In the media, we all see images of poverty in Aboriginal communities. What we don't see are images of successful Aboriginal professionals in the workplace. That's not because there aren't any, but because of the way Aboriginals are portrayed in mainstream media.
This is what the Aboriginal Human Resources Canada (AHRC) set out to change with Inclusion Works, an inclusion and career convention.
"At the Aboriginal Human Resource Council, we are fortunate to witness the education and workplace success of so many Aboriginal people, says Kelly J. Lendsay, president and CEO of AHRC. We wanted to help close the Aboriginal employment gap and breakdown the negative stereotypes of Aboriginal people by sharing positive news and profiles of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people to Canadians through the media. We also wanted to profile the business case for inclusion and the good work being done by many employers that are committed to social and economic inclusion."
Inclusion Works is an annual national event. Approaching its fifth year, Inclusion Works hosts employers and Aboriginal grads from across Canada. The event acts as a catalyst for social and economic inclusion with case studies, workshops, and a recruitment fair. The partnerships, AHRC hopes, will help create jobs for recent Aboriginal graduates and increase inclusion in the workplace.
There is a strong need to improve Aboriginal inclusion in the workplace: unemployment rates in Aboriginal communities are double that of non-Aboriginal populations. This unemployment leads to a huge disparity in living conditions across Canada. Aboriginal Peoples also face challenges that other groups do not, in access to education and networks to access progressive career paths.
Elyse Campbell a recent MBA grad from the University of Saskatoon's Edwards School of Business, attended this year's Inclusion Works after a long road of work and study. I left high school with a plan to go to university, Campbell says, but discovered that I couldn't afford to go to school for four years and needed to find a program that would allow me to start working as quickly as possible ... So I went to college to pursue a three-year business administration marketing diploma that I knew I could transfer into a university degree later if I needed to and while I was in school, I worked a few part-time jobs and took on some student loans to get through it.
Campbell graduated with her diploma. She worked full-time and went back to school to finish her degree. After more student loans, an internship in San Francisco, and getting married, then divorced, she returned to do her MBA. [I did it]so I could earn enough to not only support myself and pay off some student loans but actually start to enjoy life.
And that's where I am today, she says. I want to just enjoy working one job without any classes on the side for the first time since high school.
At this year's Inclusion Works in Edmonton, Campbell originally planned for interviews with four employers. By the end of the day, she met seven. I think that surprised me the most—that after an interview, these recruiters were willing to follow up with you and build jobs or source jobs in their organization, they were all very approachable and genuinely interested in finding the right match, Campbell said.
Success breeds success. You really do see the people that have gone through Inclusion Works and they have open doors, broken down barriers, created networks, and had life-changing experience, said Kelly Lendsay. I think we are developing the future leaders of Canada. Over the next five, 10, 15 years they are going to emerge into public and private sector leaders: running corporations, running public service, and our Aboriginal organizations.
The Aboriginal population is the fastest-growing demographic in Canada. In the next 15 years, more than 400,000 Aboriginal youth will reach the age to enter the labour market. At Inclusion Works, it is this image of a strong, diverse, and accepting workforce that the Aboriginal Human Resource Canada is working to cultivate.
Photo: Creatas Images/Thinkstock