BlackNorth Initiative

Wes Hall, Executive and Founder for Kingsdale Initiative has a call to action for CEO's in the private sector, to pledge that they will fill their Boards and Executive positions with 3.5% from the black community. I didn't have a chance to share my story or my position during the call therefore I wanted to ensure I include it here. Will the Durham Region join this pledge which will go a long way in the Black Community?

Lastly, Harvard Business Review has a free implicit bias test that can be accessed at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html that will help you identify if you have any bias' towards older people, people of colour, race, sexual orientation, and more. They have been collecting data for several years to help us identify the bias' we have without knowing...which we consider unconscious bias. I believe this would be an awesome tool that Durham Region can consider sharing with all of their employee's especially the police so that people can better understand and see their blind spots for an issue that has been prevalent for over 400 years. This identifies people's bias' towards black people, indigenous people, LGBTQ community and elders just to name a few. My question: Is this something that Durham Region can consider to include in their diversity and inclusion training for all employees and most importantly the police force?

Thank you!