Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Support Employee Mental Health
Strong mental health among employees is vital for building inclusive, productive, and cohesive workplaces because it directly affects how individuals engage, collaborate, and perform. Organizations that invest in mental health initiatives not only support the well-being of individuals, but also enhance performance, innovation, and equity across teams. The bottom line is, mental health and DEI reinforce each other. When organizations take both seriously, they foster healthier, more resilient, and more inclusive work environments.
In Conversation With The Mental Health Commission of Canada
The mental health of employees is foundational to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) organizational culture because psychological well-being enables individuals—especially those from marginalized or underrepresented groups—to engage fully and safely at work. Likewise, strong DEI programs can positively influence mental health by addressing systemic stressors and creating conditions for all employees to thrive.
In Conversation With the Stratford Festival
“We’re getting to a place where we’re thinking across the whole experience: How do we welcome people in? And there’s something really joyful about that. So it’s not just the spreadsheet of it being a good business decision. It is the experience of the festival being enriched.”
– Anita Gaffney, Executive Director, The Stratford Festival
Truth and Reconciliation
As an adult educator and someone who works within the intercultural development and IDEA spaces, I am constantly thinking about Truth and Reconciliation. In this piece, I share my journey over the course of my life with how I came to know the truth, and how I responded to that truth. My journey will be relatable for some, but I also recognize that for many people, the truth was only revealed in recent years when the remains of 215 children were found in Kamloops at a former residential school. While the last several years have been about actionable ways to accelerate truth and reconciliation within post secondary education, the truth about Indigenous history has been on my mind since my youth.