Diversity & Inclusion Working Group

June 10, 2021

In recent months, Dwayne Milley has shared updates from the work of the Anti-Racism Task Force. This month, I’m glad to be able to share this update.
In April, more than 1100 employees of Christian Horizons completed the WorkWell survey conducted by the YMCA. An important part of the survey was a response to Priority #4 of the Anti-Racism Task Force, “collect, analyze and report on racial and ethnic demographics of Christian Horizons”. In addition to the questions about their race/ethnicity, the survey asked employees to describe (in their own choice of words), their gender, sexual orientation, disability/ability, and religion/faith. There were 616 people who answered these optional questions, which represents about 23% of our workforce. Based on this information we can project, for the first time, the approximate diversity within Christian Horizons.
It is projected that within our current employees at Christian Horizons,

• 30% experience disability
• 13% are Black
• 11% are Agnostic or Atheist
• 6% are LGBTQ+
• 3% are Asian
• 1.5% are Indigenous/Aboriginal

This, along with other information gathered, will support additional work of the Anti-Racism Task Force such as Priority #6 to “increase the racial and ethnic diversity of leadership groups to have cross-cultural representation at all levels of the organization”.

As noted, Christian Horizons has been working to implement the recommendations of the Anti-Racism Task Force that were shared in the Fall 2020.

To expand on this work, there will be a new Diversity & Inclusion Working Group. Beginning in July, this working group will meet monthly, be comprised of people with various lived experience regarding diversity and will make recommendations regarding the recruitment and retention of a diverse employee group within Christian Horizons.

If you are interested in joining the Diversity & Inclusion Working Group, please take a moment to let me know by completing the survey by June 24, 2021.

Click here to complete the survey