The Diversity Imperative

To celebrate #IWD2021, Erin and Hannah are joined by Canadian Agriculture's leading women, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. They discuss her path to politics and the agriculture sector, and what it was like to be the first female Minister of Agriculture in Canada.

Minister Bibeau also discusses the governments 50-30 challenge, an initiative to accelerate diversity actions in Canadian organizations and why our sector should #choosetochallenge. Hannah and Erin discuss why targets should be considered when it comes to lifting your diversity and inclusion goals off the page.

We cover a lot of ground with Christine Simpson, hockey reporter for Sportsnet, to unearth what the agriculture sector can learn from sport when it comes to diversity and inclusion. We discuss what hockey is doing to eradicate racism and to ensure “hockey is for everyone”, as well as how to be an effective ally and the need for organizations to “evolve or die.” Check out diversityimperative.com to weigh in on this weeks tough question.

On episode 1 of The Diversity Imperative, hosts Erin Gowriluk and Hannah Konschuh talk to Dan Wright, Head of Seeds for Syngenta Canada about his shift in moving towards the important conversation of diversity, equity, and inclusion. They discuss how to get over your fear of talking about diversity, as well as Syngenta’s strategy to create an equitable company culture.