Hall | In a world of symbolic gestures, we challenged Canada to be better. Here’s how we did

Of note:

Five years ago, the world changed — and so did we.

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and a global reckoning on racial injustice, we chose to act. In July 2020, more than 500 organizations across Canada joined us to say enough is enough: enough of looking the other way, and enough of a system that too often overlooks or sidelines Black Canadians while claiming to support progress.

The leaders of these organizations signed on to the BlackNorth Initiative Pledge committing to dismantle anti-Black racism in their organizations and beyond. They include CEOs, board chairs, and senior executives from Canada’s largest banks, law firms, corporations, universities, government agencies and non-profit institutions.

As we mark the five-year anniversary of the BlackNorth Initiative, we say with clarity and conviction: we have made change happen. It was not symbolic. It was structural.

Executives have been hired. Boards have diversified. Procurement systems have been restructured. Black youth are breaking into sectors that once kept them out. Equity has moved from the margins of corporate decks to the core of strategic operations. We have redefined what leadership looks like in Canada and who gets to be seen as a leader.

The numbers bear this out. Notably, among TSX-listed companies that committed to the BlackNorth Initiative’s voluntary pledge, Black board representation reached 3.3 per cent, double that of non-BNI companies at 1.6 per cent. The proportion of Black executives also rose from 1.0 per cent in 2020 to 1.5 per cent in 2022, aligning with the 1.5 per cent representation seen among BNI signatories.

These findings underscore the power of voluntary commitments to drive real, systemic change and to foster greater inclusion at the highest levels of leadership.

And the results go beyond numbers. Companies that signed the pledge are speaking up. Leaders across sectors have testified that committing to the Pledge has strengthened their talent pipelines, innovation capacity, and overall performance.

This is the ripple effect of equity done right. Diverse companies are better companies.

And yet, even now, the urgency has not faded.

Wes Hall is the founder and chairman of the BlackNorth Initiative and founder & CEO of Kingsdale Advisors & Executive Chairman & Founder of WeShall Investments. Dahabo Ahmed Omer is the CEO of the BlackNorth Initiative.

Source: Opinion | In a world of symbolic gestures, we challenged Canada to be better. Here’s how we did