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Truth and Reconciliation, Racial Justice, and Equity

Truth and Reconciliation, Racial Justice, and Equity

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Not sure how to begin or extend your organization’s commitment to anti-racism, equity, and inclusion?

You can start here with our curated list of resources that address systemic and institutional racism, and offer ways for organizations to work towards racial justice. If some of the terms and concepts are new for you, check out the glossary from Racial Equity Tools to help guide you and your organization.

Nonprofits may be at different stages of their journey in addressing Truth and Reconciliation, racial justice and equity. We encourage you to read through the list and to recommend or share resources. In addition to these resources we invite you to reflect on the following questions to support your journey:

  1. What is your organizational goal in advancing integrating recommendations that are part of TRC? How does your organization want to address racial justice and equity?
  2. Who can support the work within your organization? Do you need to strike an internal committee? Is there external expertise needed?
  3. Have you connected with employees and stakeholders within your organization to get a sense of their needs?
  4. How do you intend to build relationships with local BIPOC communities and organizations?

It’s okay if you or your organization doesn’t have all the answers; part of the journey will support these questions being answered. 

Through our decent work movement building, the Ontario Nonprofit Network will be focusing on Reconciliation and racial justice within the nonprofit sector. Our commitment to the sector will include regular updates to this page with resources that are created through the project. 

What’s new?

The Pervasive Reality of Anti-Black Racism in Canada demonstrate the depth and pervasiveness of anti-Black racism in Canada, and how systemic racism against Black individuals appears across their full lifecycle in areas like education, employment, healthcare, and policing. From Civic Action.

Blog posts from ONN:

How Decent Work practices can support 2SLGBTQI+ staff in the nonprofit sector: Celebrations of Pride call attention to awareness, inclusion, and equity for 2SLGBTQI+ communities, which are core tenets of Decent Work practices. Learn more about how to support 2SLGBTQI+ staff through Decent Work practices.

Prioritizing Black joy is central to Black wellness: Learn how prioritizing Black joy is critical to centering Black wellness and combating anti-Black racism.

A letter to the nonprofit sector on centering Black wellness and rest: Addressing and acknowledging Black fatigue is a critical, if not essential, component of integrating Black wellness and rest into the nonprofit sector. The invitation to lean into rest must be met with sustainable practices for Black workers, which include employee benefit packages that are culturally relevant and tackling anti-Black racism in the workplace.

From ONN’s Nonprofit Driven 2021 Conference:

A Seat at the Table of Democracy: Inclusive Election Advocacy: Many nonprofits serve communities who face significant barriers to entering the political process. Increasing the participation of these communities will amplify the voices of both the organizations and the communities they serve. This session explores how collectively, the nonprofit sector can leverage elections to make positive changes in Ontario.

Work In Progress: Unpacking White Supremacy in Nonprofit Organizations: Many nonprofits have recently committed to incorporating inclusion, racial justice and decolonial practice within their policy reform, hiring and training of staff. Yet, this focus has often centred on increasing internal capacity within organizations through consultants or new positions/single staff positions to develop diversity, equity or inclusion programs. In this plenary, leaders within the nonprofit sector explore all dimensions of organizational culture and share lessons learned, practices of implementation, and challenges that have arisen while advancing equity.

Browse our resources: