As a diversity, inclusion and belonging ambassador I enjoy helping shape our workplace into one where each person feels included and their value appreciated. What can seem like small actions on our part can mean a lot to others. Actions like correcting the words we use in documents and conversations to being cognizant that we can facilitate meetings to include tools that encourage introverted folks to comfortably provide feedback. These actions aren’t hard to incorporate and they are incredibly powerful to help nurture the best ideas and productivity from each person. These days I work with people who are eager to try new methods and open to replacing words like man-hours, master branch, grooming and so on but it wasn’t always so collaborative.
I have been “fighting the good fight” for decades. Whether you’re a member or an ally of a group I can tell you that each voice counts. Progress can be slow but we can’t give up; and although I came out in 1998 in the Canadian Armed Forces it took until 2017 for the Canadian government to get to the point of apology. I am happy to see that Canada has acknowledged the wrong done to so many brave soldiers. Compensation won’t restore lives destroyed but by changing the mindset and admitting mistakes made, allows them to continue to evolve into a more inclusive place to serve.
In “Honouring Canada’s LGBTQI2S+ Veterans” Christine Kinori writes “Today the Canadian Armed Forces is determined to respect the dignity of all people. Their willingness to update their policies is one of the reasons why Canada is seen as one of the most progressive militaries in the world.
