12 highlights from our year

A commitment to diversity and inclusion

In 2020, organizations across the world were asked to confront long-standing issues of systemic racism and discrimination, including in universities and business schools. In our 2020-2021 year, Smith took a number of important steps to create a more inclusive community and learning environment.

The most significant initiative was the release of Smith’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Indigenization (EDII) Strategy and Action Plan in March 2021 to drive EDII change over the coming years. At the strategy’s core are six dimensions (responsible conduct; accessible and inclusive student experience; teaching and learning; support, resources and capacity; research and thought leadership; and community) with accountability built in through metrics, targets and key performance indicators.

In addition to the Strategy and Action Plan, a number of other important moves on EDII were made. Here are just a few:

The school launched the Blue Sky EDII Projects fund to supports initiatives by teams of Smith students, faculty and staff that promote innovations in fostering an inclusive and safe academic and work environment. The first round of project funding was announced on March 1, 2021.
As part of diversity efforts when recruiting for new faculty positions, Smith joined the PhD Project, an organization that promotes diversity in business schools. Members are Black, Latino, and Indigenous business students at all levels of business education and many will pursue PhD and academic careers and will therefore be future candidates for faculty positions.
In the classroom, mandatory EDII training is being introduced to all graduate students and a cross-masters student EDII club launched. In Commerce, the KAIROS Blanket Exercise was added to a second-year required corporate social responsibility course to increase student knowledge of Indigenous history. As well, two new courses were created: a core course, Business for Good: An Introduction to Impact-Driven Leadership; and an elective course, Relationships & Reconciliation in Business and Beyond.
And to help develop the business leader of tomorrow, Smith’s Career Advancement Centre partnered with two organizations: ICON Talent Partners, a not-for-profit that trains, mentors and exposes top BIPOC talent to employment sectors such as investment banking, asset management, venture capital and technology startups; and Onyx Initiative, a non-profit that works to expand the Black talent pipeline.

Learn more about Smith’s EDII Strategy and Action Plan.