Bell Canada, TD Bank Group and CILAR Join
as Premier Partners
Ryerson, McMaster, Brock, and George Brown
Amongst Initial Educational Supporters
TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Launching today, the
Onyx Initiative is a Toronto based
non-profit designed to address the pervasive gap that exists in the
recruitment and selection of Black college and university students
for roles in corporate Canada. A highly anticipated endeavour that
is a direct response to the ongoing realities of anti-Black racism,
systemic bias, and socioeconomic inequities, the Onyx Initiative is
an innovative mentorship and training model that is generating
widespread interest and excitement with corporations, educators,
and the community.
According to Statistics Canada, Black Canadians with
postsecondary degrees are under-represented in higher paying
occupational groups compared to their white peers, with some
industries showing greater disparities than others. This data, and
the acknowledgement by corporations themselves that identifying
candidates is a key challenge, underscored the need for
intervention and support at the college, university, and internship
levels and throughout a student's career with a comprehensive new
support program.
"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, 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."
Onyx's program features two pillars - Mentorship/Coaching
and Online Training - both designed to ensure 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/cover letters, oral and written
communication, and Excel and PowerPoint basics.
"What elevates our model, conceptually and tangibly, is the dual
value proposition we offer – create an expansive supply of high
potential Black talent and nurture a growing demand for more
inclusive internships and full-time placements," said
Wayne Purboo, Founder, Onyx
Initiative. "By serving as a pipeline and providing mutually
beneficial solutions for recruitment, retention and promotion, we
will help ensure more equitable processes and deliver the type of
meaningful change that transforms lives, both in the short-term and
for generations to come."
Onyx Initiative has received a wealth of corporate, educational,
and community support since it was first conceived. Its launch is a
result of extraordinary support from Premier Partners Bell Canada, TD Bank Group and the
Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR),
Founding Partner PwC Canada, Corporate Partner Manulife, and Media
Partner BNN Bloomberg. Each has contributed substantial expertise
and experience over the past several months to further enhance the
model, and have committed to providing vital information, ongoing
resources, and student placement.
"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,
Bell's Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources
Officer. "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."
"Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to TD's culture and
core values and we're proud to be a founding member of the Onyx
Initiative," said Girish Ganesan,
Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion, TD Bank
Group. "The Onyx Initiative's unique blend of recruitment,
retention and mentorship for Black university and college students
is supporting the next generation of Black leaders in Canada."
"The Onyx Initiative is a great program that will ensure
organizations are benefitting from the wealth of talent of Black
post-secondary students," said Melanie
Burns, SVP Human Resources, Talent Management, TD Bank
Group. "At TD, our goal is to embed diversity and inclusion
throughout our recruitment and retention processes. That is why our
early talent philosophy is about building a pipeline for diverse
employees so that they can thrive and build a career that drives
innovation and contributes to our growth."
"The Onyx Initiative is a unique opportunity for innovation
leaders to step up and bring about change together," said
Yung Wu, CEO of MaRS and founder
of CILAR. "We have an obligation to our young Black talent to
remove barriers that are preventing them as future changemakers
from securing opportunities within our organizations and across the
innovation sector."
"As we all work towards eradicating systematic racism, it's
important to have leaders who have been fortunate to take the
elevator up in their career, to now send the elevator down for
others," said Armughan Ahmad, Co-Founder CILAR. "CILAR
together with Onyx will place a particular focus on Black youth
development to provide equal opportunity in our fast-growing
innovation economy."
Onyx's educational partners, Ryerson, McMaster, and Brock
Universities and George Brown
College, have also lent their invaluable time and talent to
help identify the barriers to Black student success within
corporate Canada and offer strategic solutions to increase
representation. All partners will serve as liaisons for Onyx to
engage with student career centers, Black/Caribbean Student
Associations and other relevant campus grassroots
organizations.
Although Onyx is primarily focused on the critical transition
period between post-secondary education and entry level
opportunities, the need to help students along the entire career
path is also paramount and will be achieved via partnerships with
notable community organizations, such as Lifelong Leadership
Institute which works with students at the high school level
preparing them for college and university success, and BlackNorth
Initiative whose mandate is to increase the representation of Black
professionals in leadership and executive roles.
"We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and excitement of
our premier, founding, and educational partners," said Nigela.
"This is a pivotal moment when we all must decide which side of
history we will stand on, and we're thrilled so many amazing
partners have chosen to be on the right side with us."
"Our holistic approach will ensure that once students secure
positions, they feel confident enough in their abilities to
thrive," added Wayne. "As Black Canadians, we know first-hand the
obstacles these students face and the cycle of inequality it
perpetuates. To have leading businesses and institutions
immediately recognize the need for and importance of our mandate
has been deeply gratifying."
Onboarding of students to the Onyx Initiative program will begin
immediately, along with its expansion to additional corporations,
colleges, and universities. For more information, please contact
Onyx's Director of Outreach, Keenan Lewis
Jeppesen at keenan@onyxinitiative.org.
About Onyx Initiative
Onyx Initiative is a non-profit organization founded by
entrepreneurs and philanthropists Wayne and
Nigela Purboo in the wake of the global social justice
movement and the subsequent call to action. The organization was
established on the simple premise that all young people seeking
meaningful employment and advancement should have an equal
opportunity to do so. Onyx's purpose is to expand the Black talent
pipeline via cohesive, mutually beneficial partnerships to close
the current systemic gap in the recruiting and selection of Black
university and college students for roles in corporate Canada.
Onyx's model is based on a dual and complimentary value proposition
– leverage post-secondary educational resources to create an
expansive supply of high potential Black talent and collaborate
with prominent businesses to nurture a growing demand for more
inclusive internships and full-time placements.
About Bell
Canada's largest communications company with more than 22
million consumer and business connections, Bell provides advanced
broadband wireless, TV, Internet and business communication
services throughout the country. Bell Media is Canada's premier
multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, out of
home and digital media. Founded in Montréal in 1880, Bell is wholly
owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE). To learn more, please visit
Bell.ca or BCE.ca. The Bell Let's Talk initiative promotes
Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma
campaigns like Bell Let's Talk Day and significant Bell funding of
community care and access, research, and workplace leadership
initiatives throughout the country. To learn more, please visit
Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
About TD Bank Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively
known as TD Bank Group ("TD" or the "Bank"). TD is the sixth
largest bank in North America by
branches and serves over 26 million customers in three key
businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centres
around the globe: Canadian Retail, including TD Canada Trust, TD
Auto Finance Canada, TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing, and
TD Insurance; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank, America's Most
Convenient Bank®, TD Auto Finance U.S., TD Wealth
(U.S.), and an investment in The Charles Schwab Corporation; and
Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities. TD also ranks among the
world's leading online financial services firms, with more than 14
million active online and mobile customers. TD had CDN$1.7 trillion in assets on July 31, 2020. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades
under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.
About the Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against
Racism
The Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR) is a
diverse group of senior business leaders in Canada committed to fighting anti-Black and
systemic racism and creating pathways for diverse professionals to
co-create the innovation economy. Using the strong institutional
influence of its members, as well as a system-focused approach,
CILAR aims to have a wide network impact to tackle
racism. CILAR's commitment to long-term sustained
progress underpins the investment its members will make together to
make lasting change.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Onyx Instagram
Onyx Twitter
Onyx LinkedIn
MEDIA CONTACT
Nicole Chrysostom-Murray,
Communications Specialist
nicole@onyxinitiative.org
SOURCE The Onyx Initiative