Making Black Lives Matter in The Workplace: A Check-In on Promises Made

One Year Later: Is Corporate Canada Living Up to Its Pledge to Black Employees?

May 18, 2021 (Toronto, ON) - The Psychological Safety in the Workplace: Making Black Lives Matter Roundtable on Thursday May 27th, 2021 starting at 6:00pm EST examines the public commitments and pledges from corporations to prioritize the safety of Black employees. Facilitated on Zoom by Karlyn Percil-Mercieca, CEO of KDPM Consulting Group with shared expertise from a number of Black HR and organizational structure specialists including Tanya Sinclair (Founder, Black HR Professionals of Canada Inc.) and Jean-Marc Moke (Primary Investigator, Identity and Stigma Lab, Schulich School of Business). 

This Mental Health Awareness Month initiative focuses on what organizations must “Continue, Start and Stop” if they are to succeed in cultivating a safe and inclusive environment. “Following the murder of George Floyd one year ago on May 25th, thousands of corporations and businesses pledged to make changes to their policies to eradicate systemic racism, remove barriers and support Black employees,” says Percil- Mercieca. “This is a check-in on those promises and the psychological well-being of Black employees.”

Details will be announced about a partnership with KDPM, York University Department  of Psychology and the Black Students in Psychology Network to conduct a study of the impact of global events such as COVID-19 and racism on the well-being of Black employees and their workplace wellness and success. The aim of the study is to better understand what kind of culture, leadership and cultural norms need to be established in order for racialized employees to feel safe at work. Special focus will be placed on the impact these factors have had on Black women in the workplace. The report will be released in the Fall of 2021.

Last Spring, Percil-Mercieca released the WEII-Being Playbook, which featured racially and culturally diverse wellness practitioners, as well as highlighted the fundamental importance of maintaining intersectional mental and emotional health in the workplace.

Karlyn Percil-Mercieca is available for television, radio, print and digital interviews. She has appeared on OWN TV, CityLine, CBC, CNN, Forbes and in The Globe and Mail. Tanya Sinclair and Jean-Marc Moke are also available for interviews.

About KDPM Consulting Group Inc.:

Founded in 2017, KDPM Consulting Group Inc. is Canada’s top full-service Leadership, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consulting firm that offers transformational tools grounded in the science of human behaviour, positive psychology and neuroscience to create impactful human and organizational change.

About Karlyn Percil-Mercieca:

CEO of KDPM Consulting Group Inc. and the Founder of SisterTalk Group Leadership and Wellness Academy, Karlyn is a Certified Emotional Intelligence and Neuro-Life Coach with a keen focus on diversity, inclusion and belonging. SisterTalk is a group dedicated to amplifying the voices and success of Black, Indigenous, WoC., leveraging community, personal narratives and storytelling as a catalyst of success.  After spending more than 20 years in the FinTech industry, Karlyn knows first-hand the effects of racial gaslighting and undermining, as such she has dedicated her life to providing holistic diversity,inclusion and belonging solutions to combat sub-standard programming that fails to address the psychological and economic needs of Black, Indigenous, people of colour  in the workplace.