CONFRONTING RACISM
| IN DURHAM |
Confronting Racism in Durham Working Group
The Confronting Racism in Durham Working Group (CRDWG) has been established to provide insight during the development of strategies to address issues of racial discrimination in employment and provide feedback and input to the planning and development of activities, materials, and resources.
- Titi Katibi – Co-Chair
- Danielle Pineda – Co-Chair
- Hanna Mohammed – Notetaker
- Nicole Perryman
- Lara Awoleye
- Sofia Ahmed
- Tamara Glasgow-Cox
- Hawa Mire
- Padmini Persaud Roberts
- Erica Mittag
- David Yan
- Kubra Mir
Download the CRDWG Terms of Reference PDF.
Purpose
The Confronting Racism in Durham Working Group (CRDWG) is established to provide insight during the development of strategies to address issues of racial discrimination in employment and provide feedback and input to the planning and development of activities, materials, and resources.
The CRDWG would do this by:
- Providing advisory support to the project on issues including but not limited to the Community Survey, Focus Group sessions, the Job fair etc.
- Utilizing the findings of the Community Survey and Focus Group sessions to confirm key themes and challenges to employment that should be addressed.
- Determining the most applicable anti-racism materials and engagement activities to address the identified themes, this may include but is not limited to intercultural intelligence and anti-racism materials in the form of an employer handbook and a workplace on-boarding handbook, a framework for on-line training for employers; an online series of anti-racism hiring and on-boarding best practices; additional employer engagement strategies and a job fair.
- Identifying and defining participants/populations of the proposed anti-racism activities, materials, and resources.
- Identifying channels for the effective distribution of anti-racism materials and resources.
- Increasing awareness in the community, including specific stakeholders and community partners, about the project.
Membership
Membership of the CRDWG is voluntary, and comprises of Durham community members who identify with one or more of the following categories:
- Members of a racialized group.
- Employment service providers who work with members of racialized groups.
- Employers and business owners within Durham region.
- Subject Matter Experts including HR & DEI professionals, and Policy Makers.
- Individuals who in one way or another support the anti-racism efforts
Member Composition
The CRDWG would comprise of stakeholders including HR and DEI professionals, employment service providers, individuals with lived experience, and employers who understand the complex racial challenges in employment. This will ensure diverse representation and perspectives.
The CRDWG would consist of:
- Co-chairs. The Confronting Racism Program Coordinator will by default be one of the co-chairs and the other will be chosen by the CRDWG members.
- Minute taker. To prepare minutes and forward to co-chairs for distribution.
- Other members. To prepare for and participate in meetings.
Tenure
Membership would run in tandem with the project lifespan; membership begins May 31, 2022, and would terminate on March 31, 2023, when the project ends.
Participation
Members agree to be active participants of the meetings and are encouraged to bring solutions and ideas to the meetings. Members who do not attend 3 consecutive meetings, without communication with the Chair(s), will be deemed to have resigned from the committee.
Decision Making
Decisions of the CRDWG will be by consensus. If this is not achievable, a vote may be called, in which a simple majority of those present will decide the question.
Conflict of Interest
Members must declare any actual or perceived conflict of interest, or any special interest in a topic being discussed. This interest may be as an agency or as an individual.
For this group, a Conflict of Interest exists:
- In situations where a member of the CRDWG is using the confronting racism project for their own personal benefit and acting in their own interests rather than the best interests of the project.
- All meetings will begin with a declaration of conflict of interest and members are expected to declare any potential or confirmed conflict of interest to the project.
- When a conflict of interest has been identified, the CRDWG member should be absent from discussions on any issue, matter or transaction involving a conflict of interest.
Meetings
Due to the short lifespan of the project, members are expected to attend meetings for 2 hours once every 3 weeks between the months of May – December 2022.
From January – March 2023 as the project begins to wind down, meetings would hold monthly for 2 hours.
Sub-committees of the CRDWG may be convened and meet more often as the need arises to expedite the work of the project.
Meeting minutes will be recorded and distributed via email within one week of the meeting. Email correspondence will be used to send meeting agendas and to distribute meeting materials.
Meeting agendas will be set by the co-chairs in consultation with the CRDWG membership and forwarded to the members in advance of meetings.
Call to Join the CRDWG
Submissions for Expression of Interest closed May 31, 2022 – Thank you.
“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.”
– Mahatma Ghandi
