Features 100 top candidates, wants to increase diversity on boards in the Toronto area
Public agencies, boards and commissions are largely made up of middle-aged white men, according to the Maytree Foundation. Only 1.7 per cent of public board members across Canada are from visible minorities, according to the foundation, a non-profit group committed to reducing poverty and inequality in Canada.
A new website has been launched with the aim of addressing the imbalance between the proportion of immigrants and visible minorities in the Toronto area and their relative lack of representation in public agencies, boards and commissions.
The website, www.abcgta.ca, features 100 candidates from visible minority, immigrant and aboriginal communities in its diverse candidate directory. It also hopes public agencies and community organizations will announce vacancies on the website.
“During the last few years, some institutions have adopted access and equity or diversity-related policies,” the website states. “Many have failed to live up to these policies in their organizational practices.”
It said it acts out of a “strong conviction” that real diversity brings added value to organizations and to society “as it allows us to tap into and benefit from broader perspectives, experiences, networks and knowledge.”
One candidate
One of the featured candidates out of the 100 on the site is Zanana L. Akande. Here is what the site says about her:
Zanana Akande holds a BA and a MA in education from the University of Toronto, where she is continuing her studies in sociology.
She has had an outstanding career as a teacher, administrator, and lecturer in all levels of education. As a consultant she designed and coordinated programs for pupils with special needs, including gifted students and immigrant children adjusting to the Canadian system. As principal she has been responsible for the redirection of large inner city schools with culturally diverse populations. Now retired, she continues to work as a speaker and lecturer on topics of equity, effective communication, feminism , and social change, community development and conflict.
In addition to her roles in education, Akande's work experience includes interviewer and panelist for MTV; co-founder of Tiger Lily, a magazine giving voice to the perspectives of visible minority women; and member of provincial parliament from 1990 to 1994, representing the riding of St. Andrew/ St. Patrick .
During her term in government, Akande served as the Minister of Community and Social Services and as parliamentary assistant to the premier. She was responsible for the design and implementation of the jobs Ontario Youth program, which created more than 5,000 jobs for youth across the province during the summers of 1991 to 1994. She was an active participant on many ministerial committees including the Interministerial Committee on Youth Employment, focussing on effecting wider access for all youth to jobs.
Akande's community activities have included participating as a board member of the United Way of Greater Toronto, the Family Services Association, the Elizabeth Fry Society, and Doctors Hospital. She has also served as the president of the Canadian Alliance of Black Educators and the Toronto Child Abuse Centre. Some of her current community involvements include president of Harbourfront Centre; president of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, board member of Community Unity Alliance, board member of the YWCA and board member of Centennial College. Two common threads motivate and characterize her work on boards, social action committees, in professional organizations, and government: focus on the related issues and a commitment to effecting positive change for people.
Akande has received many awards recognizing her contributions to education and community. Some of these awards are the African Canadian Achievement Award for Education; the Onyx Award for Exemplary Service to Community; Black History Makers Award; the Arbor Award from the University of Toronto; the Award of Distinction from the Congress of Black Women, the Human Rights Activist Award from The Centennial Foundation and the City of Toronto's Constance E. Hamilton Award, named after the first woman elected to a municipal council in 1920 in Toronto.
A new website has been launched with the aim of addressing the imbalance between the proportion of immigrants and visible minorities in the Toronto area and their relative lack of representation in public agencies, boards and commissions.
The website, www.abcgta.ca, features 100 candidates from visible minority, immigrant and aboriginal communities in its diverse candidate directory. It also hopes public agencies and community organizations will announce vacancies on the website.
“During the last few years, some institutions have adopted access and equity or diversity-related policies,” the website states. “Many have failed to live up to these policies in their organizational practices.”
It said it acts out of a “strong conviction” that real diversity brings added value to organizations and to society “as it allows us to tap into and benefit from broader perspectives, experiences, networks and knowledge.”
One candidate
One of the featured candidates out of the 100 on the site is Zanana L. Akande. Here is what the site says about her:
Zanana Akande holds a BA and a MA in education from the University of Toronto, where she is continuing her studies in sociology.
She has had an outstanding career as a teacher, administrator, and lecturer in all levels of education. As a consultant she designed and coordinated programs for pupils with special needs, including gifted students and immigrant children adjusting to the Canadian system. As principal she has been responsible for the redirection of large inner city schools with culturally diverse populations. Now retired, she continues to work as a speaker and lecturer on topics of equity, effective communication, feminism , and social change, community development and conflict.
In addition to her roles in education, Akande's work experience includes interviewer and panelist for MTV; co-founder of Tiger Lily, a magazine giving voice to the perspectives of visible minority women; and member of provincial parliament from 1990 to 1994, representing the riding of St. Andrew/ St. Patrick .
During her term in government, Akande served as the Minister of Community and Social Services and as parliamentary assistant to the premier. She was responsible for the design and implementation of the jobs Ontario Youth program, which created more than 5,000 jobs for youth across the province during the summers of 1991 to 1994. She was an active participant on many ministerial committees including the Interministerial Committee on Youth Employment, focussing on effecting wider access for all youth to jobs.
Akande's community activities have included participating as a board member of the United Way of Greater Toronto, the Family Services Association, the Elizabeth Fry Society, and Doctors Hospital. She has also served as the president of the Canadian Alliance of Black Educators and the Toronto Child Abuse Centre. Some of her current community involvements include president of Harbourfront Centre; president of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, board member of Community Unity Alliance, board member of the YWCA and board member of Centennial College. Two common threads motivate and characterize her work on boards, social action committees, in professional organizations, and government: focus on the related issues and a commitment to effecting positive change for people.
Akande has received many awards recognizing her contributions to education and community. Some of these awards are the African Canadian Achievement Award for Education; the Onyx Award for Exemplary Service to Community; Black History Makers Award; the Arbor Award from the University of Toronto; the Award of Distinction from the Congress of Black Women, the Human Rights Activist Award from The Centennial Foundation and the City of Toronto's Constance E. Hamilton Award, named after the first woman elected to a municipal council in 1920 in Toronto.
