The Opportunity
The City of London is excited to be seeking a Director, Anti-Racism & Anti-Oppression Unit to guide and implement an overarching vision, identity, and strategy to position the City of London as a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization and community. This is a new position, responsible for leading a newly formed unit within the City structure.
Reporting to the City Manager, the Director will leverage a deep understanding of social justice, equity, inclusion, racism (in particular, anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism), ableism and oppression. The Director will manage, influence, and inform policy development, project planning, service delivery frameworks and program evaluation activities.
As a talented communicator with a profound ability to engage others, the Director of the Anti-Racism & Anti-Oppression Unit will advance systemic change efforts through a wide range of inter-divisional projects with external partners, stakeholders, and collaborators within the City of London's communities.
This is an exciting time to be part of the City of London, as our committed employees and citizens work collectively to end racism and oppression in our community and workplace.
Background: The City of London Municipal Council reaffirmed its commitment to eliminating systemic racism and oppression in the community by unanimously approving the creation of the Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression unit. As well, the mandate of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee (SPPC) was amended to include anti-racism, diversity, inclusion and anti-oppression as a strategic initiative. As well, the Community Diversity and Inclusion Strategy community volunteers elected to create a new 6th Priority to address anti-Black racism; the development of this new priority will be complete in 2021.
In June 2020 the City created an Anti-Racism & Anti-Oppression Internal Working Group to provide strategic advice to help shape the work being done to address systemic racism and oppression at the City of London. This group includes Chairs of the Employee Resource Groups plus other staff who have experience supporting policies and programs that focus on diversity and inclusion, and experience working with the community.
About the City of London
London continues to play a key role as a regional hub for Southwest Ontario, a region of 2.5 million people. Merging our historical expertise in manufacturing, agriculture, and healthcare, with emerging sectors like robotics, digital creative and financial technology, London is a leader in commerce, culture, and innovation.
Our Team: We are a large team of over three thousand dedicated employees delivering over one hundred services to our community. Through innovation and partnerships, the City of London is at the forefront of addressing many community challenges focusing on building a better London for all. Our work has a direct impact on Londoners. When you work for the City of London, you'll know you're doing work that matters.
Our History: Oral history and archeological records show that the London region has been inhabited for over 10,000 years. The Indigenous peoples who have called this region home for millennia include the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, and Lenni-Lenape Nations.
The City of London was founded in 1826 and was quickly established as an administrative and military centre in the region. London's regional importance grew during the American Civil War, as a key shipping centre for the region's agricultural exports. London's geographic position and strong manufacturing sector ensured continued growth through the 20th century, with major annexation of local communities occurring in 1961.
Our Demographics: The City of London has a population of more than 400,000. Nearly 20% of residents identified as 'visible minorities', while less than 1% identified as Indigenous. The largest visible minority population identify as Arab, making up about 20% cent of the total visible minority population. Those identifying as South Asian comprise about 17% of total visible minority population, and those who identify as Black make up roughly 16% of the visible minority population. (All data according to the 2016 Federal census, which uses Employment Equity Act to define visible minorities as 'persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.')
Living in the London Region: Set in the heart of Southwestern Ontario, between Toronto and Detroit, London is the region's economic, entertainment, and cultural hub. London is Canada's 11th largest city and an ideal environment in which to work, live, and play. With its numerous educational offerings, extensive heath care system, and lower cost of living than many Canadian cities, London is considered to be a highly desirable community for people at all stages of life. Affectionately known as the Forest City, London sports more than 200 treed areas and public parks with an extensive trail system that runs along the Thames River.
Additional Information
Community, Diversity and Inclusion
Additional information such as Steps Towards Anti-Racism and Community Diversity & Inclusion Strategy Update Report are also available and will be provided to candidates.
Key Responsibilities & Duties
The Director will develop and support applying equity and anti-racism/anti-oppression lenses to policies, practices, programs and initiatives, after identifying systemic barriers and gaps related to equity and inclusion including the development of recommendations for Senior and People Leaders.
The Director will create a community of practice comprised of leaders from across the organization responsible for embedding equity and inclusion practices, dismantling systemic racism and oppression within the organization, and aligning service delivery to the identified needs of community. The Director will deliver informed guidance and perspectives to build capacity among Senior and People Leaders.
The Director will supervise a team of professionals specialized in and committed to developing and implementing an Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression Strategy. The Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression (ARAO) Unit will work collaboratively within the community and across the organization to establish shared understanding and values to combat/interrupt inequity, discrimination, racism and oppression, specific to marginalized individuals and communities, including Black, Indigenous people and other racialized peoples, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ2+ communities, and women.
Strategic Leadership
Team Leadership & Management
Collaboration
Programmatic Leadership
Qualifications & Competencies
Lived & Professional Experience
Team leadership
Strategic & Operational Leadership
Communication
Facilitation & Collaboration
Knowledge & Education
For More Information
For more information about this exciting leadership opportunity, please contact Ellie Rusonik, Associate Vice President, Search + Talent or Samantha David, Senior Search Consultant at KCI (Ketchum Canada Inc.) via email at CityofLondon@kcitalent.com
Interested candidates are invited to send a resume and letter of interest to the email address listed above by February 15, 2021. All inquiries and applications will be held in strict confidence.
To view the full Position Brief, please visit: www.kcitalent.com
The City of London is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals. Accommodation will be provided in all parts of the recruitment and assessment process. Candidates, please let the Consultants know any accommodations needs that you may have.
Equity and Inclusion: Our mission is to be a responsive and modern public service partner that fosters change to build a better London for all. Our desire is to ensure London is a welcoming, inclusive and safe community for everyone. We want the same for our employees. Through our Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Plan, we've taken many steps to have our workforce more representative of the community we serve and to foster an inclusive workplace.
Compensation: The salary range for this position is $129,747 to $154,841. Benefits and pension (OMERS) are also provided.