Building Allies

Overview of the project:

Alberta Network of Immigrant Women (ANIW), in partnership with the University of Calgary and the Alberta Men’s Network (AMN), received funding from Women and Gender Equity Canada (WAGE) to carry out a pilot project to examine the anecdotal information received by ANIW on biases, racism, and discrimination in employment and hiring practices in Alberta. The partnership, along with the guidance of the project advisory committee members, approached this problem through a community change model, which engaged two action groups: (1) immigrant women who have experienced employment discrimination, and allies working in human resources. The key objective of this project was to create equitable opportunities for immigrant women to participate fully in Canadian society.

The project documented immigrant women’s experiences of discrimination in hiring practices in Alberta. These experiences were shared with HR Allies, who also reflected on their own experiences and, importantly, HR allies described strategies that were working and had found to be effective ways to challenge the institutional barriers. The findings from the two action groups were shared and validated at a one-day Community Conversation symposium, attended by 62 HR allies, immigrant women, members of non-profit organizations, businesses, academics, and government representatives in June 2023.

Activities:

Focus Group Discussions

Community Conversation: Collective Strategies to Address Biased Hiring

Reports:

1) Snapshot brochure overview of project result

2) Community Conversation:

Video Report :

Booklet Report: Please Email info@aniw.org if you wish to have a copy.

3)  Immigrant Women’s Economic inclusion in Alberta Report: Barriers ,Solutions, Recommendations
Please Email info@aniw.org if you wish to have a copy.

We wish to thank the members of the project advisory committee, our ANIW Executive Director, Board members and staff.

We also wish to acknowledge the financial support of Women and Gender Equity Canada and our project advisor, who encouraged and promoted this work.

And to all the project participants, the immigrant women who participated in focus groups, those who are HR professionals and all those who joined in the community conversation and resulting social change process. This collective story would not have been possible without your fearless vulnerability. We hope we have honoured your courage, insights, and experiences and that this project will continue to enhance the economic inclusion of immigrant women in Alberta, Canada.

For further information and applications to the program please email info@aniw.org