Inclusion Infusion

Posted on Friday, October 2nd, 2020

The prepared remarks of President Claude Brulé.

June 16, 2020

Welcome to this June edition of our Inclusion Infusions Live events where we hope to spark your curiosity about others, challenge your thinking about inclusion and diversity, inspire you to reflect on your own values and behaviours – and most importantly today – be catalysts for change. My name is Claude Brulé and I’m the President and CEO of Algonquin College.

I would like to begin by acknowledging I am joining this event from the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin people. Our speaker today, Hamlin Grange, is joining us from Toronto which is a sacred gathering place for many Aboriginal Peoples of Turtle Island. With this in mind, Algonquin College respectfully thanks the Algonquin people and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation for hosting us on their ancestral lands. Meegwetch.

Today’s event takes place in the context of heightened attention and importance surrounding the impacts of race and racism, in our country and in our communities. Our campus is certainly not immune from racism and hate, either. When we look around us and see that some people in our community are hurting, it is in our values here at Algonquin College to care. But simply caring and watching with shock, horror and sadness at events around us are not enough. We must improve our ability to recognize the subtleties of racism, speak up against it, and adapt our practices – both personal and institutional – to eliminate it.

We have work to do, and that work to usher positive change at Algonquin College can and should start with a series of personal, individual choices and actions from our employees, whether you’re a faculty, support staff or administrator, and our students — as Maya Angelou has said, “Nothing will work unless you do.”

As president of Algonquin College, I am duty-bound to lead this fine institution, and that means helping the organization to adapt and guide its people to take a series of tangible actions. But like you, I’m here today to learn, and so it gives me great pleasure to introduce our guest speaker, who will help us think in new ways about the challenges of our time in addressing racism, what that means, and what you can do about it.

Hamlin Grange has been recognized for his work in helping to create inclusive environments that value the contributions of all individuals. As President and co‐founder of DiversiPro, a workplace diversity and inclusion consulting company based in Toronto, Hamlin has worked for more than 20 years in a wide range of sectors including corporations, not‐for‐profit, media, law enforcement, health care and post-secondary education.

He has worked with Mohawk College, Confederation College and Nova Scotia Community College in developing equity, diversity and inclusion frameworks.

Hamlin is passionate about the power and promise of diversity, and believes a deeper understanding of how culture affects human interactions is a vital perquisite in today’s fast‐paced world.

He is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory or IDI, and a member of the faculty of the IDI Qualifying Seminar.

Before starting a career as a diversity and inclusion strategist, Hamlin had an outstanding and awarding-winning career as a print and television broadcast journalist.

Among his many awards, he is the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for community service.

Finally, I want to invite you to send any questions you may have during the presentation to the Q&A box at the bottom of the screen. We will have time at the end of the presentation for questions and answers — let’s keep our questions focused on what we can learn from our speaker. If you have questions that you would like to direct to me about what Algonquin is doing in this space, please email them to me directly at President@algonquincollege.com.

Thank you for joining us today, Hamlin!


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