Resources to Help Organizations Improve EDI
There are numerous resources available to help improve Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in creative technology organizations. On this page, we have gathered a number of resources for employers, including those that may not be specific to technology or creative technology, but could still be useful for creative tech organizations.
EDI Focused Organizations
BC-based Organizations
IM4 Media Lab
DigiBC member and partner IM4 Media Lab offers immersive learning and opportunities for an Indigenized tech ecosystem. IM4 is a collaboration between Indigenous filmmakers, media matriarchs, and Emily Carr University to offer workshops to train Indigenous peoples in XR (extended reality). This also includes helping Indigenous artists find production opportunities to develop the ecosystem.
Coalition of Innovation Leaders against Racism (CILAR)
CILAR’s mandate is to connect Black, Indigenous and people of colour to the innovation sector to help rebuild and transition the new economy. Senior leaders from Canada’s tech and innovation industry are committing to end anti-Black and systemic racism and to hire and support diverse talent, employees, and founders. DMZ and CILAR have also announced a $1 million program expansion for the DMZ Black Innovation Fellowship (BIF) program to help offer skills development programs, start-up development, and support to help company founders.
Women in Animation Vancouver's (WIA) ACE Program
The WIA ACE Program’s objectives is to advance the careers of women in the animation industry by giving them a key credit in the creation of their very own short film, TV proof of concept or web series pilot, and providing mentorship and training along the way, to ensure they are set up for success.
The program includes:
- Individual mentoring for each participant
- Group-wide mentorship and training
- Individual pitch training, focusing on how to present and sell yourself and network
- Marketing and pitch training for the development and pitching of their own IP
- Attendance at a festival and/or market
- Promotion of each participant through social media initiatives and industry networking opportunities
Diversity in Games
Diversity in Games Vancouver (DIG) promotes talent diversity and advancement of underrepresented people in the video game industry. This 800+ person community offers events, community building, resources, and connections to help showcase achievements and skills of less visible individuals. This also includes networking and providing opportunities for students who may be interested in working in the gaming industry.
Creative BC is an independent society created and supported by the provincial government to sustain and grow BC’s creative industries. These creative industries include original storytelling content such as motion picture, interactive and digital media, music and sound recording, and magazine and book publishing. Creative BC delivers a series of programs and services, such as administrating provincial tax credit programs, export marketing support, and provincial film commission services. There is also direct funding for select interactive and digital media production. Two notable Creative BC initiatives are Creative Pathways and the Creative Equity Roadmap that aim to provide career development resources while improving equity, diversity and inclusion in these industries.
Organizations From Other Provinces
Creative Manitoba
Creative Manitoba offers a variety of programs dedicated to encouraging all young people to consider careers in the creative technology industry. Examples include mentorship streams for those living in rural areas to expand the potential talent pipeline, along with a professional program that pairs mentees with a professional mentor for seven months for young adults aged 19-29 in Winnipeg.
US-based Organizations
Reboot Representation Tech Coalition
The Reboot Representation Tech Coalition is an American initiative that aims to double the number of Black, Latina, and Native American women receiving computing degrees by 2025. It is administrated and supported by Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company started by Melinda French Gates, and all funds contributed by tech companies will go directly to efforts that engage Black, Latina, and Native American Women. Members of this coalition include numerous companies such as Walmart, Intel, Riot Games, Verizon, Dell, and Qualcomm.
International Organizations
ACCESS:VFX is an international industry-led, non-profit of 40 leading companies, industry bodies, and educational establishments in the VFX, animation, and games industries. It has brought together over 100 professionals to address a lack of diversity in the VFX industry, and its EDI efforts are organized under the four pillars of Inspiration, Education, Mentoring, and Recruitment. ACCESS:VFX’s work has resulted in over 50 events across Canada, the US, and the UK. In addition, an e-mentoring program has connected over 100 people aged 13-41 to VFX industry members (with 70% of the mentees being people of colour and/or female).
In 2019, ACCESS:VFX introduced Q-VFX, an inclusive LGBTQI+ community hub for staff and aspiring talent to access information, events, mentorships, and support. It aims to create a supportive queer community/space with regular meetups, outreach, and events to help encourage EDI and opportunity across the creative technology industry.
Rise Up Animation
Rise Up Animation began in 2020, when many communities in the US and around the world struggled with issues of racism and discrimination. A group of animation industry professionals organized to support BIPOC talent to aid diversity in animation. These volunteer efforts grew into a registered non-profit organization with over 500 active members and a community of 33,000 Instagram followers. They focus on providing one-on-one feedback sessions for BIPOC applicants who want to enter the animation industry, but do not have access. The spread of digital events and virtual connections via videoconferencing in recent years has greatly bolstered the reach of these efforts, allowing people from around the world learn more about animation careers without having to travel to major industry centres.
Adjacent Industry Organizations
When developing efforts to improve EDI, the creative technology industry can benefit from collective efforts. In the motion picture industry, there are numerous working groups, committees, collectives, and advocacy organizations to further these efforts. The following list provides a few examples:
- Black Screen Office (BSO) – aspiring to make Canada’s screen industries equitable and free of anti-black racism and empower Black Canadians in these industries to thrive and share their stories. BSO also provides research and surveys to measure progress.
- Racial Equity Screen Office (RESO) – supporting mentorship, funding, training, production, and distribution of content by racialized Canadian film makers. RESO offers training programs, data research, and workshops / panels.
- Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) – an independent national advocacy and funding organization, ISO programs helps support Indigenous companies, communities, and individuals, as well as offering training and protocols to shift industry practices to foster Indigenous sovereignty on screens.
The Tech and People Network (TAP Network, formerly known as the HR Tech Group) launched the Diversity and Inclusion Tech Project in 2019 to increase the attraction, retention, and advancement of women, Indigenous peoples, people of colour, newcomers to Canada, and individuals who identify as LGBTQIAS+. This has resulted in the launching of several pilot programs to bolster diversity, inclusion and Indigenization strategies to support underrepresented groups.
The TAP Network’s Diversity & Inclusion HUB is a leading Canadian tech industry portal for best-in-class D&I resources and tools. Tools include templates and sample communications for tech companies to measure and benchmark the diversity of their staff. There are also checklists, templates, case studies, sample policies, training modules and links to other materials that can be directly implemented.
In addition to the D&I resource hub and dashboard, the TAP Network also offers three diversity and inclusion programs specifically designed for tech leaders.
The Inclusive Leadership Program is a 3-day program that provides skills to build a workplace with greater access and opportunity. It is designed for leaders to expand their awareness of D&I issues to challenge their perspectives to make a more productive and inclusive team. As a result, participants will be able to identify their beliefs and biases, explain societal and organizational barriers for underrepresented groups, identify opportunities, and address challenges in organizational systems like recruiting and staff development.
The Inclusive Change Agent Program is a 3-day program with similar goals but is designed for HR and organizational leaders. Participants are required to have 5+ years of HR experience and organizational leadership capacity. In addition to the previously mentioned outcomes, this also adds the ability to design systemic approaches to build D&I practices, access resources to advocate for underrepresented groups, and build a network to leverage tech sector learning.
The Inclusive Organizations Executive Training is a half day program designed for peer-based learning experiences that inspires participants to drive further change. It is targeted towards C-suite executives, founders, and board directors of Canadian tech companies. While there is overlap with the other two programs, there are unique learning outcomes to better understand the C-suite strategic role to improve diversity and inclusion, articulate a compelling diversity and inclusion vision for the organization, identify key strategies and tactics, identify one or more actions, and commit to act.
Moving Beyond Inclusion: First Nations Technology Council
The First Nations Technology Council is an Indigenous-led organization based in BC that seeks to support a thriving Indigenous Innovation Ecosystem, in which Indigenous peoples are empowered with the necessary skills and certifications to thrive in our digital age, Indigenous communities are able to fully utilize technology to advance their visions and the technology sector is actively being shaped by Indigenous voices and perspectives as it responds meaningfully to reconciliation.
As part of the technology council’s sector engagement, it has launched a pilot program called Moving Beyond Inclusion: Partnerships and Reconciliation, of which the five initial participants were SAP Canada, Pagefreezer, Microsoft, and Bench Accounting. Moving Beyond Inclusion is led in partnership with Chastity Davis-Alphonse, Shelley Joseph, and Reciprocal Consulting, and supports companies to address barriers that prevent Indigenous persons from accessing employment, having a positive experience, and thriving within the host company. Moving Beyond Inclusion offers a sliding scale for participation fees based on company size and hours of consulting work.
HRx
HRx is a Canadian provider of EDI services that offers a range of products and services to address organizational needs. They have successfully acquired many prominent customers in Canada such as Crown Corporations, provincial governments, Government of Canada, Arc’teryx, and professional organizations from different industries. Their offerings can be broken down into three main categories of training, analytics, and consulting.
Diversity Works
Diversity Works is a training program by Human Resources Development Quarterly (HRDQ) consists of a 3-hour workshop as well as an interactive game for experiential learning that can address a range of different learning preferences or interaction types. When purchasing this package, an organization receives a variety of different activities and facilitation guides for up to 25 participants.
Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program, Cornell University
The Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program is a two-month paid online learning program offered by Cornell University. It addresses issues of employee engagement, interventions for unconscious bias, while providing specific diversity and inclusion strategies. This is led by an instructor with classes of up to 35 students. It requires an effort of 3-5 hours per week.
Compliance Training Group - Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace Training
Compliance Training Group is a part of Employers Choice Online Inc., an American employment screening and compliance training company. One of its offerings covers Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace for both supervisors and employees. It addresses issues of cultural competence, persistent challenges of bias and stereotypes, and how employers and co-workers can work together to meet EDI goals. Notably, this training consists of a series of online modules, which allows for flexible participation.
Centre for Creative Leadership's EDI Training
Some larger consulting and corporate training organizations, like the Centre for Creative Leadership offer a variety of different solutions that can be tailored for the goals, needs, and budgets of organizations. In this case, an organization could purchase access to a library of materials for self-directed online learning or a more involved solution where the provider partners with the customer to strengthen coaching and communication for building a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization.
The Creative Equity Roadmap is a resource developed by Creative BC and Elevate Inclusion Strategies to encourage everyone to consider career pathways in BC’s motion picture industry. As part of industry efforts to undertake transformative action to achieve greater equity, diversity and inclusion, the Creative Equity Roadmap is designed to centralize efforts with shared foundations, a common language, and baseline resources. These JEDDI (Justice, Equity, Decolonization, Diversity and Inclusion) efforts include a framework to consider these issues at an individual, organization, or industry level. There are also checkpoints to provide basic tools, training and supports to help the industry progress and be accountable.
Creative Pathways is an effort from the Motion Picture Production Industry Association (MPPIA) and Creative BC, in collaboration with many industry stakeholders, to support workforce development. This resource aims to champion a dynamic motion picture workforce in BC that is equitable, diverse, and inclusive, while providing information for career seekers. This platform offers specific supports to increase workforce participation of people from systemically excluded groups, highlights in-demand roles, and career information for those who are interested in joining this industry. It includes information for a variety of career paths, whether above-the-line (key creatives), below-the-line (freelance crew), or digital roles in animation, VFX or post-production.
