TORONTO — Bell Canada, along with TD Bank Group and the Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR), announced today the launch of the Onyx Initiative, a Toronto-based non-profit designed to address the systemic gap in the recruitment of Black college and university students for roles in corporate Canada.
The Onyx Initiative’s program provides mentorship and online training to ensure Black post-secondary students are equipped to thrive in their respective workplace environments. The comprehensive curriculum includes various types of personal and professional development, including interview preparation, time management, conflict resolution, anti-bias training, navigating social media, crafting resumes and cover letters, oral and written communication, and Excel and PowerPoint basics, says the press release announcing the initiative’s launch.
According to the release, Statistics Canada research shows Black Canadians with post-secondary degrees are under-represented in higher-paying occupational groups compared to their white peers, with some industries showing greater disparities than others.
“Current hiring practices adversely and disproportionately affect Black students who are often contending with a lack of family or social networks, a lack of knowledge about opportunities, and a lack of mentorships,” said Nigela Purboo, founder and executive director of the Onyx Initiative. “The gap is perpetuated in future years as these ambitious young people enter the job market, unable to secure positions in their chosen fields or equal opportunities for advancement within companies, which is essential for their progression into executive roles. The fact that so many brilliant change-makers are excluded from premier talent pools was not something we could just continue to observe.”
In addition to Bell, TD Bank Group and CILAR as its premier partners, the Onyx Initiative also has the support of founding partner PwC Canada, corporate partner Manulife and media partner BNN Bloomberg (a Bell TV channel). Each has contributed expertise and experience over the past several months to further enhance the initiative’s program model, and have committed to providing vital information, ongoing resources and student placement, says the release.
“Bell is committed to taking concrete steps to identify and eliminate systemic racism in our company and industry, and to embracing proactive measures to identify, recruit and advance Black talent across the Bell group of companies,” said Bernard le Duc, executive vice-president and chief human resources officer at Bell, in the release. “We’re pleased to partner with the Onyx Initiative to create a new pipeline between post-secondary institutions and corporate Canada that will further strengthen Bell’s talent pool as we continue to build our diverse and inclusive workplace. Engaging and investing in our people is a strategic imperative for Bell and partnerships like the Onyx Initiative are critical to ensuring our company remains one of Canada’s top employers for young people and a leading diversity employer.”
The initiative’s initial educational partners include Ryerson University, McMaster University, Brock University and George Brown College. All of Onyx’s educational partners will serve as liaisons for Onyx to engage with student career centres, Black/Caribbean student associations and other relevant campus grassroots organizations, says the release. Onboarding of students to the Onyx Initiative program is beginning immediately, along with its expansion to additional corporations, colleges and universities.
For more information, please visit onyxinitiative.org.
