Our Commitment
Goss Gilroy Inc. (GGI) recognizes the value and importance that equity, diversity, and inclusion brings to our company. We see it as an asset and strength of our organization. The consultants at GGI intentionally embrace equity, diversity, and inclusion professionally and personally. We recognize these pillars of excellence as crucial and necessary to cultivating an institutional culture that values, supports, and promotes human rights, pluralism, meritocracy, respect, and accountability among and for all staff. We encourage and support individual and collaborative efforts to identify and address inequities and exclusion. We work towards intentionally creating safe spaces for dialogue and understanding. At GGI, we welcome and enable contributions of all voices as we engage with diverse ideas, knowledges, and perspectives in the pursuit of inclusive excellence.
We Understand Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
As a female-led, Indigenous owned company, GGI has intentionally sought to incorporate diverse lived experiences which includes voices that are representative of the clients we seek to serve, and learn from. Our staff have roots in many parts of the world including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America – Indigenous, North America, and South East Asia to name a few. We speak more than eight languages. Our staff have faced systemic barriers personally and professionally throughout their careers as a result of their race, ethnicity, age, gender, socio-economic status, physical disability and sexual orientation. We have experienced bullying, racism, and oppression.
This is what sets us apart from other companies. We personally understand the impact of inequities, exclusion, and isolation. We understand the role of power and privilege. We also understand that equity, diversity, and inclusion is a journey and not a destination. It is about embracing all people, and understanding the barriers they have faced as a result of their intersectional identities and world experiences. It is about listening to their unique stories, creating safe spaces for dialogue and understanding. It is also about engaging voices that have often been absent or silenced in order to develop a work culture in which each person is able to thrive and be seen. It is about empowering equity-seeking groups to confidently share their strengths, knowledges, creativity and lived experiences knowing they will be valued, respected, and welcomed. It is about creating additional value for your organization by fully embracing and incorporating the creative and intellectual capacity that is present in all employees.
Our Approach To Working With Equity Seeking Groups
Humility, empathy, and active listening skills have enabled us to successfully create safe and trusting spaces enabling our clients to share their experiences with confidence. We work collaboratively to develop solutions which incorporate the voices, ideas, and thoughts of all stakeholders. As a result, the solutions we develop are high-impact, relevant, and sustainable.
How We Define Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
- Equity is the fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some staff. Improving equity involves increasing justice and fairness within the procedures and processes of organizations or systems, as well as in their distribution of resources. Tackling equity issues requires an understanding of the root causes of outcome disparities within the organization.
- Diversity includes all the ways in which people differ, encompassing the different characteristics that make one individual or group different from another. While diversity is often used in reference to race, ethnicity, and gender, it is important to use a broader definition of diversity that also includes age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, and physical appearance. Diversity should also include diversity of thought: ideas, perspectives, values, and lived experiences. It should be noted that individuals may live with an intersection of identities and as a result may experience simultaneously multiple systemic barriers.
- Inclusion is the act of intentionally creating environments in which any individual or group can be and feel valued, welcomed, respected, and supported to fully participate. An inclusive and welcoming climate embraces differences and offers respect in words and actions for all people. It’s important to note that while an inclusive group is by definition diverse, a diverse group isn’t always inclusive. Increasingly, recognition of unconscious or ‘implicit bias’ helps organizations to be deliberate about addressing issues of inclusivity.
