30 Day Challenge: A Daily Practice Challenging Barriers to Equity

Posted on Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

Written by Sarah Joosse, Wellness@Work Coordinator

Wellbeing Waterloo Region have designed a 30 day challenge with daily practices challenging barriers to equity. The U of G Wellness@Work Programming Committee encourages you to do this challenge throughout the month of  November.

Sign-up for the Challenge  

Register for this challenge to receive reminders from Wellness@Work, as well as a calendar invitation for the de-brief session on December 3, 10-11am. 

View the challenge on the Wellbeing Waterloo Region website: https://www.wellbeingwr.ca/30-day-challenge/.

Each day, there is a short activity to help you learn, reflect and practice small actionable steps you can take.  Each daily challenge helps increase understanding and builds capacity on topics including, unconscious bias, social inclusion and various forms of privilege. The daily practices include short videos, articles, reflection questions and suggestions for actions you can take.

"We have seen the devastating impacts of inequity, injustice, and racism on Black and Indigenous peoples both around the world and in our own communities. Wellbeing Waterloo Region recognizes that racism is happening in our community; it is a longstanding and deep-rooted issue which necessitates transformational change across systems. We are committed to working together differently across our networks to address systemic racism as a barrier to equity, inclusion and wellbeing."  -Wellbeing Waterloo Region 

We understand this time of year can be very busy for many employees.  If you aren't able to do the challenge everyday, put a reminder in your calendar to re-visit the challenge each week and work your way through the 30 days at your own pace.  You could also do several challenges in one day (i.e. set aside 30 minutes to do days 1-3) if you find that works better with your schedule.

De-Brief Session

The challenge is designed to help you work through some discomfort and encourage new thinking and discussions. A de-brief session hosted by Diversity and Human Rights, Wellness@Work and Learning and Development to encourage you to connect with others who participated in the challenge, share new learnings, discuss areas of discomfort or challenges, update the group on any actions you have taken and pose any questions you have. Regardless if you complete the challenge or not, you are invited to join the de-brief session.

We hope you will take time to join us in this challenge!

Additional Resources

In addition to this challenge, Wellbeing Waterloo Region has a “Challenging Systemic Barriers: The Equity Lens” video series divided into three parts. There is an accompanying video discussion guide for facilitators that we encourage you to check out.

View a list of Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Resources from U of G's Diversity and Human Rights Office.

Explore resources for the Black, Indigenous and People of Colour Community on the Wellness@Work website.

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