Interac has been part of the fabric of Canada for over 35 years and we take our role as a trusted Canadian brand seriously. Events over the past month have shocked us, but it is important to recognize that this behaviour is not new. These racist acts have caused us to think honestly about how we can be a part of positive change and do our part as corporate citizens and human beings.
We believe change requires commitment outside and within our walls. Over the past several weeks we have been building the “Equity and Empowerment Initiative,” a new company-wide program that starts from within our walls but emanates outward. We are waging our effort on employee-based, public-facing and community-oriented fronts.
The effort is being championed by the Executive Team and the path forward is being charted by our Diversity and Inclusion Council. The effort is informed by an employee base that participated in organization-wide Open Forums earlier this month. The sessions were raw, sobering, enlightening and powerful all at the same time.
Our goal is to be intentional and purposeful in how we move forward. We want our words and sentiments to be backed by actions. We want our actions to reflect our level of commitment. We want to ensure that our attention to this is not fleeting.
The internal work is underway and we do that with our Diversity and Inclusion Statement of Intention as the guiding principle and our Interac mantra as our north star. Our external work begins today with this statement and our commitment to lend our financial and volunteer support to the five organizations that represent the themes of direct action, empowerment and growth:
- Black Business and Professional Association
- CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals
- Pathways to Education
- Tech Spark
- Visions of Science
You’ll hear more from us. Individually and collectively. We are one Interac.
