Corporate Class Inc. Launches The Centre for Diversity and Inclusion

centre for diversity and inclusion

Corporate Class Inc. (CCI), industry experts and thought leaders in the leadership training and coaching space, announce the launch of the Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) to further move the needle on diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

CDI aims to help organizations and leaders be inclusive, free of bias and discrimination, while educating and training individuals through interactive, experiential methods to move towards safe spaces for dialogue and initiate action. Dr.Georgette Zinaty, Executive Vice-President, CCI, will be the Practice Lead for the new division under the CCI brand.

Why Are We Launching the Centre for Diversity and Inclusion?

Around the world, we have been witnessing movements, activism, and unfortunate events underscoring the need for inclusive leadership that supports ensuring marginalized groups get a seat at the decision-making table. From #MeToo to Black Lives Matter, different minority groups have been pushing against systemic fault lines to be heard.

As subject matter experts and long-term advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion, we at Corporate Class Inc. (CCI) want to leverage our skills and expertise to help organizations move beyond strategies on paper to make inclusivity a reality in the workplace. Thus, the idea for the Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) was born.

Our mission is to help organizations and leaders build a better way of life for our diverse workforce, and move people from good intentions to the integration of inclusion. We conducted extensive research and drew from our experience and expertise to create a plethora of:

When employees feel respected, their engagement and performance increases, leading to a rise in the overall team performance.

Our CDI offerings aim to help organizations and leaders achieve this phenomenon by being free of bias and discrimination, right from recruiting and training to empowering their employees.

What Does the Future of Leadership Look Like?

The blog from our Executive Vice President, Dr. Georgette Zinaty, Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is No Longer Nice to Have – It’s a Must Have, delved into the current state of leadership and the increasingly discriminatory effect the pandemic has had on women and marginalized groups. In terms of job loss and greater marginalization, the most affected by the pandemic are women and BIPOC communities, to the extent that we have seen a regression in the progress made for equity.

Research and recent data point to an increase in organizational performance when there is true diversity and inclusion within organizations, particularly at the senior levels.

Indeed, inclusive organizations gain the competitive advantage of being able to attract the best talent, with diverse skill sets and perspectives, who will contribute to the employer’s goals with their insights and knowledge. This competitive advantage increases when employees feel a sense of belonging and are invested in their own professional growth and that of their employer.

Therefore, inclusive leadership is a must. Not just from a social perspective, but also from an economic outlook. Organizations and individual leaders must buckle up and focus on reducing inequity and creating more inclusive environments where diverse individuals feel valued, respected and secure.

How Does CDI Plan to Build Better Leaders?

Many organizations today are making efforts to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive in their culture. However, having a DEI plan or committee is a start but not enough to address systemic changes that are often needed.

We at CDI can help align policies and practices across business functions and verticals to integrate DEI strategies and leverage qualitative and quantitative methods to determine policy gaps, identify a baseline and critical areas for measurement, along with supporting the setting of metrics and goals to measure performance.

Below we highlight some of the steps CDI aims to work with clients on.

For results, we work with you to identify, assess and create measurable action points to ensure the short and long-term sustainability of D&I strategies in the workplace and generate tangible outcomes. The results allow organizations to elevate the quality of life for employees and be a true employer of choice.

Through our assessments, consulting, training and surveys, we go beyond the usual data and dimensions generally tracked by organizations, such as race, gender, and sexual orientation. We work closely with clients to understand their requirements for hiring, employee retention and engagement, promoting employees, supply chain and vendors, among other things, to determine how we can help them develop a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture.

We work on the what, the how, the why and the when. Today, great organizations must have DEI strategies for a strong talent pipeline and as part of their larger ESG strategy; and they lead by example. Let us help you raise the bar and be the best example in your sector.

CDI is a resource for organizations and leaders who aim toward making D&I strategies easily accessible and implementable for their teams, their business and individual leaders alike.

We want to create a new generation of leaders who take the effort to create sustainable change, not just from a competitive advantage perspective but also to create a more equitable social order.

We want to further move the needle on diversity and inclusion through effective strategy, policy-making, and training, so we can have a brighter and more inclusive future.

Here’s more about our new division, the Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI).