Strategy development
We work closely with organizations to understand their processes, gaps and opportunities. Strategy development can leverage document reviews, surveys and sessions with staff and communities to generate well-informed recommendations for change. We use these insights to build EDI frameworks, strategies and action plans with goals, actions and metrics that support long-term work.
To develop effective strategies, the Diversity Institute employs a comprehensive, multi-method approach that include goals, actionable steps and robust measurement frameworks to ensure lasting change.
- Policy and process review: Analyzing existing policies, processes and metrics to identify gaps and opportunities for change.
- Internal engagement: Collaborating with staff and leadership to gather insights and specific recommendations for enhancing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) practices.
- External engagement: Consulting with communities, clients and consumers to understand their needs and recommendations meaningful, inclusive change.
Examples of our key strategy development projects include:
We collaborated with the City of Markham to create a Diversity Action Plan and an Eliminating Anti-Black Racism Action Plan. The goal of this project was to create plans that reflect the experiences and needs of Markham's diverse communities. This was accomplished through engagement sessions with staff and community members, which provided concrete goals, key performance indicators (KPIs) and actions for supporting EDI, anti-racism (and particularly anti-Black racism) and anti-discrimination across the different functional areas of the City.
We developed a multi-year EDIA Action Plan and supported the subsequent Implementation Plan for the Canadian Museum of History. The development of the EDIA Action Plan was based on a comprehensive internal document review as well as the findings of an analysis conducted using a customized DAT tool. Further, these findings were substantiated through focus group consultations with diverse staff representing equity-deserving communities to understand perceptions, identify opportunities and gather recommendations. DI facilitated several bilingual workshops to help staff across departments navigate the EDIA Action Plan and implement it in their daily work.
DI developed a comprehensive assessment of the current state of health equity within NOHT-ESON. DI also supported NOHT-ESON in developing a strategy to address the identified opportunities for the advancement of health equity across all functions and support Health Equity Planning across Niagara. Specifically, the DI worked with the Working Group NOHT-ESON to develop a common definition of Health Equity and provided a Health Equity tool to measure the current state of how a health equity approach is understood and embedded in member organizations. DI also worked to understand how our Ontario Health Teams can redesign care that enables them to best meet the increasingly complex needs of the diverse communities they serve and develop a work plan to build systemic Health Equity practices.
DI developed an Addressing Anti-Black Racism Action Plan for the City of Vaughan. To develop the plan, DI conducted a background review of the city’s strategies, policies and programs to understand gaps in existing efforts and to strategically align the priorities of the Action Plan with those in the City’s existing Strategic Action Plan, ensuring efforts to support the Black community were embedded in the City’s framework. The plan also involved consultations and a survey with diverse Black communities, including a Special Advisory Committee of diverse Black community members, to understand barriers, needs, and recommendations related to City offerings and services. Using the data gathered from the community survey and barriers and recommendations identified from the consultations, an Action Plan was developed with pillars, themes, objectives, actions, and accountability measures. The final output of this project was a multi-year Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism, presented and ratified through the Vaughan City Council.
