Original Broadcast Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2021.

Summary: Earlier this year, Statistics Canada released the results of a survey exploring the diversity of charity and nonprofit boards in Canada. The results confirmed what many in the sector already know – that those who identify as immigrants, persons of colour, LGBTQ2+ individuals, persons with a disability, and First Nations, Metis, and Inuit are vastly underrepresented on nonprofit and charity boards of directors. In this panel discussion we discuss the implications of these findings and what organizations can do to build a more diverse and equitable sector, starting with their boards. Thanks to our panelists: the Honourable Ratna Omidvar, Senator for Ontario and Deputy Chair of the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector; Tania Cheng, Imagine Canada board member; and Trish Mandewo, Coquitlam City Councillor and Founder and President of Synergy on Boards Consulting Group.

Additional Resources

Diversity in Canadian Charities: Interview with Bruce MacDonald, Peter Dinsdale & Cathy Taylor
Statistics Canada Survey Shows Charitable and Nonprofit Boards Need to Improve their Diversity
Statistics Canada Data Show Lack of Diversity on Nonprofit Boards — Statement from Survey Advisory Group Members
The Diversity Deficit in the Boardrooms of Canada’s Charities

Webinar recording

About the panelists

The Honourable Ratna Omidvar, C.M., O.Ont.
Senator for Ontario, The Senate of Canada
Senator Omidvar has over 30 years of experience working in the charitable sector at senior levels of management as well as serving as a board director and a volunteer, including leading a private foundation, the Maytree Foundation. She has served as a board director and advisor on over 30 charitable boards including public agencies, boards and commissions. Senator Omidvar is also an internationally recognized voice on migration, diversity and inclusion. In April 2016, she was appointed to the Senate of Canada as an independent Senator representing Ontario. As a member of the Senate’s Independent Senators Group she holds a leadership position as Liaison. She also served as Deputy Chair of the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector. Senator Omidvar was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2005 and became a Member of the Order of Canada in 2011, with both honours recognizing her advocacy work on behalf of immigrants and devotion to reducing inequality in Canada. Senator Omidvar received a Honorary Degree, Doctor of Laws, from Ryerson University in 2018 and from York University in 2012.She is the co-editor of Five Good Ideas: Practical Strategies for Non-Profit Success (2011).

Tania Cheng
Tania Cheng (she/they) is a changemaker and systems thinker with over 15 years of experience working and volunteering in charities, nonprofits, social enterprises, and foundations. Tania currently spends their time supporting women and non-binary social entrepreneurs as the Director of Process Innovation at SheEO, helping innovation companies design DEI strategies as Director, Design and Strategy at Feminuity, and bringing design thinking to nonprofits and foundations through independent consulting. Previously, Tania spent over a decade leading youth engagement programs and advancing environmental sustainability. Tania serves on the Board of Directors of Imagine Canada, and previously served on the boards of Inside Out, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and The Otesha Project. Tania holds a Master in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership from Carleton University and Honours Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo. She lives, works, and plays in K’jipuktuk (Halifax) on the unceded lands of the Mi’kmaq people.

Trish Mandewo
Trish Mandewo is an experienced entrepreneur, Mentor, board professional, politician and author.  She was elected to the Coquitlam City Council in 2018.  She has won several awards including being named top 25 Canadian Immigrant.  She is the Co-Founder and CEO of Synergy Executive & Boards Consulting Group, a company that recruits and supports the advancement of Black, Indigenous and Visible minority subject matter experts and senior-level executives seeking to take their voices and expertise to the boardroom, c-suite and other decision-making tables.  

Trish has served on more than 15 boards.  She currently sits on the Women’s Enterprise Center Board, Union of BC Municipalities, Indigenous Relations Committee chair, Metro Vancouver Electoral Area A Committee, Black Opportunity Fund Governance Committee.  With an impressive career in embryology and years of experience as an entrepreneur, Trish has a passion to help women, youth, and the BIPOC community.  Her expertise is in board development, governance policy and procedures development, strategic planning with an EDI lens, stakeholder engagement, project management, governance relations and multi-sectoral relationship building.  Trish holds degrees from Oklahoma Batist University and University of Central Oklahoma.  She is the author of “Growth Strategies for the hungry entrepreneur.  She is privileged to live and work on the traditional and unceded territories of the Kwikwetlem Nations. 

CharityVillage is proud to host this free panel discussion in partnership with Imagine Canada.
Imagine Canada is a national, bilingual charity that works with and on behalf of Canada’s charities, nonprofits and social entrepreneurs to create an operating environment in which social good can thrive. We believe in a stronger Canada where charities work together, alongside business and government, to build vibrant communities. Imagine Canada’s programs and services support organizations of all sizes, and include research, federal public policy, Grant Connect, charity accreditation, and more.

 

“I found listening to the panel inspirational! There is a wonderful synergy when you hear people who see the sector from different angles.“

– Past CharityVillage Webinar Participant