Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI)

The OALA Council believes developing excellence in our approach to diversity, equity and inclusion is foundational to our success as an organization and sees this work as integrated with and supportive of many of the goals and initiatives outlined in our strategic plan.

In the fall of 2021, the OALA, in collaboration with the CSLA, LACF and other component associations, hired Capillary Consulting to assist in the development of a national, provincial and territorial action plan for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI).

In June 2022, the Capillary Consulting Team delivered the action plan, which you can read here.

Resources

Visit the CSLA website for resources suggested by the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force.

June 1, 2021

The OALA is pleased to announce that, in response to concerns from members and associates regarding issues of racism within the professions and in the broader industry, the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Task Force was successfully formed in January 2021 following the consideration of overwhelming number of applicants to join the task force in November.

Task Force Members:

The Task Force is being co-chaired by Gail Shillingford and Zara Brown with the support of OALA Executive Director Aina Budrevics and OALA Council Members Morgan Quinn and Leah Lanteigne (former Council Member). Other members include Mark Hillmer, Ina Elias, Khatereh Baharikhoob, Shahrzad Nezafati, Tina George, Sukhman Sanghera, and Maxime Tudo.

Task Force Mandate:

The overarching mandate is to look at the demographic make-up of the profession, and the dominant culture(s), values and modes of practice, and provide guidance and recommendations to Council in the interest of increasing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

The first task of the DEI Task Force will be to put out a call for proposals for a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, review the submissions, and make a recommendation to Council for a consultant. Then, the task force will work with the consultant to create an action plan on diversity and equity in the profession for the approval of OALA Council.

The action plan will:

• aim to create initiatives with the goals of increasing engagement with members from underrepresented groups and looking at strategies to empower racial, gender, and social equity within the entire landscape architecture field.
• focus on a review of the Association and identify room for improvement in internal governance and processes.

If you have questions or comments email [email protected] and they will be directed to the Task Force.