Toronto, ON, September 26, 2012. On October 1-3, 2012, Maytree, along with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group, will be hosting delegates from 20 international cities who are coming to Toronto to learn more about the DiverseCity onBoard program and how to adapt it to their city context.
Opening remarks were provided by Helmut Stadler, Project Manager of BMW i & Sales Funnel Management at BMW Group Canada and Jean-Christophe Bas, Senior Advisor at the UNAOC.
DiverseCity onBoard trains and facilitates placements of highly qualified candidates on boards of voluntary organizations and governance bodies of agencies, boards and commissions to address the lack of diverse leadership in governance positions in the Greater Toronto Area. In December 2011, the program drew attention from across the world when it was awarded second prize in the Intercultural Innovation Awards at the UNAOC Forum in Doha, Qatar.
“Our upcoming Learning Exchange will allow us to share what we’ve learned and build an international community of practice on good governance,” says Ratna Omidvar, President of Maytree. “Our global partners recognize that diversity is a great Canadian export, and when matched with governance the benefits of diversity are powerful.”
Since the program was launched seven years ago, more than 600 board appointments have been made and participating organizations have benefited through better decision-making, increased creativity and improved financial outcomes as well.
While in Toronto, participants will learn about the DiverseCity onBoard program, including how they recruit board candidates from diverse communities, and discuss how the program could be replicated in their city.
The following cities will be represented: Auckland, Atlanta, Barcelona, Berlin, Birmingham, Boston, Calgary, Cologne, Copenhagen, Dublin, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Louisville, Montreal, Oakland, Ottawa, Stuttgart, Sydney, and Vienna.
About DiverseCity onBoard
DiverseCity onBoard, a Maytree program, is part of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project, a joint initiative of Maytree and the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance. It connects qualified candidates from visible minority and under-represented immigrant communities to the governance bodies of agencies, boards and commissions and voluntary organizations in the Greater Toronto Area. Over 600 organizations and over 1,500 pre-screened qualified candidates from visible minority and immigrant groups are registered on its searchable database.
Media Contact
Markus Stadelmann-Elder, Communications Manager, Maytree, 416-944-2627 x284, mselder@maytree.com