PORTFOLIO

Vaughan Tourism

DEI FRAMEWORKS/STRATEGIES

KLB was commissioned by the City of Vaughan to conduct and develop comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) education for local businesses. The objective was to conduct a one-day workshop conference and create 16 customized one-on-one DEI frameworks/strategies for select businesses/organizations.

Led by Kyra Knapp, the workshop and strategies developed included the collaboration of numerous subcontracted consultants with specialties in their respective fields. Due to inclement weather, the in-person conference was shifted to a virtual platform with 24 hours notice, yet resulted in better-than-expected program attendance and outcomes. DEI frameworks were designed to help businesses build a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. They included strategies and best practices for creating an inclusive culture, recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce, dealing with inequities in real-time, and promoting equity and fairness in the workplace.

The project tasked KLB with one of its toughest challenges to date: fully executing a complex collaborative project with subcontracted consultants within a narrow timeline. It involved the distribution of community expressions of interest, business selection, the pairing of consultants to businesses, the curation of cohesive deliverables amongst a diverse cross-national team, and adaptation due to unforeseen circumstances.

Deliverables:

  • DEI Education and Training

  • DEI Toolkit

  • Business Framework/Strategy Plans

Project Outcomes

DEI Training (Webinar): The creation of a one-day webinar that went over the importance of Diversity, Equality, Inclusivity, and Accessibility in the workforce from the perspective of well-known and established businesses and individuals which included: Joe Baker, Journeys in Equity, and Black in Hospitality.

Customized DEI Frameworks/Strategies: Assisting in the creation of personalized DEI Frameworks/Strategies for 16 different businesses with the help of a wide range of sub-consultants.

DEI Toolkit: Alongside the webinar, a toolkit was made available for business owners to ensure they had the right tools and guidelines to ensure their workplace follows DEI protocols.

Better Your Business:
Tourism Diversification Toolkit

What is this Toolkit?

The purpose of this toolkit is to provide material and resources that will strengthen your knowledge as you navigate a journey towards embodying Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and anti-racist tourism practices.

Our toolkit follows the following topics:

  • Diversity

  • Identity

  • Power

  • Privilege

  • Allyship

  • Equality vs Equity

  • Cross-cultural Communication

  • Social Action