TORONTO, Jan. 12, 2022 /CNW/ - Recognizing the
importance of continuous learning in advancing Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion, Scotiabank today hosted an Allyship Summit for
Change for its 90,000 employees.
Sessions on why allyship matters, unconscious bias and
privilege, inclusive hiring and effective allyship best practices
have been made available to all Scotiabank employees. Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren
Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School
of Law and Director of its Center for Diversity, Inclusion,
and Belonging, spoke alongside other experts in Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion in Canada and
Chile. Learning tools and
resources have also been made available for employees to support
their ongoing journey of becoming active allies encouraging
momentum 365 days of the year.
"Allyship is one of the most exciting developments in the
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion field. We're increasingly finding
that the barriers to belonging are often small but ubiquitous.
Allyship is a solution that is capable of overcoming these barriers
by engaging them in the infinite and infinitesimal ways they
arise," said Kenji Yoshino, Chief
Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law and Director of its Center for
Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
In 2020, Scotiabank renewed its Diversity and Inclusion Goals to
increase the diversity of its employee population over the next
five years, with a focus on advancing inclusion for people who
identify as Black People, Indigenous Peoples, LGBT+ people, People
of Colour, People with Disabilities, and Women. As part of this
effort, the Bank developed a set of inclusion commitments focused
on promoting best practices when interacting with employees,
customers, communities and business partners. Scotiabank committed
to:
- Become the employer of choice for the diverse communities we
serve by providing employees with an environment that is
safe, inclusive and reflective of all communities by promoting fair
and equitable treatment; and prioritizing unconscious bias and
anti-racism training.
- Offer customers and partners processes that are free
of bias, ensuring that our product and service offerings, marketing
and procurement practices support and reflect the diverse
communities and cultures we serve.
- Leverage impactful community investments, partnerships and
programs that advance efforts to eliminate racism, and foster
economic resilience of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour
communities.
A poll by Scotiabank showed that 2-in-3 Canadians believe that a
culture of inclusion is more important now than it was prior to the
start of the pandemic, however, 58% are not sure how to get
involved and help. The research also showed that being a good ally
is important to 80% of Canadians. Through Allyship Summit for
Change, Scotiabank's aim is to bring employees together to help
address some of those knowledge gaps and have meaningful
conversations about unconscious bias, inclusive hiring, and
actionable ways to be effective allies to peers, customers and in
the community.
"We believe anyone can be an ally, and everyone can benefit from
having an ally. This summit is about giving our employees access to
the resources and tools they need to show up for one another and
build an inclusive culture together, where everyone can thrive,"
said Barb Mason, Group Head &
Chief Human Resources Officer, Scotiabank. "Through our core
purpose of for every future, as Scotiabankers we are committed to
playing a role in helping build better futures – and that means
allyship goes beyond one day of awareness or even one event.
Every single one of us has an accountability to be an ally through
listening, education, and taking action that can be sustained."
Today, also marks the one-year anniversary of ScotiaRISE,
Scotiabank's 10-year, $500 million
initiative to promote economic resilience among disadvantaged
groups. To date, ScotiaRISE has supported nearly 200 charities and
exceeded its target with just over $22
million deployed in community investments in its first year.
Jumpstart Refugee Talent, is one of the latest recipients of a
multi-year community investment from ScotiaRISE. As a national
refugee-led non-profit, Jumpstart is focused exclusively on the
economic empowerment of newly settled refugees across Canada. Through it's Refugee Talent Hub, it
works with organizations like Scotiabank to help combat refugee
unemployment and underemployment, by addressing practices on the
part of employers, as well as refugees. Jumpstart's focus is on the
greater Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary areas and this project will strengthen
refugee hiring practices and provide greater resources so employers
like Scotiabank, can be strong allies to refugees.
For more information on Scotiabank's commitment to diversity and
inclusion,
visit: https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/about/our-company/diversity-and-inclusion.html
Methodology
Maru Public Opinion undertook a survey of 1,537 randomly
selected Canadian adults from May 13th to
May 14th, 2021, on behalf of Scotiabank. The results of this
study have been weighted by education, age, gender and region (and
in Quebec, language) to match the
population, according to Census data. Discrepancies in or between
totals are due to rounding.
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our
purpose: "for every future", we help our customers, their families
and their communities achieve success through a broad range of
advice, products and services, including personal and commercial
banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and
investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of
approximately 90,000 employees and assets of
approximately $1.2 trillion (as at October 31,
2021), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS)
and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information,
please visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on
Twitter @ScotiabankViews.
SOURCE Scotiabank