Catholic School Board Hires New Equity, Diversity And Inclusion Advisor

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Windsor Essex Catholic Board file photo

The Catholic School board has a new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor. Michael Regis started in the new role on December 19th.

“My role will be to provide guidance to the Board’s leadership and to develop programs within the organization to make it more inclusive,” said Regis, who brings a wealth of experience to the position. “That includes creating strong partnerships with our stakeholders within the community and with parents so that we can build trust, understanding and respect together.”

Some of his immediate priorities include developing a human rights policy and a human rights concerns process that is compliant with the Ontario Human Rights Code, as well as board policies that deal with equity, diversity and inclusion. He’ll also assist in the development of data collection practices that identify any existing organizational biases, gaps or issues in hiring practices, diversity in the workforce and lived experiences of employees and work towards improving them.

Prior to joining the WECDSB, Regis was Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, a Diversity and Inclusion Specialist at Indigenous Services Canada and a Human Resource Specialist in Diversity and Inclusion with the City of Red Deer. He completed his Master’s degree practicum as a Diversity and Inclusion Project Manager with the Greater Victoria Police Diversity Advisory Committee.

“We’ve always placed a very high premium on being an inclusive school board where our staff and students feel safe, respected and welcome,” said Emelda Byrne, Director of Education, “however we acknowledge that we still have significant work to do in order to meet the expectations we have set for ourselves. We recently established an Equity Action Plan for our board which outlines some very specific goals, and we believe Michael will play an instrumental role in implementing that plan. We were very impressed by his credentials and professionalism, and we believe he’s the right person to help us move forward in the areas of equity, diversity and inclusion.”