Christine Whelan FEO, October 26, 2023, VOL. 5 ISSUE 4
Friday, November 10 at the Fort Erie Leisureplex, businesses, community organizations, groups and individuals are invited to come out and participate in some essential discussions.
Kathryn Rogers and Jennifer Pennell-Ajie, Co-chairs of the Fort Erie Diversity and Inclusion Coalition anticipate an evening of great and curious minds coming together.
Kathryn began our interview with her key message about this Mayor’s Forum. “This forum is to start a conversation.
“I think that Fort Erie is a welcoming place. There are a lot of new people and refugees coming in. We always have more work to do.
“Our contribution as a coalition is to do that work. To continue the conversation. Bring in speakers to spark our thoughts, for us to learn more.”
Jennifer Pennell-Ajie followed with, “This is the work of the coalition, driven by the coalition and community partners and members, funded by the community and put on by volunteers. While it’s supported by the Mayor and the Town, this is not being put on by the Town.”
Kathryn added, “The Mayor will be in the audience with the rest of us, learning and listening to the speakers, contributing to discussions.”
From The Beginning
Kathryn took us back to 2020, “After the murder of George Floyd, there were worldwide demonstrations and pledges in support of improving relationships among diverse groups. So, Mayor Redekop wanted to re-establish a coalition on diversity and inclusion.”
She noted, that there was one before in Fort Erie but it had sort of dissolved.
“He put a call out for community volunteers to join this coalition. We came together in 2020, putting together terms of reference and then we set to work.”
“We needed to learn about the state of Diversity and Inclusion in our community.” They created and implemented a survey, analyzing the results.
“Based on those results, a presentation was made to Council, followed by recommendations to the Town of Fort Erie. All recommendations were accepted, including the recommendations for education for staff, volunteers, the coalition members, Mayor and Council to learn more about what diversity and inclusion means.”
Rogers continued, “These are new words. They have specific definitions. The thinking has evolved a lot since the days of multiculturalism.
“Based on what we saw in the survey, we thought that there might be other businesses in Fort Erie, community organizations and individuals who would also be interested. And this was confirmed when we spoke to other partner organizations who said others have been asking about workshops.
“So, that was one of the impetuses for this forum.”
Groups Represented at the Conference
Kathryn explained that, while the development of the coalition was initiated by the need to address anti-black racism, “That led to providing better opportunities for not only black people but for the many diverse people in our communities.”
From this very specific event, she said, it grew into a much larger, overarching concept of diversity and inclusion.
Jennifer added to that point, “When we did our survey, we got a lot of information back from the community. One of the things that came out of it was, that people felt discriminated against, not just because of the colour of their skin or their religion, but perhaps their economic status, their living status, or their ability status, as well as the LGBTQ+ community. They wanted to have a voice.
“We wanted to ensure that this coalition, moving into the forum as well, is not just about race, that this is about inclusivity across all levels.”
The Forum: Three Themes
Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity – There will be a defining and clarifying of these terms. Kathryn explained, “As I mentioned earlier, these words are quite new in our vocabulary and our public discourse and they do have specific meanings. Especially that word, equity. It’s not the same as equality. And so, it’s these kinds of distinctions that we felt it was important to talk about so that people understood what those words really mean.”
The Benefits – Kathryn shared, “In my readings and I’ve heard it said many times that organizations that invest in EDI and have diverse groups that work together, produce better results. Companies thrive and are more successful. We want to get into that, and try to give attendees an idea of how investing in diversity and inclusion will benefit their company.
“It’s not only the right thing to do but it’s also beneficial to the organization or business that is implementing these principles.”
Pennell-Ajie, who is also the Executive Assistant to the Director and Division Coordinator with the Town of Fort Erie, shared, “When we developed the EDI policy within the Town with the help of the coalition, for Town staff, one of the goals was to ensure that the policy was not a punitive policy. It’s more about the conversation and answering questions for people who have questions.
“We want staff to know this is a safe environment. It’s not shoved down their throats.”
How to Action – Jennifer explained, “There’s going to be a wonderful tool kit that will be created that people will have to take with them. And a call to action for people to really take away something that they can do today.”
The Difficult Conversation
I asked Kathryn and Jennifer if they were ready for the difficult questions at the forum. Kathryn took this one. “It’s important to have the difficult conversations. Those difficult conversations come from difficult, challenging questions. So yes, our speakers are very experienced in their fields and in speaking about EDI. Unless we get to the tough questions, it won’t be very meaningful. It’s a learning opportunity for all of us in that way.”
Kathryn thought it was important to add that inclusion does not mean excluding a group that has always been here, at the table. Diversity and inclusion do not mean that one group is going to replace another group. “If I can use the analogy of sitting at a table. People who are already seated move over a little bit to allow someone from a diverse group to also sit at that table and take part in that discussion.”
Speakers
There will be guest speakers and panel speakers.
Guest speakers are Jeff A.D. Martin, an award-winning professional speaker and Indira Naidoo-Harris, Champion of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
You can read more about these speakers on the coalition’s webpage through the Let’s Talk section of the Town of Fort Erie website: letstalk.forterie.ca/diversity-and-inclusion-coalition
Panel speakers for the day include Jennifer Dockstader, Executive Director of the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre, Lori Brant, Chair of the Fort Erie Accessibility Committee, Tom Lewis, Town of Fort Erie, Councillor, Ward 5, Kathryn Rogers, Co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Coalition, moderated by Jennifer Pennell-Ajie – Co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Coalition.
Entertainment and Lunch
Kathryn shared, “We’ve made a great effort to create a very diverse menu for the lunch as well. We’ve got Japanese, Vietnamese and East Indian food. We also have food for people with dietary restrictions.
“We were looking for local Fort Erie businesses and as diverse a menu as possible.”
The Team
Kathryn noted, “Jennifer and I are co-chairs but we have a very strong group of volunteers who are working with us.”
With a core group of twelve members, “They are very engaged and they are working very hard to bring this to the citizens of Fort Erie because they believe in it.”
Kathryn shared, “We have GFESS students in our coalition. One is a student trustee with the DSBN and the other one works with the GFESS student equity association. We feel very fortunate that we have that partnership.”
She added, “We have a very diverse group at our table. It has been, personally speaking, a very wonderful experience for me.”
Finally, with a smile, “It’s going to be a great event.”
Tickets
Early bird tickets are $50, until October 31. Afterwards, they are $60. November 6 is the cut-off date for ticket sales.
Jennifer inquired, “We are looking for sponsors as well so if there is a business out there that wants to sponsor or buy a table, we graciously would love to hear from them. Or if they want to sponsor seats, we can offer them to community members who are not able to purchase tickets.”
The Mayor’s Forum of Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity – Friday, November 10: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Registration at 8:30 a.m. – Fort Erie Leisureplex, 3 Municipal Centre Drive, Fort Erie
To purchase tickets, email Kathryn Rogers or Jennifer Pennell-Ajie at edicoalition@forterie.ca
or go to the webpage: letstalk.forterie.ca/diversity-and-inclusion-coalition
Photo provided by Jennifer Pennell-Ajie
