in what's normally portrayed as a white colony? How can they be perceived as equals when current history and curriculum painted non-Chinese as founders and builders of this Province? With them being born Canadians, is it fair for some of them to hit a glass ceiling in their careers? On the other hand, the white population even a century and half ago had offered reasons why Chinese should be rejected from BC. Do Chinese know objectively how many of those criticisms are still valid today? How would that influence our choice between acting like a visitor or a citizen in BC? If one is wealthy, wouldn't one be able to be exempted from any discrimination related problems? Looking at the disappeared Chinatown in New Westminster and many Chinese historical sites in the Fraser Canyon, whose job it is to protect and preserve at least some of them? Once we take care of our needs, shouldn't we think about facilitating reconciliation with the non-Chinese population? How can inclusion of our history in BC support our identity as Chinese Canadians?

As an initial step towards a process of reconciliation between non-Chinese and Chinese citizens, CFR is inviting the general public to come together to:

• Learn about the missing pages in BC's history (www.fullofnews.ca)
• Allow Chinese and non-Chinese media representatives to explore and share views on the subject in the hopes of listening to each other and later shaping societal views.
• Allow Chinese and non-Chinese Canadians to offer questions/suggestions towards a bigger movement of reconciliation.
• Encourage our BC government to acknowledge and include the past history of Chinese in BC into high school curriculum.
• Invite the provincial election's candidates to come, to learn and to consider offering a pledge to the above.

Due to time constraint, there will not be continuous translation. For more information, please contact Bill Chu at ccia[at]shaw.ca.

Continue reading "Chinese Canadian identity from a history of contributions and discrimination | CFR"

Strategic Hiring as Part of your Diversity Plan | The Diversity Advantage: The Business Case for Diversity | Statistics Canada | March 19, 2009

Canada

To commemorate the United Nations Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21, each year, the Visible Minorities Consultative Group (VMCG) of Statistics Canada organizes a half-day event. This event will took place under the theme of The Diversity Advantage: The Business Case for Diversity.

Statistics Canada's Visible Minority Consultative Group (VMCG) goal for its speakers was simple, but bold: to promote awareness and to showcase visible minorities' culture and advantage to our employees and executives. The group is committed to making Statistics Canada an inclusive organization, one that equally supports the aspirations of all employees, one that removes impediments, works to improve our corporate programs and policies, encourages full contribution and makes the Canadian Embracing Change initiative a success.

I gave a 30-minute presentation as one of 4 speakers who shared their organization's initiatives in making "diversity an advantage" in their workplace. The conference hoped to glean from the shared experiences and learn of ways to implement these initiatives.

My presentation "Strategic Hiring as Part of your Diversity Plan" went into what "strategic hiring" is, and where it fits into the diversity action plan -- using excerpts from CBC's old and new diversity action plan, the presentation I usually give to journalism students, and the cultural intelligence parts of my presentation on Multiculturalism 2.0 (en francais, Interculturalism 2.0).

Complete program after the jump.

Continue reading "Strategic Hiring as Part of your Diversity Plan | The Diversity Advantage: The Business Case for Diversity | Statistics Canada | March 19, 2009"

Multiculturalism 2.0 | The Road Ahead: Reflecting Canada's Changing Face | Department of Justice | March 19, 2009

Canada

I was invited by the Advisory Committee on Visible Minorities (ACVM), an employment equity group within the federal Department of Justice to give a 20-minute version of my presentation "Beyond the Mosaic: Canada's Multiculturalism 2.0".

The Mandate of the Advisory Committee on Visible Minorities is to advise the Deputy Minister on issues affecting the hiring, retention and career development of visible minority employees. Every year the ACVM hosts a conference to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21).

Their theme for 2009 was the The Road Ahead: Reflecting Canada's Changing Face and how the Department of Justice plans to reflect this change in the context of the government wide policy to achieve a multicultural public service. I was the opening speech for a full-day of speakers, invited to share insights and advice about the rapidly diversifying Canadian population and some of the implications of this trend for the Department of Justice. Other speakers in my session on the Canadian Context included Hindia Mohamoud (Director of Community Impact and Investment, United Way Ottawa) and Jacqueline Lawrence (Diversity and Equity Coordinator, Ottawa-Carleton District School Bureau).

Moderator/MC | Statistics Canada conference on immigration and diversity | February 23, 2009

Canada

I was invited to moderate and MC a conference called Diversity Matters in Vancouver, a one-day conference featuring a panel of high-profile experts who explored the changes, trends and implications of ethno-cultural diversity and immigration for Canada, British Columbia and Metro Vancouver. Presentation topics included:

Presenters included:

Anil Arora
Assistant Chief Statistician, Social, Institutions and Labour Statistics Field, Statistics Canada

Dave O'Neil
Director, Population Statistics, BC Stats

Andrew Ramlo
Director, Urban Futures

Professor Dan Hiebert
Co-Director, Metropolis BC
Center of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Diversity

Official conference website: www.diversitymattersconference.ca

North Central Teacher's Convention Association | February 5-6th, 2008

Canada

I gave a presentation called "Vision of a Diverse, Inclusive Canada" for the North Central Teacher's Convention Association (NCTCA), of the Alberta Teacher's Association. They hold an annual Teacher's Conference. This year's conference was called "Learning from Canadians":

The theme for this year says it all! It highlights the skills and expertise within our country. Along with the infusion of citizenship into all aspects of the Alberta Curriculum, we strive to open our students' minds and prepare them for the 21st Century. We envision the leaders of tomorrow to be individuals shaped by Canadian expertise. Convention 2009 will showcase a multitude of Canadian Voices that reflect the professional strengths Canada has to offer, as well as reinforce the important contributions teachers make each and everyday!

My presentation was similar to the one I gave as part of the Knox Lenten Lecture Series in March 2008, but accompanied with slides.

Convention 2009
Learning from Canadians
February 5 and 6th, 2009
Shaw Conference Centre
Edmonton, Alberta

Diversity & Journalism | UBC Graduate School of Journalism | November 27, 2008

Canada

I gave a seminar at the graduate students of the UBC Graduate School of Journalism. This was a presentation on critical journalism and diversity that I had developed with Dr. Minelle Mahtani (University of Toronto).

This presentation also included practical methods of making diversity part of journalistic story-telling, and an exercise that demonstrated how the diversity of a newsroom affects the end-product.

Most memorable moment was when one of the few white male students asked me if he would be disadvantaged in an environment where newsrooms are struggling to better reflect the local diversity of their audiences.

Keynote Address | Forum on the Perspectives of Canadians of Diverse Backgrounds | November 24, 2008

Canada

I was invited by the Office of the Commission of Official Languages (OCOL) to deliver a speech on my vision of linguistic duality and cultural diversity in Canada at teh OCOL's second Forum on the Perspectives of Canadians of Diverse Backgrounds.

The main objective of the discussion forum was to gain a better understanding of the perceptions of linguistic duality held by Canadians from diverse backgrounds and of the links between linguistic duality and cultural diversity. Equally important in this forum is the goal of developing relationships with participants to continue and deepen this crucial dialogue. This event will provide OCOL with the information necessary to encourage the Federal Government to take the measures necessary to better integrate cultural diversity and linguistic duality into its policies and programs

This was a milestone in my public speaking. First, this was a challenging speech to write (following last year's address, giving by former Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson), but I also took this as an opportunity to challenge myself to give parts of my speech in French. This was the first time I have given any public presentation on diversity in French. It was a great honour to have been invited and to have met the Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, who sent me the following comments:

I found your opening address both enlightening and thought-provoking. Your speech truly set the stage for the very interesting discussions that took place during the day, and was greatly appreciated by all the participants and observers at the forum.