Indeed created a similar program in the United States three years ago and has seen a significant impact on the film industry. LaFawn Davis, Senior Vice President of Environmental, Social & Governance at Indeed posits, the collaborative efforts of Indeed, BIPOC TV & Film, Hillman Grad and TIFF highlight the need to dismantle “barriers to employment” faced by BIPOC Canadians and “create opportunities” by building “a stronger, more equitable” workforce in film and television.

Indeed’s Breaking Down Barriers report has identified that 46% of BIPOC Canadians have expressed experiencing race related discrimination and 45% attribute this prejudice to their nationality or ethnicity. These findings have strengthened Indeed’s pursuit “to tell diversified stories, provide opportunities for marginalized talent and to create sustainable job opportunities for talented underrepresented creatives”.

TIFF ‘23 provided an opportunity to bring this discussion into the spotlight. On September 11, a panel discussion, led by industry professionals, focused on breaking down barriers for Canadian BIPOC filmmakers. The micro-session was hosted by LaFawn Davis and included panellists: Director X (Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Fela, Across the Line, Superfly), Kadon Douglas (Executive director of BIPOC TV & Film), Miguel Angel Cabarello (Indeed Rising Voices Filmmaker – The Ballad of Tita and the Machines) and Tristin Greyeyes (Writer, Director, Producer and Festival Programmer – Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Awareness, Spirit). The panel discussed the importance of inclusion in the film industry and the impact this revolutionary program will have on creating and sustaining diversified representation in film and television. Over the next year, mentees will be selected and will be given the opportunity to participate in career advancement initiatives. Mentees will engage in monthly workshops, development sessions, and networking and will have access to TIFF memberships and facilities. Furthermore, participants will be given the chance to pitch their film concepts at next year’s Rising Voices premiere in New York City.

Applications for Rising Voices Canada open this fall wherein five Canadian filmmakers will be selected as mentees. The mentees will then participate in career accelerating practices including networking with other writers, producers and directors. This development will be facilitated by BIPOC TV & Film. Executive director Kadon Douglas highlights the “tremendous strides [made by BIPOC TV & Film] in creating opportunities for underrepresented communities in recent years”. Douglas suggests this program “will not only give short-term guidance to up-and-coming BIPOC Canadian filmmakers, but it will also set them up for long-term success with the proper training and resources”. Rishi Rajani, CEO at Hillman Grad affirms this sentiment offering, “it’s been our mission at Hillman Grad to build a support system for underrepresented talent. We are so excited to bring that philosophy to Canadian creators with this initiative”.

Three years ago, Rising Voices was created by Indeed in collaboration with Hillman Grad Productions – founded by  Emmy award winning creator Lena Waithe (Queen & Slim, The Chi), Ventureland and 271 Films. The aim of Rising Voices was to “discover, amplify and invest in BIPOC storytellers”; since its launch, the program has received over 1500 applications and created over 2000 jobs for its 30 films. This program has garnered international notoriety amongst high profile film festivals including Tribeca, Sundance and Pan African Film.

BIPOC filmmakers and storytellers can check out BIPOC TV & Film’s website for the Rising Voices Canada Mentorship program. The portal will be available in early October. This is your chance to work with industry leading professionals and develop your skills, knowledge, network and resources. Raise your voice because talent may be universal but opportunity is not.

The post Rising Voices Canada: Talent is Universal. Opportunity is Not. appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Describe your charity in a few sentences.

GEM is an evidenced based mentorship program, founded, led and made up of dedicated women who believe every girl deserves equal opportunity to develop skills, pursue higher education, build successful career paths, and attain productive and secure employment.

The GEM community is passionate about building more inclusive societies and advancing inclusive economic growth. By providing young women with mentorship, critical competencies, scholarships, internships and social capital, GEM offers a transformative experience that empowers success long after high school graduation.

When did you start/join it?

GEM was founded in 2012.

Since 2012, our program for marginalized high school girls lends us extensive expertise in the mentorship of young women and the issues that impact their lives.

What differentiates us is our focus on research, results and design thinking.

It took two years of collaborative design thinking and research with educators, social workers, policy experts, consultants, and marginalized high school girls to co-create GEM.

Every year we complete a social impact assessment with UofT to evaluate our results and improve our program.

What problem does it aim to solve?

The Problem: Marginalized, racialized girls, facing multiple socio-economic barriers have a disadvantage in achieving future prosperity and economic success.

The Solution: GEM provides research-based mentorship, internships, scholarships, professional skills and experiential workshops.

We believe mentorship is essential in fostering the success of the next generation.

We believe mentorship is critical to creating gender equality as well as diversity and inclusivity in Canada.

Our goal is to reduce systemic barriers, improve academic opportunities, improve career guidance, economic opportunities and enrich social capital for young girls facing multiple socio-economic barriers.

What made you want to get involved?

I always tell the story of when I was a graduate student, I noticed so many men in my program had formal and informal mentors. These mentors were opening doors for their mentees, leading to interviews and internships. Essentially, these mentors were helping the next generation of men succeed. What was interesting and unfortunate was none of the female students in my program had mentors.

Twenty years ago, it wasn’t as common for women to mentor other women, and I became determined to change that.

Fast forward several years, I was still very interested in creating a mentorship culture for women and I was also very interested in social innovation. When I was at a stage in my career that I could give back (time and money) I decided to start GEM. I felt creating a mentorship culture in Toronto would not only lead to economic security for young girls facing socio-economic barriers but over time it would lead to diversity, inclusivity and equality in the workforce.

We know that we need to create a diverse talent pipeline if we want to see more diversity and inclusivity in c-suite positions and at the board level. I think mentorship is one of the ways to help us get there.

What more needs to be done?

We have only scratched the surface in terms of mentoring girls facing socio-economic barriers. We want to reach more girls in the GTA and outside of the GTA. There is so much to be done in smaller cities and rural communities.

How can our readers help?

-Apply to be a mentor at GEM!
-If you are a corporation that believes in diversity, equality and inclusion – talk to us about partnership opportunities and internships
-Donate to GEM
-Learn more about our program by visiting our website
-Follow us on social media (Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter)
-Read our published research studies and impact assessments
-Promote mentorship in your workplace and in your community

Do you have any events coming up?

This year, GEM is celebrating its 10th anniversary and we are looking forward to celebrating this milestone with our community.

We will be announcing an exciting new partnership for International Women’s Day

We will be hosting a virtual Friendraiser for future mentors in the coming weeks. Email info@girlsementorship.com if you’d like to attend.

PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity that you love?

There are so many awesome local charities. I’m a mother of two so I tend to gravitate towards any charity that helps children and youth.

I’ve always been a big fan of Pathways to Education. I simply love what they do.

Covenant House is a very important organization in our city and I’m so happy they received funding from The Slaight Foundation.

I also think Sick Kids is doing amazing work.

I also really respect the work of Charity Intelligence. They analyze hundreds of charities making it easier to assess impact and guide giving decisions.

The post Charitable Choices: Girls E-Mentorship (GEM) appeared first on Toronto Guardian.