Toronto Police Chief William Blair Takes Top Honours in Diversity Leadership

T.O. TOP COP GETS TOP DIVERSITY AWARD TODAY

Chief Bill Blair speaks at a Toronto Diversity business conference

The Diversity Business Network recognized Toronto Police Chief William Blair as the 2012 Canadian Diversity Leadership Award winner at a Diversity conference in Toronto today. The award recognizes an individual or organization who is a ‘Champion’ for diversity and has also achieved success in implementation of diversity strategies to achieve organizational goals.
As one of the most multicultural cities in the world, Toronto’s Chief Blair has built an organization reflective of the cities motto “Diversity Our Strength”. His accomplishments and success in making diversity a core cornerstone is a beacon to other Canadian organizations in both the public and private sector.
“Chief Blair has set a benchmark for diversity achievement as Chief of Police of Toronto,” states Courtney Betty, President and Founder of DBN. “The service and commitment infused within the Toronto Police Services in cultural diversity and representation reflects Blair’s overall contribution in building a police force that will grow with this world-class City.”
Stephen Frost, Head of Diversity for London 2012 Olympic Games presented the award to Chief Blair at the Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference 2012. The conference waa held at the Allstream Center at Exhibition Place on Friday, March 23. The Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference 2012 brought together international and local diversity experts to examine the economic contribution of diversity to the Canadian economy.
William Blair was appointed Chief of the Toronto Police Service on April 26, 2005. The Toronto Police Service employs over 5500 police officers and 2200 civilian employees, the largest municipal police service in Canada and one of the largest in North America. The City of Toronto is a vibrant city covering 636 square kilometres with a diverse population of more than 2,600,000 people.
In the areas of promoting diversity in the workplace and commitment to building positive and functional relationships with the diverse communities of Toronto, Chief Blair has an outstanding record of achievement that continues to be the foundation for organizational success in reducing violence and crime across the city and helping communities to mobilize their resources to improve the quality of life in their neighbourhood.

Former House Speaker Alvin Curly talks about the good work that Chief Blair is doing in terms of diversity hiring in Toronto. He noted that both he and the chief are from Scarborough. Standing behind Alvin is Diversity Business Network's Courtney Betty.

The following are some of Chief Blair’s ground-breaking accomplishments and programs in the areas of Diversity and Human Rights that have taken form as a result of the Chief’s strategic vision for the Toronto Police Service:

• The assignment of Deputy Chief Keith Forde to Human Resources Command in 2005 to direct the implementation of strategies and goals contained within two successive Toronto Police Service Business Plans (spanning 6 years), to recruit, retain and promote members so that the service is more reflective of the diversity of the community at the civilian, front-line uniform, and the leadership levels of the organization. As a result of the above efforts, by 2011 and continuing to the present, the representation of diversity in the Toronto Police Service is at a historical high with 20% of service members being from visible minority groups, 1% Aboriginals, and 29% female.
• The proportional representation of these groups within the uniform ranks has increased dramatically over the past 10 years, in large part due to employment strategies implemented under Chief Blair. While uniform strength increased 11% overall during that period, the proportion of female officers increased by 32%, the proportion of Aboriginal officers by 38%, and the proportion of visible minorities by 86%. This included an overall 100% increase in the proportion of these members in the supervisory and leadership ranks.

About The Diversity Business Network

Left to right: Diversity Business Network's Coutney Betty, Head of Diversity  for the London Olympics Stephen Frost, and Chief Bill Blair holding his Diversity Award

DBN provides tools, strategies and systems for corporations to become world-class leaders and benefactors of supplier diversity. Our mission is to make diversity in the supply chain a cornerstone of corporate Canada and to establish the standard by which supplier diversity effectiveness is measured within business and government.
.Visit http://www.diversitybusinessnetwork.com/conference to learn more.

London Olympic's diversity expert Stephen Frost

Stephen Frost - Key London Olympics Official - coming to Toronto to talk Diversity - Pan Am Games

 

Head of Diversity and Inclusion for the London Olympic Games to Speak at Upcoming DBN Supplier Diversity Conference

Olympic Games' Stephen Frost

 

February 17, 2012 (Toronto, Canada) – Stephen Frost, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will be the keynote speaker at The Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference 2012, Diversity Our Economic Strength, presented by RBC, on Friday, March 23, 2012 at the Allstream Centre, Toronto, Canada. Mr. Frost will talk about the work he has been doing to make the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games diverse and inclusive. The upcoming London Games employs a workforce of 200,000 and its procurement spend amounts to £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion Canadian).

Prior to his appointment to head up Diversity and Inclusion Mr. Frost served as Executive Assistant to the Games’ Chief Executive, Paul Deighton. Mr. Frost, among his many jobs, oversees customer service and accessibility, a 9-million ticket program, 134 separate sites including supporting venues, and manages a team responsible for recruitment. He recently launched the LOCOG Diversity and Inclusion Business Charter, the first organization in the United Kingdom to achieve the Diversity Works for London Gold Standard.

Mr. Frost is the recent recipient of the Peter Robertson Award for Equality and Diversity Champions, an annual award given by ORC Worldwide, an international management consulting firm focused on building equitable, inclusive work environments. The Award recognized his longstanding work in the areas of disability, age, gay and lesbian rights, his strong collaboration with community and industry groups to benefit the economically disadvantaged, and his entrepreneurial style that breaks down boundaries and enables real change, even in unreceptive environments.

Mr. Frost has established and led the workplace team at Stonewall, Europe’s largest gay equality organization. He helped build the Diversity Champions program into the largest diversity employer forum in the United Kingdom with over 300 members including The Royal Navy and Manchester City Football Club. He launched the United Kingdom’s first lesbian and gay recruitment guide, established the LGBT Leadership program in conjunction with Harvard University and Henley Management College, and developed the Workplace Equality Index which has become a standard across many leading United Kingdom employers.

 The Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference, an initiative of the Diversity Business Network, (www.diversitybusinessnetwork.com) brings together diverse-owned businesses with government, NGOs and leading Canadian  corporations seeking diversity in their supply chain. First held in the fall of 2010, with more than 300 diverse-owned companies attending, this year’s theme will be on the ROI of diversity for Canadian business. The conference will feature, along with Ms. Castillo, a number of speakers who will talk about the impact diversity in the supply chain is having in their organizations and what it means to their bottom line.

About The Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference 2012

The theme is Diversity Our Economic Strength. The location is the Allstream Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto. The date is Friday, March 23, 2012. The conference runs from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The presenting sponsor is RBC.  Visit www.diversitybusinessnetwork.com/supplier-diversity-conference-overview?pmExp=1448 to learn more.

About LOCOG

LOCOG is the organizing committee responsible for the delivery of The 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Contact Information for DBN and The Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference 2012:

Courtney Betty

President and CEO, Diversity Business Network (DBN)

Email: Courtney@diversitybusinessnetwork.com

Tel: 416-968-1181 | Fax: 416-968-7619

Issued by Stephen Weir

Stephen Weir & Associates

Stephen@stephenweir.com

London Olympics Diversity Expert coming to Toronto to speak at Diversity Conference

Wirestory that I issued this morning. Will be of interest to Diversity and Business Editors

RBC Sponsorship of Upcoming Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference in March 2012 Announced

TORONTO, Dec. 12, 2011 /CNW/ - The Diversity Business Network, (DBN), is pleased to announce that RBC, Canada's largest bank, will be the presenting sponsor at the Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference 2012 - Diversity Our Economic Strength. "The Canada of today reflects diversity, and diversity for growth and innovation is one of RBC's key values," states Jennifer Tory, Regional President for Greater Toronto Region at RBC. "As presenting sponsor for the March conference, we hope to create opportunities to share ideas, collaborate and explore possibilities to help diverse-owned businesses develop, grow, and prosper across all our communities," Tory comments.

RBC annually issues a Diversity Progress Report highlighting its initiatives and achievements based on the theme that diversity makes us stronger. RBC has received international recognition for its commitment to diversity as one of four companies that received the 2010 Catalyst Award for Diversity. In 2011 Ms. Tory received special recognition from Catalyst Canada for her role in championing women and diversity in business. Catalyst is an organization founded on the principles of advancing culture-changing efforts within business through diversity and inclusion.

"We are thrilled to have RBC as presenting sponsor for the 2012 Canadian Supplier Diversity Conference," states Courtney Betty, President and Founder of DBN. "RBC has demonstrated what is possible when a Canadian business makes diversity a core value in its hiring and supply chain practices," he continues.

DBN was founded to create greater awareness among government, NGOs and corporations about the talent and capability of diverse-owned businesses in Canada and the cultural and economic contributions they can make to the country and the world. At the first conference held in the fall of 2010 in Toronto over 350 diverse-owned businesses and corporations participated. The focus of the 2012 conference, to be held at the Allstream Center at Exhibition Place on Friday, March 23, will be on the economic impact of diversity in the Canadian supply chain. Diverse-owned businesses along with Canadian companies seeking diverse suppliers will meet in a forum and breakout sessions to learn about each other and about practical ways to work together.

The keynote speaker will be Stephen Frost, Head of Diversity and Inclusion for London 2012, the organizing body for the upcoming Olympic Games. He will be joined by speakers from RBC and other leading executives from the public and private sector across North America who will talk about how they are addressing diversity in their procurement strategies. Breakout themed sessions will focus on how companies and organizations can transform their business practices through understanding, implementing and measuring supplier diversity.

About The Diversity Business Network

DBN provides tools, strategies and systems for corporations to become world-class leaders and benefactors of supplier diversity. Our mission is to make diversity in the supply chain a cornerstone of corporate Canada and to establish the standard by which supplier diversity effectiveness is measured within business and government.

For further information: Courtney Betty, B.A., LL.B. JD.
President and CEO
Diversity Business Network (DBN)
Website: www.diversitybusinessnetwork.com
Email: Courtney@diversitybusinessnetwork.com
Tel: O. 416-968-1181 | f. 416-968-7619

 

Stephen Weir
Stephen Weir & Associates | stephen@stephenweir.com
or sweir5492@rogers.com
2482 Yonge Street, Unit 45032, Toronto, ONT.
CANADA. M4P 3E3
Tel: 416-489-5868 | Fax: 416-488-6518
www.stephenweir.com