A PANELIST DISCUSSSION ON 'DIVERSITY IN CORPORATE CANADA' - RSVP REQUIRED

Join us as our distinguished panel discusses how their organizations and corporate Canada are embracing diversity. Presented by UFSC Toronto in joint collaberation with Asians Without Borders.

 

Moderated by RITU BHASIN, LL.B. MBA, People Strategist & Diversity Specialist with Bhasin Consulting Inc. 

 

Canada's experience with diversity distinguishes it from most other countries. Its 32 million inhabitants reflect a cultural, ethnic and linguistic makeup found nowhere else on earth. Canada's future success will partly depend on how effectively the corporate sector can integrate and develop its diverse workforce. 

SONYA KUNKEL,  

Director, Diversity and Inclusion, Talent Strategies and Executive Resourcing, Human Resources, BMO Financial Group

 

SANDEEP TATLA, 

Senior Manager, Diversity, PwC

 

NOELLE RICHARDSON, 

Chief Diversity Officer, Ontario Public Service

 

6:00pm-8:00pm (plus a Networking Reception afterwards)

  

Bank of Montreal – First Canadian Place (FCP) 

100 King Street West 

68th Floor 

Toronto, ON 

Boardroom: York, Strathcona, and Mt. Stephens rooms 

 

 

 

6:00-7:30           Introductions, Panel Discussion

7:30-8:00           Q & A Session

8:00-10:00  Networking Reception 

 

Please join us for the newtworking reception, where food and refreshments will be served. 

 

We would like to thank BMO Financial Group for hosting this event.

 

Website:  www.ufsc-toronto.org

Email:     ufsctoronto@yahoo.ca

 

Ritu Bhasin is a People Strategist & Diversity Specialist with bhasin consulting inc.   Ritu provides strategies to organizations on people management and organizational leadership, with an emphasis on diversity and the advancement of women, and has experience working with a range of professional services firms, academic institutions, professional associations, and not-for-profits.  Ritu also acts as a career and leadership coach and has now coached hundreds of individuals, focusing on empowering them to leverage their strengths and interests in their development.  

 

An inspiring and engaging speaker, Ritu regularly presents, facilitates, and provides input to various North American professional associations, educational institutions, and not-profit organizations. Ritu is also instructing in the Executive Programs at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, in diversity and not-for-profit governance.   Previously, Ritu worked for 10 years in the legal profession, first practising law and then on the senior management team of a preeminent Canadian business law firm, focusing on talent management and diversity strategies for lawyers and law students.  

 

Ritu is actively committed to public service and has spent over 15 years volunteering in the community on a range of initiatives.  She is currently a member of the Women's Equity Advisory Group at the Law Society of Upper Canada and is a member of the Rotman School of Management’s Values Initiatives Working Group.  Previously, she served on the Law Society's Equity Advisory Group for 7 years including 2 years as its Vice-Chair, on the North American Board of Directors for NALP (The Association for Legal Professionals), and on the Board of Directors for the YWCA Toronto.

 

Sandeep Tatla recently joined PwC as the firm’s Senior Manager of Diversity and Inclusion.  Sandeep is responsible for firm’s national diversity strategy, including development and implementation of the strategy and any related diversity programs and initiatives.

 

Prior to joining PwC, Sandeep worked as a private diversity consultant and human rights lawyer.  Her work included strategic guidance and implementation support to both private and public organizations pursuing diverse, inclusive and healthy workplaces.

 

Sandeep has a deep expertise in diversity and is regularly asked to comment and speak on diversity related topics.  In addition to regularly being quoted in various professional publications, Sandeep has appeared on CBC radio and has a diversity column in the National Post.

 

Sandeep holds law degree from the University of Western Ontario, an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a certificate in mediation and conflict resolution.  Before delving deep into the diversity and inclusion sphere, Sandeep practiced traditional labour and employment law on Bay Street for a number of years where she specialized in employment and human rights law and regularly provided organizations with proactive and strategic advice on issues of inclusivity and human rights.  This experience provided her with, amongst other things, invaluable insight into people management strategies.  

 

As a lawyer, advisor, strategist, educator, facilitator, and trained mediator Sandeep brings a multidisciplinary approach to the practice of diversity and inclusion.

 

Noëlle Richardson is the first Chief Diversity Officer appointed by the Secretary of the Cabinet, joined the Ontario Public Service on Aug. 18, 2008. In order to embed fair and inclusive policies and practices within the OPS, she is a member of the Deputy Ministers' Council and the Executive Development Committee.

 

For the past decade, Noëlle has worked nationally and internationally as a diversity consultant for major corporate clients. She has significant experience developing and implementing diversity strategies and programs for large and highly complex organizations. 

Richardson was born in Guyana and moved to Canada in her early teens.  She began her first career in broadcasting with Toronto’s CFMT-TV and CBC, earning a high-profile slot as news anchor for the program Midday. She has also anchored for CTV News 1.

 

Noëlle is past co-chair and current member of the Board of Directors for Literature for Life, an organization that promotes the use of language among teenaged moms through reading circles and poetry writing. 

 

Noëlle is passionate about her work and the transferability of the message of mutual understanding, respect and inclusion, which lie at the heart of her approach to diversity.