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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 7, 20131% Minutes /Meeting Summary Advisory Committee on Diversity Thursday, March 7, 2013 7:00 pm Civic Complex — Main Committee Room Attendees: Kirk Mark, Community Appointee Devinder Panesar, Community Appointee Preet Panesar, [YOU]nity group Catherine Reidt, Community Appointee Jacob Yacoumidis, Community Appointee Dave Marlowe, Staff Representative Tanya Ryce, Staff Representative Renee Michaud, Recording Secretary Debbie Shields, City Clerk and Staff Representative Guest: Rebecca Rodrigue, Durham Mentoring Partnership Absent: Councillor Ashe C. Harper, Pickering Public Library Devorah Garland, Aids Committee of Durham Carlisle Miller, Community Appointee Item/ Details & Discussion & Conclusion Action Items /Status Ref # (summary of discussion) (include deadline as appropriate) 1. Welcome & Introduction DRPS Representative D. Shields advised that the new DRPS staff representative, Anil Maharaj, was unable to attend the meeting this evening. 2. Review and Adoption of the Agenda All Moved by Kirk Mark Seconded by Catherine Reidt That the agenda be revised to add a presentation from Rebecca Rodrigue, Durham Mentoring Partnership, and defer the Terms of Reference item to the April meeting. Carried 3. Review and Adoption of Minutes Moved by Jacob Yacoumidis Seconded by Devinder Panesar That the minutes of the February 12, 2013, meeting be approved. Carried Page 1 CORP0228 -2/02 4. Business Arising from the Minutes Update on Events (Tea and Talent Night and Heritage Day) Update to be received at the next meeting due to D. Garland's absence. Wellness Forum D. Shields noted that Councillor Ashe had confirmed Dan Carter's availability as guest speaker at the forum in the morning on May 4 th She also noted that the Accessibility Advisory Committee has agreed to partner with the Advisory Committee on Diversity to plan this event and have nominated two committee members for the sub group. The committee needs to nominate two representatives for the sub -group and discuss a meeting date for the new sub -group to meet. C. Reidt advised that she is unfortunately not able to assist with this event due to other commitments in the next few months. D. Shields noted that the timeline for the preparation of this event was very tight and that decisions would have to be made on what the event involved. She also noted that Committee Members would have to assist with the preparation due to the short time line. She noted that normally when planning events City Staff followed an event critical path template which allowed for a minimum of a 3 month planning timeline. The document was circulated to committee members to give them a better understand what is required to plan events. D. Shields noted that in order to plan this event with such a short timeline, Committee Members would have to help. K. Mark expressed concerns about staff not being able to plan the event for May. He noted that the committee should have been informed of time constraints last month during the discussion on the event. It was stated that they have never had to help with the planning and indicated that this has not been a concern for other events, i.e. Heritage Day, Diversity Forum. But given the circumstances, it would be better to postpone the event to a later date. Page 2 CORP0228 -2/02 D. Shields advised that last month she thought the Committee was farther along with the vision of the event and what the Committee wanted at the event. She stated that over the last month she realized the planning of the event was not that far along. She stated that staff representatives are not responsible for planning these events on their own and input and help is required from committee members. She noted that the other events have been around for awhile and are currently in the Committee's annual work plan. The Committee and staff have already created and designated the plan for these events. She noted that when the committee decided on this event, a plan should have been in place prior to moving forward and setting a date. We are still at the initial planning and development stages for this event, with no itinerary or schedule for the event and that is why D. Shields was suggesting to the Committee that they might want to consider a later date for this event. J. Yacoumidis suggested that it may be more reasonable to host the event in September and enquired if committee members would consider moving it to that time instead. D. Shields noted that this would definitely allow for more time to plan a well organized and successful event. D. Shields noted that we need two volunteers who would like to be on the sub - group. K. Mark and J. Yacoumidis both volunteered for the sub - group. D. Shields advised that the sub -group should have an initial meeting and then report back to their respective committees. Staff representative advised that schedules would be checked to determine attendance at the sub -group meeting in order to provide guidance as needed. It was also noted that once the Committee's determined what the event would consist of and who they wanted to invite, staff would assist with booking facilities and mail outs to perspective organizations. J. Yacoumidis agrees that it would be helpful to have a staff representative attend the sub group meetings. Discussion followed on proposed dates for the sub group meeting and it was agreed to check with the 2 committee representatives from the Accessibility Advisory committee for their availability on Tuesday, March 19th or Thursday, March 21 st. CORP0228 -2/02 Clerk's Office to coordinate the meeting and advise committee and staff representatives. Page 3 R. Rodrigue, Durham Mentoring Partnership, mentioned that her organization would like to be involved in the Wellness Forum. It was suggested that staff check to see if the Wellness Forum could be included in the Pickering Recreation Complex Anniversary which is held in September. It was determined that this would be a great opportunity as the focus is already on health and fitness and it draws a large crowd. It was also noted that staff need to check to see if any funds are available in the Diversity budget account. Moved by K. Mark Seconded by J. Yacoumidis To postpone the May 4th event and cancel the facility booking and the keynote speaker and to partner with the Pickering Recreation Complex Anniversary event if possible. Terms of Reference This item was deferred to the April 11 meeting. Upcoming Events (Ribfest, CCACN & Canada Day) Ribfest T. Ryce advised that the Committee could share a booth with the City at the Ribfest event which is scheduled for May 31 to June 2. She noted that there would have to be Committee Members at the event at all times if they decided to participate in the event, City staff would not be able to assist. She suggested that it would be best if the committee featured an attraction, i.e. face painting, etc, and questioned how they plan to engage the participants at this event. Canada Day T. Ryce advised that the Committee could share a booth with the City again but also advised that committee representative would need to be at the booth at all times as city staff are busy with the Canada Day activities and would not be able to assist. The committee members agreed to confirm their participation at the next meeting. CCACN T. Ryce indicated that they met with them last month and they are awaiting confirmation that they have their permit. The date is yet to be confirmed. CORP0228 -2/02 e T. Ryce to confirm that the committee can partner with the Pickering Recreation Complex Anniversary event and confirm the date. Page 4 5. Correspondence All Presentation received -from Rebecca Rodrigue from the Mentoring Partnership, which is associated with the Durham Region Unemployed Help Centre. R. Rodrigue mentioned that the Mentoring Partnership brings together skilled immigrants and established professionals in occupation that are specific to the new immigrant and create a mentoring relationships. Skilled immigrants entering the program have the education, experience, and language skills to succeed in the labour market. What they need are the local insights and access to professional networks that only a one -to- one professional connection with a mentor can offer. Her role is to match the mentees with a mentor and guide them through the mentoring program. Mentors and mentees commit to a total of 24 hours over four months. Meetings can be in person, online, over the phone and include referral meetings. This is a more humanistic approach for job placement. Founding partners include: TD Bank Financial Group, the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, Manulife Financial and Maytree. The Mentoring Partnership is a TRIEC program. For more information or to register for the program, visit www.thementoringpartnership.com Question and answer period followed. It was noted that the mentors are matched based on the industry or field of expertise. Health care is a more complicated process for mentees as there are some retraining and recertification issues. Most popular fields are IT, Engineer and Finance (Banking). Rebecca mentioned that she could provide statistics and a breakdown if anyone is interested. As of April 2012, they had over 600 matches and 70% of mentees gained employment. This is a very good rate of placement. T. Ryce mentioned that she has also met with the representatives from the Welcome Center, the Mayor and staff from Economic Development in order to broaden the City's involvement with these types of opportunities. Moved by K. Mark Seconded by C. Reidt Page 5 CORP0228 -2/02 Meeting Adjourned: 9:10 pm Copy: City Clerk Page 6 CORP0228 -2/02 That the City of Pickering investigate the possibility of D. Shields to forward partnering with The Mentoring Partnership. The information information to the will be forwarded to the Chief Administrative Officer's (CAO) CAO's Office. Office to be referred to Human Resources. 6. Survey Update All To date we have collected over 60 completed surveys. A question was raised whether the survey needs to be revised and if the data collected is helpful. T. Ryce mentioned that more surveys could be completed at the March 20th Diversity Forum. The [You]nity group mentioned that they will circulate the T. Ryce to action. survey at the March Break camp. T. Ryce offered to donate water bottles to the students for people who complete the survey. The students volunteered to collect survey data at the Pickering Recreation Complex. T. Ryce mentioned that they could advertise the survey on the rolling billboard at the Canada Day event in order to make residents aware. 7. 2012 Work Plan Updates /2013 Work Plan Items Tanya Ryce The draft copy of the 2012 Accomplishments / 2013 Proposed Work Plan was circulated for review and comments. Moved by K. Mark Seconded by D. Panesar That the 2012 Accomplishments / 2013 Proposed Work Plan be submitted as correspondence at the March 25th Council Meeting. 8. Other Business All No other business. Meeting Adjourned: 9:10 pm Copy: City Clerk Page 6 CORP0228 -2/02