A George Brown College (GBC) representative introduced the college’s new anti-racism action plan to the Student Association’s board of directors at the SAGBC’s monthly board meeting on Tuesday.

In her presentation, the college’s Office of Anti-Racism, Equity and Human Rights Services (OAREHRS) director, Jennifer Grant, discussed different stages of anti-racism action plan development at the college. Grant said that her office has been focusing on figuring out specific actionable steps to implement anti-racism strategies at the college. 

“The strategy had some great language and had a great start. But how do we ensure that they are implemented and they don’t become something that is on a shelf and not being used,” Grant said.

“One of the requirements of the action plan is mandatory anti-racism training for all students, staff and faculty members. This will be implemented.”   

Developing a college-wide strategy for data collection with a focus on socio-demographic data is one of the key recommendations put forward by OAREHRS. 

In a Q&A session, the SAGBC’s director of communications and internal Sri Krishna Rajan asked Grant about ways that SA can ensure that OAREHRS is held accountable in implementing different goals outlined by the anti-racism action plan. 

In response, Grant said, “It is important for communities to think about the things they need to see to ensure that this work remains accountable. As we grow, we are going to develop [key performance indicators], we are going to ensure that there are areas that we are responsible for.”