TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism and the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professional (CAUFP) today announced the formalization of a strategic partnership to support the BlackNorth Initiative – one intended to support Black professionals on Bay Street and beyond.
“The BlackNorth Initiative and CAUFP are fully aligned regarding the critical need to begin dismantling systemic racism in corporate Canada,” said Wes Hall, Founder and Chairman of The Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism. “Corporations must do more to create and nurture Black talent pipelines to ensure proper representation at the highest levels. This is a natural partnership in a shared mission that will lead to measurable results.”
CAUFP has a membership base of over 600 Black professionals of various levels of seniority who work across various sectors on Bay Street. Together, the BlackNorth Initiative and CAUFP are jointly advocating for companies to work with them to:
- Hire more Black students for their internship/co-op programs (minimum of 5%).
- Ensure that enterprise wide succession planning strategies include a Black talent strategy that provides transparency in the promotion process, which ensures that mid-level employees are in the pipeline for future leadership positions.
- Disaggregate their employee race data and publish these annually, including data on executive representation and/or employee mobility statistics for each racialized group.
- Ensure that this commitment applies to all gender focused initiatives.
“Black professionals in Canada continue to face systemic barriers when it comes to equitable access to opportunities that lead to upward mobility and fair financial compensation,” said Meryl Afrika, President of CAUFP. “These barriers not only affect the careers of these Black individuals who work for Canadian corporations but also have economic consequences in our communities.”
The inaugural BlackNorth Initiative Summit will be held on July 20, 2020 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. At the summit, leaders will be asked to sign a CEO Pledge and deliver a statement regarding what their organization will do to combat the issue and to make our society free from anti-Black systemic racism.
Register to experience the BlackNorth Initiative summit with our incredible speakers, exclusive fireside chats and much more. Share or sign the CEO Pledge and submit to ceopledge@blacknorth.ca to participate.
About the BlackNorth Initiative:
The BlackNorth Initiative was created by The Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism to combat anti-Black systemic racism in Corporate Canada. The initiative challenges senior Canadian business leaders to commit their companies to specific actions and targets designed to end anti-Black systemic racism and create opportunities for all of those in the underrepresented BIPOC community.
About the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professional (CAUFP)
The Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals (CAUFP) is a member-based resource organization providing a link between corporations and the Black communities through innovative programs that facilitate economic growth and educational opportunities. For over 20 years, CAUFP has established itself as a catalyst for excellence and for the advancement of Black professionals in the Canadian economy.
