Free Training Opportunity – Equity & Inclusion in Public Safety

Serving the public has never been more challenging than it is right now. Understanding how the concepts of diversity, inclusion, equity, and privilege intersect with public safety is critical not only for providing great service, but also in thriving as women in the complex, male dominated worlds we all work in. This seven-part series will focus on the specific professional and career development needs of AWIPS members with respect to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and will provide a foundation for understanding these key concepts. The series incudes seven one-hour sessions:

1. Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Foundations: September 24, 2021—0900 to 1030 – Completed

2. Concepts of Diversity: October 29, 2021—0900 to 1030

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83837104897?pwd=Y0lBdGtHS0xZUUNTZmQ3VEFwcVZkZz09

3. Gender: November 26, 2021—0900 to 1030

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88069450378?pwd=R25VRzZETGxLSEJxUThjNjdldG5vQT09

4. Unconscious Bias: February 18, 2022—0900 to 1030

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88349742879?pwd=YnRFQ1pFRENPeWZrUkVYK0tTVWVmdz09

5. Allyship: March 18, 2022—0900 to 1030

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87027076132?pwd=QmhVY0E2TGhqeDg3cUpRWENQSk9aUT09

6. Active Bystander: April 29, 2022—0900 to 1030

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81005575469?pwd=cXppRnhwN2l3eW1YMmlyR0tsc3ZWZz09

7. Leadership for Building Healthy Public Safety Organizations: May 27, 2022—0900 to 1030

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88399594532?pwd=S2VoUVl2QVNuK09zc2Z2QkpINkhoQT09

Each one hour session will be followed with a 30 minute “ask us anything” discussion

AWIPS members will automatically receive a link for the presentations.

1. EDI Foundations: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion continue to be ‘hot topics’ in public safety. This session will provide definitions of these concepts, discuss types of diversity and how they intersect with workplace culture and service delivery, and highlight the experience of diverse employees in the public safety realm.

2. Diversity Concepts: By laying out the foundations of these concepts, public safety members will better understand the history and context of oppression, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, social exclusion, and privilege. This session will explore how these things play out in the workplace and how we can change.

3. Gender: Gender bias and stereotypes are pervasive and public safety is not immune to media and cultural influences. In this session, we examine the fluidity of gender, gender socialization, issues faced by women in public safety professions, and finish the session with an overview of some tools for action and change.

4. Unconscious Bias: This session proposes that each person holds and carries beliefs and assumptions about people, ideas, and groups, and those beliefs can create blind spots that impact decision making. This session explores specific biases that impact women in public safety, and how organizations can overcome them.

5. Active Bystanders: In public safety, the standard you walk by is the standard you accept. Active bystanders help address the behaviors that are negatively influencing our workplaces. This session focuses on what being an active bystander means, how to become one, and how to use it to build a stronger organization.

6. Allyship: Many organizations want to further social justice and support underrepresented groups, but don’t feel equipped to make positive impacts for fear of making mistakes. This session provides tools to help public safety leaders become effective allies and offers practical tips for implementing allyship in organizations.

7. Leadership for Building Healthy Public Safety Organizations: This final “wrap up” will tie everything together, how to engage your organizations, what does it mean to lead EDI, the spectrum of organizational cultures, principles of engagement, and how to integrate all the sessions into practice in building an inclusive organization.

Brochure

Superintendent (Retired) Nina Vaughan retired from the Calgary Police Service after 29 years, and her primary focus, and area of expertise, is leading and managing the development, promotion, and support of organizational diversity, equity, inclusion, and engagement. While at the Calgary Police Service, she led the creation of the Office of Inclusion, Development, and Employ-ee Engagement, as well as the Service’s Culture Change project. She is a founding member of the Bar Watch Association for Patron Safety and well as the Stop Marijuana Grow Operations Coalition. She is also a founding member and former Chair of Alberta Women in Policing. She is also a Board member of Carya, Calgary’s oldest charity.

Deputy Chief (Retired) Laurie VandeSchoot retired from the Calgary Fire Department after 30 years of public service. She has ex-tensive experience in the public and not-for-profit sectors and was worked nationally and internationally in organizational strate-gy, change management, international development and social justice. She is chair and a founding member of Alberta Fire, Emer-gency Service and Wildfire Management Women (AFEW), leads the International Diversity Executive Leadership Program (iDELP), inspires the Canadian Association of Fire Chief’s diversity efforts, and has received numerous awards and recognition for her inter-national work on diversity and inclusion.