Black in the Matrix - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

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Lifting As You Lead: Masterclass - Black in the Matrix: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Featuring: Richard Sharpe

Host: Samantha Moonsammy

Facilitators: Kelly Brewer-Balch, Bernadeth Betchi, and Suzan Richards

Date and time: Wednesday, November 15, 2023, 1:00pm - 2:30pm Eastern Time

Audience: Lifting as You Lead Mentoring Circles program network & Materiel Group members, National Defence

Event Description

Working in the public service is like being in the 1999 movie The Matrix. Rules and programming govern how people interact within the system and amongst themselves. Being Black in the Matrix means it is necessary to see through the code in order to understand how to achieve career advancement, address systemic racism and ultimately empower oneself to evolve and make change within the machine.

About LLMC

As a leader in our community, the Diversity and Inclusion team is calling on you to join the Lifting as you Lead Mentoring Circles (LLMC) program. The LLMC program is an initiative grounded in the 2020/2021 Deputy Minister Commitments on Diversity and Inclusion and strives to build on the Clerk’s Call to Action to better support leadership development toward addressing anti-racism, equity, and inclusion in the federal public service. Through this lens, the LLMC program provides you with an innovative space and opportunity to actively partake in making your workplace inclusive.

This ten-week program, consisting of five required Circle sessions and five optional Masterclasses, is an opportunity to network and learn more about what you, as an individual, can do to move the federal public service towards a more inclusive and diverse environment.

Meet Our Masterclass Teacher

Richard Sharpe, Director, Black Equity Branch, Treasury Board Secretariat

Richard Sharpe has been a human rights advocate for 30 years, both at the community and institutional levels. Until the beginning of this year, he worked within the Canadian Federal Public Service, where he held several national positions representing employees as both a union representative and as a leader in employee-led organizations. In 2017 he co-founded the first Black employee network in the federal government, the Federal Black Employee Caucus, to tackle anti-Black racism in that institution. He held the position of Director of Equity, Anti-racism, Diversity and Inclusion at the Department of Justice Canada, where he spearheaded department and enterprise-wide initiatives to address long-standing discriminatory practices in the federal government. He is currently the Director of the Black Equity Branch, Treasury Board Secretariat in the Ontario Public Service.

At the community level, Richard was instrumental in forming the 613/819 National Capital Region Black Hub to bring together Black community members and organizations to collectively address anti-Black racism in areas such as education, policing, and mental health. He has also been involved in leading initiatives to realize the objectives of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent (UNDPAD), including securing government support for Black Economic Inclusion initiatives and being part of Black community efforts to create the National Institute for People of African Descent (NIPAD). In December 2022, he was part of the Canadian civil society delegation at the United Nations Permanent Forum for People of African Descent.

Richard has championed disaggregated socio-demographic data collection efforts at all levels and in all sectors. His work regionally and nationally is intended to improve the condition of Black and African diaspora communities in Canada. Richard is a sought-after speaker for his frank commentary on systemic racism, anti-black racism and allyship and for his concrete solutions for action and results. His opinion pieces have been published in the Ottawa Citizen and LinkedIn.

Richard is proud to be a child of immigrants of Jamaican ancestry and the eldest of six. His roles as father and partner are the two that he holds most dear.