Today I signed United Way Simcoe Muskoka’s “Professional Pledge of Reconciliation” on behalf of our charity’s staff.  

Through this pledge, as a team, we have collectively committed to the following: 

1. 1. To honour #92 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s calls to action for reconciliation.
   2. To support progressive improvement in our Indigenous, Inuit and Métis relations by encouraging our organization to participate in the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.  
   3. To commit to an in-house community investment strategy that is developed through joint planning with the Indigenous communities involved, including Inuit and Métis, and aligns with the goals and interest of those communities.  
   4. To ensure and encourage employment and career development opportunities for Indigenous, Inuit and Métis candidates.  
   5. To create a working environment that is inclusive and welcoming for Indigenous, Inuit and Métis employees and partners.  
   6. To identify contracting or procurement opportunities for Indigenous, Inuit and Métis businesses and economic development corporations.  
   7. To commit to generating positive and lasting change in our professional and personal lives. 
   8. To acknowledge the distinct and unique needs, including health needs, of Indigenous people including Inuit and Métis.

I was proud of our team for embracing this pledge as I feel that it is an important step in our organization’s movement towards reconciliation: it serves as internal official notice to the team that we are collectively committed to doing better and a public acknowledgement to our community of the same.  

Will we stumble and fall along the way?  

Inevitably we will. But, as a leader within this organization, I would rather that we stumble, fall, and learn from our misstep, than stand still without progress at all for fear of “doing something wrong”; doing nothing for fear of “doing it wrong” is part of the problem in the first place and has been one of the barriers preventing us from moving forward in the spirit of truth and reconciliation as organizations, communities, and as a country as a whole.  

Sincerely, 

Brian Shelley
Chief Executive & Philanthropy Officer
United Way Simcoe Muskoka

To learn more about Call to Action #92 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada click here.