Dahabo Ahmed-Omer was born to shine. Her name ‘Dahabo’ literally means gold - and boy is she living up to her proud father’s “golden child” expectations in her current position as executive director of the BlackNorth Initiative, a non-profit organization committed to ending anti-Black systemic racism throughout Canada by utilizing a business-first mindset.
Set up by Bay Street businessman Wes Hall in the wake of the 2020 Black Lived Matter protests, the BlackNorth Initiative, whose tag line is ‘Strength(In) Diversity’, is on a mission to remove anti-Black system barriers that are negatively impacting the lives of Black Canadians. It is calling on corporations across the country, including insurance organizations, to boost diversity in positions of leadership and embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I).
Soon after its founding, the BlackNorth Initiative introduced its CEO pledge, which Ahmed-Omer said allows business leaders to “set the tone, lead from the top […] and walk the talk.” The CEO pledge asks CEOs to “acknowledge the existence of anti-Black systemic racism and its impact on Canada’s 1,198,540 Black citizens (or 3.5% of the population) and the need to create opportunities within our companies for Black people.”
It continues: “As leaders of some of Canada’s largest corporations, we manage hundreds of thousands of employees and play a critical role in ensuring that inclusion is core to our workplace culture and that our businesses are representative of the communities we serve. Moreover, we know that true diversity is good for the economy; it improves corporate performance, drives growth, and enhances employee engagement. Simply put, organizations with truly diverse teams perform better.”
The CEO pledge is not a legal document, Ahmed-Omer stressed. Rather, it is a principles-based document, which should speak to a leader’s true intentions.
“Are you in it for the right reasons? Are you going to do this work [on DE&I] because you know that it’s the right thing to do, and you’re not being forced into it? I think change happens more organically and more effectively when it is done from an intentional and deliberate space,” she said. “We wanted this CEO pledge to be very much based on principles – and it is. It talks about the very basic components of DE&I. Have representation, make sure that you’re having difficult conversations and that you’re learning about unconscious bias and anti-Black racism. That’s just the first stage of DE&I.
“For those of us that work in this space, there’s so much work that needs to be done. But this actually sets that baseline, it sets us up for success, and it speaks of the systemic issues that we’re challenged with. It’s not just surface; it’s dealing with the foundations of the challenges that we’re facing.”
Last week, the BlackNorth Initiative launched a new Racial Equity Playbook, created in conjunction with Boston Consulting Group to advance racial equity and assist corporate Canada in understanding how to tackle and correct systemic racism. As Ahmed-Omer put it, the Playbook was designed to “take the guesswork out of the equation and provide organizations with real, tangible steps to take toward racial equity.”
The Racial Equity Playbook, which all corporations are invited to download, includes six pillars of action:
“The idea behind the playbook is really [helping organizations to figure out]: ‘What framework are we working in? What’s the current state for Black Canadians?’ said Ahmed-Omer. “Look, I think generally we’re all good people. I don’t think there are evil people in this world. I really do not believe that. But I do believe there is a sense, or at least there’s a lack of understanding as to why this [DE&I] is important. And I think if you start to look at different tools and resources, and you read upon the state of Black Canadians and the impacts of [systemic racism], you will start to identify the things that you can do within your own business.”
While there has been progress in the year since the BlackNorth Initiative was formed, and there are signs that boardrooms and senior management across Canada are becoming more diverse, Ahmed-Omer said there’s always more work to do – and this is something the insurance industry knows only too well. DE&I has been a major topic in the industry over the past few years, with insurers under enormous pressure to evolve in order to meet their clients’, their employees’, and prospective talent’s needs.
Despite the challenges surrounding the ever-moving target of DE&I, Ahmed-Omer said she’s “honoured to be working” in the space. She added: “It’s really important, and it’s proven that businesses that have implemented DE&I strategies really do perform better, they have higher employee retention, and people are just happier. And so, creating a more diverse and wider [employee and] customer base just grows your business. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s the smart thing to do.”
