'I've become quite passionate about EDI, and the importance of having an EDI focus in your organization'
As the newly minted vice-president of people, equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at Calgary’s Bow Valley College, Suzie Johnson will be supporting employees — while always considering how this might affect the students.
“The programs, policies and procedures we’ve put in place from an HR perspective, we always need to consider: ‘OK, how does this impact the student? Will it impact the student?’ Which might sound odd given that we’re not specifically interacting with students... but we do from a support perspective, in that our faculty and our staff, they are front line with the students, so we need to make sure that the contribution that HR has is supportive of them,” says Johnson, in conversation with Canadian HR Reporter.
New position
Johnson will be the first person to occupy this chair, as the college created the position to increase EDI efforts at the college
This is a topic near and dear to her heart, she says, especially being a member of the Métis Nation.
“In recent years, I’ve become quite passionate about EDI, and the importance of having an EDI focus in your organization,” she says.
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Previously, Johnson worked at oil company Suncor, and it was these varied experiences that will serve her well in the new role.
“I was very fortunate to work with a lot of exceptional leaders who mentored me and gave me opportunities to look at the various aspects of HR or the different functions within the HR profession,” she says.
During her career, Johnson has seen plenty of changes to the HR profession, shifting away from mainly performing “transactional” activities.
“That shift has, over time, now become where HR is viewed as an integral part of the organizations that they work in, to the extent where many organizations look at HR as playing a key part in strategy.”
