Five Good Ideas

Social innovation -

1. Starts with passionate amateurs
2. Marries the past and future
3. Does not have a dress code
4. Goes better with belonging
5. Has unintended consequences

Five Good Resources

1. Anything by Frances Westley. The best introduction to her work is Getting to Maybe: How the World Has Changed (Random House, 2006), co-authored with Brenda Zimmerman and Michael Quinn Patton.
2. John Elkington and his team at Volans are at the leading edge of thinking about social innovation. Check out their website and their recent report Future Quotient.
3. Ezio Manzini is a leading European thinker about design, social innovation and sustainability. Check out his blog. Here is a link to a long but inspiring video of a recent presentation in Australia. SIG will be bringing him to Torontothis spring. Keep in touch at http://sigeneration.ca/.
4. Adam Kahane has practical insights and proven strategies to improve our ability to work with allies and colleagues as well as strangers and opponents. His latest book, Power and Love: a theory and practice of social change (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2010). Read his approach to change-labs.
5. The Long Now Foundation hopes to provide a counterpoint to today’s accelerating culture and help make long-term thinking more common. Their most majestic project is the Clock of the Long Now – a clock designed to tick for 10,000 years but will only tell the time if you power it.

TRIEC has worked with employers to develop and build learning solutions for them. As a first step, it researched “promising practices” among employers that were successful in attracting and retaining top immigrant talent. As more practices, strategies and tools were identified, these were organized and compiled as an “employer roadmap” – a tool to allow employers to explore ideas and examples of practices, following a lifecycle approach to human resources.

As a strategy to reach out and provide learning opportunities to employers, TRIEC also created workshops that used much of the content of the “roadmap” but were delivered by community colleges. As a key curriculum resource to these workshops, TRIEC has developed training videos that address recruiting, integration and cross-cultural teamwork. Two of these videos are dramatic productions that follow one immigrant’s journey to finding a job and his experiences in the first months on the job. Each video also comes with downloadable discussion guides. These videos have proven to be valuable resources for immigrant-serving agencies offering training to skilled immigrants who are looking to integrate successfully into Canadian organizations.

To make workshops and other resources and learning opportunities more easily available to employers, TRIEC is designing an e-learning platform, and is converting the workshops into a series of online learning modules. This platform will become a clearinghouse of curriculum, resources and training opportunities to support employers and service providers – an employer campus. The campus is based on an open source model for sharing and customization of learning resources, and will include a train-the-trainer model to ensure that resources can be effectively used internally by employers and service providers.

The Employer Roadmap resides on hireimmigrants.ca, a website created by TRIEC and now hosted by ALLIES, a national network of immigrant employment councils. The roadmap has been embedded in websites of three provincial governments and twelve municipalities.

TRIEC’s training videos are popular. Available on multiple websites, the videos have been viewed almost 30,000 times and downloaded more than 2,200 times.

Workshops have been delivered to 400 employers. Beginning in 2011, workshops are available to Toronto region employers on a fee-for-service basis, delivered by two local colleges.

Since 2004, over 50 organizations have offered The Mentoring Partnership to their staff as a volunteer opportunity to enhance their leadership and coaching competencies, and develop their cross-cultural skills. Both corporate partners and individual mentors praise the program for its ability to provide these learnings and, ultimately, create change in immigrant integration.

The mentoring approach recognizes that who you know can be as important as what you know when it comes to getting a job. The mentor-mentee relationship is the first link in the development of a professional network that opens doors and changes perceptions about the value of skilled immigrant job applicants.

Relationships are based on the idea of committing “one day of your life” to the program, a commitment of at least 24 hours spread out over a four-month period. During this time mentors help new immigrants navigate through the job search process by sharing their knowledge and experience. The mentor helps to write an effective Canadian resume, to prepare their mentee for an interview and offers advice on how to network. They also provide insights into the Canadian workplace and work culture.

Corporate partners promote the mentoring opportunity internally to staff and identify suitable, qualified volunteer mentors. Community partners match mentors with skilled immigrants and support the mentoring relationship over four months. TRIEC coordinates the program.

ALLIES, a partner program funded by Maytree and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, is now working to bring mentoring across Canada. As of summer 2011, there are ten immigrant employment councils established that provide mentoring programs in ten cities across Canada.

The idea of mentoring has also caught on internationally. In 2007, a delegation from New Zealand’s Committee for Auckland travelled to Toronto to learn more about the TRIEC model and its Mentoring Partnership. Mentoring now thrives in Auckland, hosted by Opportunities for Migrant Employment in Greater Auckland (OMEGA).

We have developed a number of programs which seek to encourage and support diversity in the workplace, in our cities and in our leadership. The following recommendations are directly linked to our work.

Help Employers Hire Immigrants

By the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council

• Create an “employer gateway” to help employers find talent easily.
• Develop and provide programs and supports for employers.

Remove barriers to successful refugee settlement

By the Refugee Scholarship Program, a Maytree idea

• Eliminate the processing fees for refugees.
• Address administrative problems that treat refugees like international students.

Strengthen Local Economies through Effective Integration

By Assisting Local Leaders with Immigrant Employment Strategies (ALLIES), a Maytree idea

• Provide work experience for skilled immigrants through internships and other programs.
• Support mentoring programs across Canada.
• Create a sustainable investment stream for the development and co-ordination of bridge training programs across provinces and territories.
• Implement policies and programs that facilitate the hiring of skilled immigrants by small- and medium-sized businesses.
• Governments should use their roles as employers to provide opportunities to skilled immigrants.

Diversify Leadership for Economic and Social Benefits

By DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project, a Maytree and CivicAction idea

• Remove citizenship requirements when they pose an artificial barrier.
• Make diversity a priority and measure progress to achieve results.

Enable Cities for Effective Integration

By Cities of Migration, a Maytree idea

• Move ahead with local strategies – do not ask permission and do not wait for consensus.
• Seek new – and unusual – allies.
• Learn from other cities and replicate strategies.

The recommendations build on the power and potential of public services, and the resiliency of Canadians.

>> Download the Policy Insights 2011

Related Resources

Websites

• TRIEC
• ALLIES
• DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project
• Cities of Migration

Download PDF.

“I have a dream.”

Dr. King’s words are forever etched in our sensibilities. But in truth, as the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, he did much more than dream. Dr. King was a man of action — a social change agent, an activist, a crusader for the rights of the poor, a catalyst in the struggle against apartheid, and a leader in the fight to end the Vietnam war. He was a campaigner and a movement builder, who fought for radical change with radical methods.

As a clergyman, Dr. King used the power of the pulpit to mobilize a small army of campaigners and activists, based in churches, union halls, and community centers. Perhaps the most striking example is how he was able to reach 50,000 people (without the help of facebook and twitter), and convince them to boycott the Montgomery bus system by walking or car pooling to their jobs, schools and churches.

Were he alive today, he would be 81 years old. I suspect he would be gratified to see that in the US, the formal structures of segregation have been dismantled. No one can or will stop a Rosa Parks from sitting on any seat, in any bus, in any part of the United States. He would be delighted and proud that a black man is the President of the United States.

But he would also likely be dismayed to see the informal barriers to full equality that still exist today, in the US and around the world. The exclusion of people, including racial minorities, migrants, and poor people, continues to occur. This injustice is both subtle and not so subtle, systemic and institutional, and we must all be concerned because as Dr. King pointed out: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

There are numerous organizations engaged in the struggle for justice and equality, and I’m privileged to have the opportunity to lead one such group. Maytree is a small, private foundation dedicated to promoting diversity and fighting poverty, with a particular focus on migrant integration and inclusion. While it normally takes one or two generations to reap the benefits of migration, it is Maytree’s ambition to do it sooner, faster and better.

Every successive stream of migrants enriches our communities. The sooner migrants are both integrated and included in society, the sooner our cities and our country can benefit. I know this both as a refugee and a Canadian.

My story: one of many Canadian stories

I grew up in India, went to university in Germany, and eventually settled with my husband in Iran. Like the more than 14 million refugees who are forced to leave their homes every year, in 1982 I left political oppression and sought refuge in Canada.

When I arrived, I had a couple of real advantages. I spoke English fluently, and had family and friends in the country. But like many other migrants, our education and experience were devalued, and to many ordinary Canadians, I was just another brown face. I was even encouraged to change my name, advice that I’m glad I didn’t take!

It took my husband and me about eight years to find work commensurate with our skills and training, and to reinvent ourselves. This was a difficult time for us, but I know too many migrant families who struggle for much longer.

Nevertheless, I am proud of my new country. Its history is now my own.

Migration is the defining feature of Canada’s identity. When asked to explain what it means to be Canadian, citizens often list multiculturalism along with hockey and the maple leaf as their defining symbols.

Canada has welcomed British and French settlers, Ukrainian cold weather farmers, British orphans, Chinese railway workers, Italians labourers, Vietnamese boat refugees, and, most recently, Afghans and Iraqis fleeing the war against terror. Today, an impressive 40% of Canada’s population over the age of 15 is a migrant or has a parent who was born outside the country.

Approximately 84% of eligible migrants are citizens. Their children attend university in high numbers, earn higher than average wages and participate actively in all aspects of civic life. They are just as comfortable watching Hollywood and Bollywood, eating hot dogs and sushi, and watching cricket and hockey. They date, hang out, and, in many cases, marry someone from another part of the world. They will work along Irish, Japanese, Koreans, Somalis and Tamils. And they will not be surprised to find that their boss is a woman.

Integration is not an accident

As a relatively new country, Canada is not hindered by a long history of ethnic conflict or strife. Canada does have a history of civic tension between French and English, and between both of them and our First Nations. However, over time we have learned to accommodate those tensions in increasingly peaceful ways and have reached a level of tolerance for difference which has helped us develop a number of constitutional and legal frameworks to encourage migrant integration. Canada asks migrants to become citizens after only three years in the country, and its Charter of Rights and Freedoms grants all residents, regardless of citizenship status, the right to equality and due process from government institutions. While more inspirational than substantive, Canada’s Multiculturalism Act enshrines the principles of tolerance and mutual understanding.

While these deliberate efforts have resulted in successful integration for many migrants to Canada, a few trends require a new and enhanced approach.

First, poverty in Canada is racialized. The hard truth is that brown and black faces are making up an increasing proportion of the country’s poor. Recent migrants to Canada are “two to three times more likely than those born in Canada to experience low income, regardless of sex, level of education, family type, or province of residence.” Migrants who are visible minorities are more likely to experience poverty than other migrants. This is true even among migrants who have been in Canada for more than 17 years.

Second, thanks to inexpensive travel, satellite television and cheap phone calls, it is possible to physically have a home in Toronto, but to emotionally exist in a different part of the world. Many migrants now find it easier to stay within their own community rather than integrate and interact with others.

Third, Canada is not immune to the clashes of values that have found an expression in countries around the world. In Quebec, a bill is before parliament that would limit access to public services for those wearing a niqab.

Being successful at migration does not mean that we will automatically like one another and that everyone will think and act the same. As Robert Putnam has stated in his research, more diverse societies tend to be societies, at least in the short term, with lower forms of social solidarity and social capital. These are societies that tend to be more insular, trust each other less, and eat and bowl alone. But even Putnam admits that “diversity is not only inevitable, but over the long run desirable” because it creates new forms and expressions of solidarity by constructing new, more modern and encompassing identities.

Finally, while Canada is proud to open its doors to people and welcome them into our metaphorical home, we have yet to ask them to stand near the fire place. Real power, influence and prestige in Canada continue to be centered in the hands of a few. In politics, media, and business, in corporate board rooms, public institutions or even foundation boards, the leaders, who set the pace and the agenda, are almost uniformly white and male. Even in offices and boardrooms within the region of Toronto, where 50% of the population were born outside the country, 86% of leaders are white. Migrants have found themselves trapped between the floor and the glass ceiling.

Consequently, the breadth and scope of new ideas and new diasporic networks of talent remain untapped. Most importantly, the portrait of power and influence fails to provide role models to our diverse youth population – with significant consequences for their future aspirations and for Canada’s social cohesion.

From integration to inclusion

Inclusion is therefore our next challenge and one that many other countries, including Germany, share. We must create a community where difference among people is viewed as the norm and not an aberration. Where it is valued as an asset, not a liability, where it is deliberately pursued as strength and not avoided in ways which exclude the most vulnerable.

Inclusion is not the same as integration, though the two concepts are inextricably linked. Integration sets out to ensure that the migrant fits in, speaks the language, obeys the law, works, pays taxes and votes. Inclusion goes a step further, where the migrant is an active partner in shaping and changing institutions and society. Integration is about getting started and getting settled; inclusion is about making your mark on society. Whilst integration asks a great deal of the migrant, inclusion asks the host society to change and shift.

As in many parts of the developed world, Canada’s inclusion challenge will be driven by demographics. By 2030, net migration will be the only source for population growth. In our largest urban centers, where opportunity and wealth are created, hyper-diversity is a defining feature of city life. We have to get integration and inclusion right for sound business and social reasons.

Maytree is doing its part by moving beyond describing the problem. Instead, we’re imagining and acting on solutions. For instance, the foundation supports a pan-Canadian movement of local networks to ensure that Canada’s migrants find work commensurate with their skills and experiences. Canada’s most powerful corporate leaders are leading these multi-stakeholder efforts because they are keen to find and develop the best talent to drive innovation and compete globally.

Through the DiverseCity project, Maytree also invests in ensuring that our city’s leadership landscape is as diverse as the people who live in it. Over the last three years, we have propelled more than 1,500 minority leaders in our city into positions of leadership and therefore closer to the center of power. In Toronto, we work with city governments and provincial bodies to help them seek qualified talent to sit on their boards, agencies and commissions. As a result, the leadership landscape in our city today looks significantly more diverse and inclusive than it did three years ago. The foundation also works with media to help them understand both the challenges migrants face, and the ways in which they can be fully integrated into our society.

In short, we focus on places where inclusion is most important – at work, in the board room, in the media, and in political and civic life.

Inclusion will guarantee equality of opportunity, belonging and contribution. It has the power to turn “me and you” into “us and we”.

Inclusion is not simply an aspirational idea. And like integration, it is not an accident. To be meaningful, it must be intentional, action- and results-based.

A global challenge: local solutions

The movement of people across national boundaries will continue – it is as inevitable as globalization. Just as many Europeans left their homes in the past century to make their fortunes in the former colonies, the reverse is happening today. Europe is now the preferred destination of choice for many migrants. And like Canada, European countries must figure out how to both integrate and include its newcomers.

There are currently 48 million people in the European Union who are regular international migrants, representing roughly 9% of the population. As life expectancy and aging continues to increase, there will be a corresponding decline in native-born labour forces. Without future migration, the working-age population in the EU (which is currently at 333 million) would drop by 91 million in 2050. Of course, nation states have other options at hand to address this issue, such as a higher retirement age and increased fertility levels. But these options, even if realized, are not sufficient in themselves. Migration remains a demographic necessity.

Canada, Germany, the US, Norway, Sweden, the UK and other countries are competing and will continue to compete for skilled migrants. As the middle class in India and China grows, this competition will only grow fiercer.

Of course, the context in Europe is very different from that in Canada. We are a young country, while Europe is steeped in tradition. We are separated from the rest of the world by a huge ocean and the world’s largest border to the south, and as a result we can select our migrants. Most European countries do not have this luxury. But neither do you have the luxury of doing nothing.

In Arrival City, Doug Saunders argues that migration to urban centers is one of the most important trends of the 21st century, next only to climate change. Migration will have profound implications for the success of local, national and international economies. Successful arrival cities will create a new and prosperous middle class. Failed arrival cities will create poverty and social isolation.

He illustrates this point with the stories of two US suburbs, Herndon in Virginia and Wheaton in Maryland, both located around the densely populated area of Washington, DC. Both suburbs experienced a dramatic growth in migrant populations in the early 2000s.

Herndon is an aviation industry town. Easy credit enabled many blue collar workers to buy large homes in the area and word spread to neighbouring Latino enclaves and to villages in Central America. The wave of migrant arrivals started – and with them came new shops, churches, and clubs. Herndon woke up at the beginning of the 21st century to discover it had become an arrival city. But public attitudes turned negative. A strong anti-migrant backlash resulted in evictions and zoning ordinances to discourage Latino businesses. Large numbers of migrants left the town. And in 2008, when the economy slumped, so did Herndon.

On the other side of Washington lies the suburb of Wheaton, which went from being 90% white in the 1970s to 40% migrant in 2000, just like Herndon. But the residents of Wheaton saw the newcomers not as a threat, but as an opportunity to revive their fading town. They embraced a branding campaign to make Wheaton known across the capital region for its multiethnic culture, cuisine and products. Zoning rules and business offices were used to encourage and help entrepreneurs set up small shops and retail outlets. The result is a town booming with migrant-owned businesses and a home ownership rate of 62%. When Wheaton was hit by the downturn in the economy, and faced with mortgage foreclosures, city officials launched a campaign to help migrants stay in their homes and their businesses. In their view, this was a necessary step to ensure the long-term health of Wheaton. Today, Wheaton is on the way to prosperity.

Learning from one another: city by city

Regardless of geographical, historical, cultural and philosophical differences, arrival cities have a lot to learn from each other – especially how investments in the short term will pay off in the long term.

Maytree has developed an international project, Cities of Migration, which showcases good practices on integration and inclusion from cities around the world. By describing their accomplishments, we show that cities can be successful with the right inputs and under the right conditions. We also demonstrate how good ideas can be replicated. And, perhaps most importantly, we show that the aspirations of inclusion can be grounded in reality.

Let me give you some examples of the good ideas that we have found:

• In Copenhagen, cycling is a way of life. More than 80% of Copenhageners bike to work and play. The local Red Cross teaches migrants, many of them women, to bike, understand the rules of the road and how to repair a bike. In this way, they normalize the stranger and make him or her part of the everyday landscape, even when he or she looks and dresses differently.
• In Cardiff, Wales, which has a large refugee population, the local police force provides language training to the community, thus enabling not simply language acquisition, but also trust with the police. This is somewhat counterintuitive but the results speak for themselves. The makeup of the Cardiff police force mirrors more closely the makeup of the community.
• Here in Germany, I visited Marxloh Mosque in Duisburg and saw women having a gemuetlichen kaffeeklatsch in one room and children having religious lessons in the Koran in the next. All in the same mosque.
• In Chicago, the Federal Reserve Bank has helped conservative Muslims buy homes and start business by creating new financial instruments which enable them to borrow without breaking their religious beliefs.
• In Toronto, migrants who aspire to political life can go to school to learn how to do so. Toronto also has an easily searchable database of qualified leaders from under-represented communities who are ready, willing and able to take their place as board members and directors of public institutions and civil society organizations.

After finding and publishing more than 85 ideas from cities around the world, we can say a few things with confidence about the integration and inclusion of migrants.

First, place matters. While migration is a national or regional phenomenon, integration and inclusion are uniquely local experiences. The local welcome is a living example of whether a country’s migration system succeeds or fails.

Second, inclusion is a two-way street. Just as the migrant must change and adapt, so must society and its institutions. In Toronto today, we are building more cricket pitches than baseball diamonds.

Third, cities can chart their own path, even if it is contrary to national sentiment, national media and national policy. The sheer necessity of living and working side by side and getting on with the business of daily life is a natural driver for solutions, arrangements and compromises.

Finally, everyone is an inclusion actor – the postman, the business down the street, the teacher, the unionist, the politician, the migrant. Each has a role that can only be accomplished with the active participation of the other. And each benefits from the diversity and shared prosperity that migration brings to their cities.

I am going to be bold enough to conclude with a recipe for success. The ingredients are: access to citizenship; a chance to own property and to operate your business; the right to work; access to education (especially language education); a safe place to live; opportunities for political and civic participation. Some of these ingredients are best placed at national levels of government, such as citizenship and the protection of human rights. But many are best imagined and delivered locally. As Jane Jacobs has famously said: “The level of government closest to the people is best positioned to deliver services to it.”

The Next Dream

The notion of inclusion and integration is not far removed from Dr. King’s dream for justice and humanity. If he were alive today, he would see this call for inclusion as a natural sequel to his dream for racial equality. “We have all come in different ships, but now we are in the same boat.”

He would agree that the formal legal structures that ensure equality are a first step, but that there are other challenges to overcome in changing the hearts and minds of people and institutions.

He would remind us that racial equality is meaningless without financial opportunity, political voice and citizenship.

He would recognize that if racial equality is a first step, racial equity and inclusion logically follow.

He would tell us to join hands with civil society organizations and their leaders in building a movement, as he did when he organized the famous march in Washington and delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech.

And finally, he would encourage us with these words: “It is one thing to agree that integration is morally and legally right. It is another thing to commit oneself positively and actively to the ideal. This is no day to pay lip service to integration. We must pay life service to it”.

Thank you very much.

PDF version

As 2010 winds down, our thoughts at Maytree are turning to what we might hope to see in 2011. The holiday season offers us all some time to reflect on the past, and to begin to think of the things that will make our country and communities better. And thus we each begin to shape our agenda for a new year.

Here are some things we see arising from 2010 that we hope to see blossom and flower.

1. The Caledon Institute has developed A Basic Income Plan for Canadians with Severe Disabilities.

Despite billions of dollars spent on a complex assortment of social benefits, many working age Canadians with disabilities end up desperately poor and trapped on welfare, the dead-end default program of last resort. While there has been some progress for persons with disabilities since the landmark Obstacles report was released 30 years ago, one area in which there has been almost no improvement at all has been that of income security. This tragic state of affairs is neither tolerable nor necessary.

The foundation of this plan is a proposed new federal Basic Income program that would replace provincial/territorial social assistance for most working age persons with severe disabilities. The Basic Income program would be a close model of the long-established and well-regarded Guaranteed Income Supplement for low-income seniors. The second reform is to convert the existing non-refundable Disability Tax Credit into a refundable Disability Tax Credit that would extend compensation for the extra costs of disability to the lowest-income people with disabilities. The refundable credit would pay $2,000 through the income tax system to every person eligible for the Disability Tax Credit. These federal income security initiatives would free up funding for urgently needed disability supports and services, permitting the provinces and territories to set up a coherent, comprehensive system of supports and services for those with disabilities.

This federal and provincial/territorial policy partnership could bring Canada into a new age of enlightened programs for those with severe disabilities, with a modest but liveable assured minimum income and a system of supports for daily living that could be among the best in the world. All this is achievable within the boundaries of our current political and administrative institutions and at a cost which is realistic in light of other fiscal choices.

2. The flowering across Canada of proven mentoring and human resource management programs for successfully integrating immigrants into the labour market.

The Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) created a model which works, fuelled by The Mentoring Partnership which links immigrants with Canadians in the same line of work to counsel on job culture and open up domestic networks; and hireimmigrants.ca, which works with corporate human resource professionals to become better at hiring immigrants, a definite advantage in attracting top talent.

Now, Assisting Local Leaders with Immigrant Employment Strategies (ALLIES) is helping cities across Canada find which programs will work best for them as they strive to attract and integrate newcomers to their communities. In recent years we have turned a corner in Canada with more and more cities realizing that immigration is key to their future prosperity and well-being. The flowers are beginning to bloom offshore too, as the OMEGA (Opportunities for Migrant Employment in Greater Auckland) program in New Zealand is being heralded as a success for the whole nation.

3. Ontario’s Social Assistance Review.

Premier Dalton McGuinty, a serious thinker and actor on matters of policy, announced the Review near the end of the year, to be co-chaired by Frances Lankin, previously head of United Way Toronto, and Munir Sheikh, the former Chief Statistician of Canada. The Commission has been given 18 months to do its work and will have the support of a well-staffed secretariat.

The last comprehensive review of social assistance in Ontario was undertaken more than 20 years ago by George Thompson, resulting in the Transitions report. When Transitions was written it was limited by the knowledge and technology available at the time.

Today we have over a decade of experience using the tax system to deliver non-stigmatizing tax credits as an alternative to the rule-ridden welfare system. Information technology has exploded exponentially opening new opportunities for innovation. Most importantly, we have come to a better understanding of the limitations and possibilities of social assistance, and have learned to look at the income security system as a whole instead of focussing narrowly on raising or lowering welfare rates. Restructuring the whole system was one of the key visions promoted by the report of the Social Assistance Review Advisory Council, which set the ground for the Social Assistance Review Commission.

Ontario’s Social Assistance Review could represent a watershed in the development of social policy in all of Canada for the next decades by presenting economically and politically feasible strategies for a transformation of our hide-bound and inadequate welfare program into a modern income security system.

4. Food has become a prominent and important issue.

Access to healthy food for people at all income levels, the environmental impact of growing and transporting it, the chemical and industrial infrastructure underpinning the industry, food quality, food security, the viability of farming, and related issues of obesity, diabetes, cancers, and even food as an instrument of social control have become matters of important research and commentary. The Metcalf and McConnell foundations, The Stop and other food security agencies, and many other universities, governments, corporations and NGO’s have identified moving to a healthier and more sustainable food regime as critical to community well being and the national interest. Much of the work being done is informative and inspiring, giving hope of a better future.

5. Public parks as essential “rooms in our house”.

Across the country, people are recognizing that public parks matter, as in Toronto where the new organization Toronto Park People (TPP) is dedicated to improving Toronto’s parks. Toronto’s parks are languishing and the biggest obstacle to improvement is a culture of “no” in the parks department that limits community engagement and crushes creativity. TPP advocates for better parks for all citizens and communities by facilitating citizen engagement in their parks and building a network of local community park groups. A key focus for the group in 2011 will be a citywide Parks Summit in April that will bring together park advocates from across the city for the first time ever. TPP will also partner with the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects to sponsor a forum in March entitled “Whose Park Is It?” The group will also unveil a new website that will provide resources for local community park groups and provide opportunities for groups to connect and learn from each other.

With thanks for contributions to Michael Mendelson of The Caledon Institute and Dave Harvey of Toronto Park People.

The Organization

Maytree is a private Canadian charitable foundation established in 1982, committed to reducing poverty and inequality in Canada and to building strong civic communities. Maytree seeks to accomplish its objectives by identifying, supporting and funding ideas, leaders and leading organizations that have the capacity to make change and advance the common good.

ALLIES (Assisting Local Leaders with Immigrant Employment Strategies) is a project jointly funded by Maytree and The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. ALLIES provides funding, technical expertise and networks to Canadian cities so that they can successfully adapt and implement local ideas for skilled immigrants to find suitable employment.

ALLIES manages hireimmigrants.ca, a website that provides businesses with the tools and resources they need to better recruit, retain and promote skilled immigrants.

Role

The role of the Writer/Content Developer is to write & enhance original content and curate material on the hireimmigrants.ca website. Specifically, the Writer/Content Developer will be responsible for:

• Producing ‘bundles’ or packages of related content (includes text-based, video, audio and other multimedia content) that meets employers’ and partners’ specific needs as indicated through recent analysis and audience surveys
• Writing outlines and scripts for webinars for employers from across Canada
• Managing a news section on the site that both pulls and pushes information from and to our audiences
• Writing e-tips for HR professionals on a bi-weekly basis
• Identifying content on other websites that can be pulled into hireimmigrants.ca
• Establishing and managing relationships with marketing and content content partners, guest authors, etc.
• Working with other hireimmigrants.ca staff to maintain presence on social media sites
• Aggregating statistics/analytics of web and social media metrics, interpreting and reporting information on a regular basis
• Engaging an Employer Advisory Committee around hireimmigrants.ca

Qualifications

• 3-5 years work experience in research, policy analysis or other relevant area
• Experience in corporate communications/P.R.
• Demonstrated understanding of HR practices & policies of Canadian businesses
• Good organizational skills, ability to meet deadlines, ability to work independently, flexibly, creatively and able to take initiative
• Strong computer skills
• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in social sciences preferred

Essential Competencies

• Ability to conduct research – web-based, through interviews, focus groups, etc.
• Superior writing skills – particularly for online audiences. Must provide a recent writing sample
• Ability to organize information in a logical and methodical manner
• Resourcefulness to find new information/data, etc.
• Creativity to present information in an interesting and cogent format
• Adaptability and flexibility to meet new challenges

Terms and Conditions

• This is a contract position for 12 months and may be extended
• Salary is competitive, and commensurate with experience
• This position is available immediately

Qualified applicants are invited to submit a cover letter, resume and writing sample to vbennett@maytree.com by December 13, 2010. We appreciate your interest, but only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Download the ALLIES Learning Exchange Summary Report.

Keynote Addresses, Presentations and Remarks
Panel Presentations
Marketplace
Workshops
Photo Gallery

Keynote Addresses, Presentations and Remarks

Gordon Nixon – Welcome
Gordon Nixon, President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada & Chair, Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC), talks about the immediate need for a coordinated strategy to attract skilled immigrants in order to leverage this vital source of talent for the labour market

Don Drummond – Changing Face of the Canadian Workplace
Don Drummond, one of Canada’s leading economic thinkers and the author of the recently released report The Changing Canadian Workplace, discusses the trends and challenges facing the Canadian economy.

Watch and download the PowerPoint presentation on Slideshare.

Alan Broadbent – Ingredients For Success: Making your Immigrant Employment Council Work for Your Community
Alan Broadbent comments on the essential ingredients for building your immigrant employment council.

Read the Speech [pdf]

Naomi Alboim – Immigrants and the Economic Recovery: What are the Policy Implications?
As one of Canada’s leading policy experts on immigration issues, Naomi analyzes the impact of the recession on immigrants and highlights relevant policy implications for our economic recovery.

Watch and download the PowerPoint Presentation on Slideshare.

Will Kymlicka – The Future of Multiculturalism in Canada
As one of the world’s foremost experts in multiculturalism, Dr. Kymlicka reviews the most recent evidence on how multiculturalism is working in Canada, and explores some of the newly-emerging challenges to the Canadian model of diversity.

Read the Backgrounder [pdf]

Ratna Omidvar – Closing Remarks

At a pre-conference session executive directors from the various Immigrant Employment Councils and other urban actors discussed and produced a common vision for ALLIES. Ratna Omidvar presented this vision to all conference delegates in her closing remarks.

Read the vision

Panel Presentations

Finding Talent
In this dramatic television style video, we come face to face with the challenges faced by an immigrant job seeker on the one hand, and those faced by a medium sized employer. A moderated discussion of leading employers about HR issues in the video followed the screening.

Watch the video Finding Talent

• Facilitator: Sugith Varughese, Script Writer of Finding Talent
• Panelists: Mel Cappe, President, Institute for Research on Public Policy & Former Head Privy Council; Karen Hiltz, HR Manager, Christie Digital Systems; Jacqui McGillivray, Vice President Human Resources and Brand & Marketing, (Global) Wealth Management, RBC; Jacques Pelletier, Vice President, Human Resources, Lilydale

ALLIES SME Strategy – Ideas that Work
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the Canadian economy. Collectively they will create more jobs and therefore are an essential audience for the work of ALLIES and its partners. To date, most successful initiatives that enable skilled immigrants to access suitable employment have been focused within large organizations with HR departments and policies. SMEs represent uncharted territory. In this panel discussion, small business owners and representatives talk about the challenges and opportunities for SMEs, for skilled immigrants and for communities.

Watch and download the PowerPoint Presentation on Slideshare.

• Facilitator: Noel Hulsman, Custom Content Manager, Globe and Mail
• Panelists: Darlene Gering, President & CEO, Burnaby Board of Trade; Paul Kent, President and CEO, Greater Halifax Partnership; Marie-Claire Nadeau, Vice President of Development, FormaPlus; Pradeep Sood, Founder XactScribe Inc and Chair, Ontario Chamber of Commerce

Mentoring Town Hall – Relationships Matter
Hear from employers, mentors and practitioners on the state of mentoring across the country.

• Moderator: Karen Link, Director, Critical LINK Management Group
• Mentoring from Coast to Coast: Monique Bateman, SVP Human Resources, TD Canada Trust
• Panel Discussion: Angela Agostino, Director, Human Resources, Pitney Bowes Canada; Emilie Coyle, Volunteer Mentorship Program Coordinator, Immigrant Settlement & Integration Services (ISIS); Cheryl Ogle,  Human Resources Division, City of Toronto; Peter Paul Project Leader,ALLIES
  
  Watch a video produced by TRIEC where mentors, mentees and corporate partners share why mentoring matters.

Marketplace

Participants visited various displays/booths to learn more about innovative immigrant employment programs and tools being implemented across the country.
Read the Marketplace booklet [pdf]

Workshops

The Nuts and Bolts of Developing a Successful Bridging Program
Build and sustain a powerful program that leads to employment

Watch and download Anna DeLuca’s PowerPoint presentation on SlideShare.
Watch and download Suzanne Gordon’s PowerPoint presentation on SlideShare.

Getting the Right Message Across in a Web 2.0 World
Tell a compelling story online and create a conversation that leads to offline action

Read the presentation [pdf]
Download a a social media strategy map [pdf]
Download additional resources [pdf]

How to Build Media Relationships…that Stick!
Create and sustain partnerships that will get your message across

Download key questions when developing media relationships [pdf]
Download 10 Tips on how to build media relationships [pdf]

Widening the Talent Pool
Learn about cultural competency techniques in the recruiting process

Watch and download the PowerPoint presentation on SlideShare.

Making Change Happen: Building a Policy Agenda
Develop, influence and monitor public policy

Watch and download the PowerPoint presentation on SlideShare.

Learning from What Works: The Art and Science of Evaluation
Use evaluation techniques as a learning tool to improve your work

Watch and download the PowerPoint presentation on SlideShare.

From the Frontlines of Employer Engagement
Establish winning strategies to help employers become immigrant-ready

Watch and download Kelly McGahey’s PowerPoint presentation on SlideShare.
Watch and download Michael Schafler’s PowerPoint presentation on SlideShare.
Watch and download Racquel Sevilla”s PowerPoint presentation on SlideShare.

Photo Gallery

TORONTO, May 4, 2010 - Urban centres in Canada welcome hundreds of skilled immigrants, whose education and training can significantly enrich their communities. On May 6th and 7th, 175 delegates from urban communities across Canada will meet in Halifax at the 2010 ALLIES Learning Exchange to share and discuss practical and successful solutions for immigrant employment that can be adapted to other cities.

“Through ALLIES, we are proud to be building a pan-Canadian project that is connecting employers across the country and leveraging their capacity to tap into the talents of skilled immigrants,” said Ratna Omidvar, President of Maytree.

In Halifax, the Connector program has opened professional networks to over 100 skilled newcomers in the past year. In Edmonton recent immigrants are matched to professionals in their field through mentoring. In Montreal, employers are sharing their best practices on the recruitment and retention of skilled workers through round tables. In Calgary, an immigrant employment council is bringing employers and immigrant agencies together for a coordinated approach to mentoring. In Toronto, employers who actively embrace newcomers are recognised in a yearly award ceremony. Across the country, online videos and roadmaps guide employers to recruit diverse employees through hireimmigrants.ca.

The ALLIES 2010 Learning Exchange is a catalyst for sharing ideas, connecting with others, and inspiring action from the participants from 12 cities across Canada. Funded by the Government of Canada and hosted by ALLIES, a joint project of Maytree and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, the 2010 Learning Exchange will allow delegates to learn how to engage employers, set up successful and sustainable programs, and work with all levels of government.

By 2011, we will rely 100% on immigrants for our net labour market growth. Proactive local action is key to ensuring that the integration of this new labour force is as seamless as possible.

Details on the 2010 Learning Exchange can be found at http://www.maytree.com/integration/allies/allies-events/2010-learning-exchange.

ALLIES (Assisting Local Leaders with Immigrant Employment Strategies) is a five-year project jointly funded by Maytree (www.maytree.com) and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation (www.mcconnellfoundation.ca). ALLIES provides the information, learning and funding required by communities to adapt and implement successful immigrant employment approaches used by multi-stakeholder initiatives across the country. The project brings local players together to develop their own practical solutions for the integration of skilled immigrants into the labour market.

For further information:

Valeisha Sobhee
Coordinator of Programs, ALLIES, Maytree,
Email: vsobhee@maytree.com
Phone: (416) 944-8915 ext. 351,
Cell (May 5th-7th only): (902) 412-7550

Marketplace Presenter

Valeisha Sobhee is the Marketing and Communications Coordinator for the National Mentoring Initiative at ALLIES. She is experienced in HR management, e-learning and strategic planning and comes from the corporate sector. Valeisha has set up mentoring programs for newcomers and has experience in engaging decision-makers and stakeholders on new initiatives, and in creating media and communication campaigns and tools to foster program participation and stewardship. He is a graduate of the University of Cambridge in Social and Political Sciences. Valeisha is currently pursuing her Certified Human Resources Professional designation and is a member of the Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA). She is also active with Endeavour Volunteer Consulting for Non-Profits.

Plenary Speaker

Adam Valente is a researcher and policy analyst for ALLIES where he is conducting research concerning the employment, integration, and retention of skilled immigrants in small and medium-sized enterprises. He joined Maytree upon the completion of a MA in Public Policy and Administration where his studies focused on place-based approaches to policy development as well as the impacts of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program on large urban areas in Canada. Previously, Adam has worked at the City of Toronto in the Economic Development and Culture Division, where he coordinated research into the impacts of temporary foreign workers on the Toronto labour market. Adam also holds an honours degree in Journalism and International Studies from the University of Toronto.

Marketplace Presenter

Dorene Weston has worked with government and non-profit agencies for over 25 years. She owns and operates her own business focused on increasing the capacity of non-profit organizations which serve immigrants and refugees. She has worked on evaluation projects including programs for immigrants such as The Mentoring Partnership and Engineering Your Future.  Doreen has also written and edited projects including the ALLIES Toolkits, four Career Maps for the Government of Ontario and job search curricula for COSTI Employment Services. Dorene has extensive experience in facilitation of adult ESL classes, board development sessions, meetings, focus group consultations and interpreter training. Her academic background includes a BA in French and Spanish, a certificate in teaching English as a second language and an MBA. Volunteer commitments include serving on the board of Newcomer Women’s Services and on the Council of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario.

Stephanie Saunders
Coordonnatrice de projet, ALLIES
Maytree
Courriel
Téléphone : 416-944-2627, poste 241

2010 ALLIES L’échange d’apprentissage est sur invitation seulement.

L’inscription n’est ouverte qu’aux délégués qui ont été identifiés par leurs conseils d’embauche d’immigrants pour y assister.

Inscrivez-vous maintenant >>

Réservation de chambre d’hôtel

Le Westin Nova Scotian est l’hôtel hôte de 2010 ALLIES L’échange d’apprentissage.

Le prix de la chambre par nuitée est de 149,00 $ (taxe exclue)

Ce tarif hôtelier prend fin le 16 avril 2010. Réservez maintenant>>

• Naomi Alboim, associée Maytree et professeure auxiliaire, École d’études politiques, Université Queen’s

Bienvenue à 2010 ALLIES L’échange d’apprentissage : Mettre des idées à exécution

Joignez-vous à plus de 150 participants provenant de plus de 12 conurbations de partout au Canada et familiarisez-vous avec les problèmes et les stratégies qui visent à promouvoir l’embauche d’immigrants qualifiés. 2010 ALLIES L’échange d’apprentissage rassemble des intervenants locaux, y compris entreprises, leaders municipaux, universités et collèges, agences d’immigration et tous les niveaux de gouvernement des collectivités participantes telles que Halifax, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton et Vancouver.

Les événements se dérouleront dans le cadre chaleureux et amical d’Halifax, du jeudi 6 mai au vendredi 7 mai.

Faits saillants de L’échange d’apprentissage 2010 :

• Bienvenue – Gordon Nixon, président et chef de la direction, Banque Royale du Canada

• Discours-thème
  • Don Drummond, Groupe Financier Banque TD – Le visage changeant du milieu de travail au Canada
  • Alan Broadbent, Maytree – Faire travailler votre Conseil d’embauche d’immigrants pour votre collectivité
  • Will Kymlicka, Université Queen’s – L’avenir du multiculturalisme au Canada
  • Naomi Alboim, expert en immigration – L’immigration et les tendances du marché du travail

• Conclusion – Ratna Omidvar, président, Maytree

• Discussions en groupe sur les pratiques d’embauche, le mentorat et l’engagement des PME

• Marché de produits, outils et stratégies qui sont utilisés dans l’ensemble du pays, y compris la Feuille de route de embaucheimmigrants.ca, les programmes d’internat et de prêts, de même que des programmes innovateurs comme Dream Manager et Connector

• Ateliers – sessions approfondies de deux heures, comprenant des sujets comme le financement, les médias sociaux et le développement d’un programme de rapprochement fructueux, et l’établissement de relations avec les médias

• Réception et dîner au Quai 21, Musée national de l’immigration

2010 ALLIES L’échange d’apprentissage est financé par Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada.