Ask Me Anything: Representation in Leadership Matters

September 21, 2021 - Defence Stories

Featuring: Wendy Desir (DND), Reginald Desjardins (ECCC), and Nicole Elmy (CCG)

Co-hosted by: Samantha Moonsammy (DND) and Parthiban Muthukumarasamy (CFIA)

Opening Remarks: Chris Scipio (DND)

Date and time: Wednesday, September 22 at 1:00 to 2:30 PM EST

Audience: Open to all Government of Canada employees

Register: Online registration form

Link to join: Join the Live Event

Ask Me Anything is now on GC Collab! Click HERE to join the group. Access past recordings of AMAs on YouTube (you are now leaving the Government of Canada website).

Event description

We’ve heard from previous panelists the importance of representation in leadership and management. The Government of Canada, including its Public Service leadership, should reflect the beautiful mosaic of Canada. Decisions cannot be made without engaging and involving the populations they represent. For this Ask Me Anything we’ve asked a group of diverse Government of Canada Executives to share their experience and provide advice on how we can learn more and do better. This Ask Me Anything will focus on representation in leadership, asking the courageous question: “Are we on the right path?” Ask Me Anything is hosting this conversation with Reginald Desjardins, Nicole Elmy, Wendy Desir, Chris Scipio, Parthiban Muthukumarasamy and Samantha Moonsammy.

About the Ask Me Anything Series

This session is part of a series of Ask Me Anything sessions that are giving us a platform to share stories, listen, ask respectful questions and continue on our journey to becoming more inclusive organizations.

As individuals you can’t necessarily change where you live, you certainly can’t change your past, but you can adjust who influences you—through the authors you read, music you listen to, movies you watch and interactions with your community. The Ask Me Anything series provides you with an opportunity to increase your perspective—to learn from the lived-experiences of individuals who are bravely sharing their experiences to help educate and move the public service towards a culture where equity is embedded.

The series also provides an opportunity for you to know that you aren’t alone, these experiences, especially the negative ones are systemic and happen all too frequently throughout the public service. The objective by shining this light is to continually increase the network of public servants ready to take action and move forward towards a culture of inclusivity and belonging.

Opening Remarks from Chris Scipio

Christopher K. Scipio brings a wealth of expertise as a strategic policy advisor specializing in Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) and innovative approaches to policy and program development. Christopher has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies. He is an intersectional feminist and anti-racist committed to dismantling systems that oppress individuals and groups due to their race, gender, ability and other identity factors.

Christopher is also one of the founding members of the Defence Team’s Black Employees Network - a grassroots collective of Black civilian and military members that have come together to share their experiences, explore, discuss and create meaningful actions to support the dismantling of anti-Black racism.

Christopher is a past volunteer with Family Services Ottawa, the Ottawa Carleton Immigration Services Organization, the Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment (CCFWE) and is currently a board member of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada – National Capital Region. 

Since joining the federal public service in 2010, Christopher has worked primarily in the area of strategic policy and policy integration on a wide range of files including: access to justice, Indigenous justice, performance reporting, policy innovation, digital government, gender-based analysis plus, diversity and inclusion. Christopher has received several public service recognition awards for his work and is honoured to be one of the 2019 recipients of the Deputy Minister and Chief of Defence Staff Defence Team Impact Award for Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador.

Meet Our Amazing Panelists

Wendy Desir, Director, Workforce Performance & Development at Department of National Defence

In 2001, when I joined the Federal Public Service through a self-identified process for Visible Minorities in the PE Category I had never dreamed of becoming an Executive, 20 years later via another self-identified process to address bias at the EX Level. I just knew that I needed to work hard simply because I was raised with the belief that our most difficult experiences often lead to the greatest moments of our lives. This has been the foundation upon which I have built my life.

I have a diverse background with a unique blend of experience leading a broad range of operational, corporative and international functions, including in Foreign Affairs, Trade, Consular and Security abroad.

Everything that happened in my life happened by design, not by accident.

There are key moments in life that shape the course of who you are and who you’ll become.

First, the conditions in which I immigrated to Canada were very difficult, especially the political context in Haiti. Secondly, the reality check of being a woman and Visible Minority both in private and public workplace were a roller-coaster and quite hard. Thirdly, the experience of being a single mother pushed me to another level and I give thanks to my daughter for strengthening my wings so I could fly like an eagle above the challenges I had to face which enhanced my resilience.

Was I lucky? My answer to that is that I don’t get lucky…I make my own luck.

Reginald Akem Aton Desjardins, Manager, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Born Reginald Akem Aton Desjardins, father of two, husband of one, Master of ceremony for various events and a strong believer in physical activity.

Reginald was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and moved to Montreal in the late 80s to reunite with his family. He is the youngest of three, with two older sisters. Growing up in a single-parent home, he modeled himself after his sisters and mother which later helped him become a father and husband. His family survived Haiti's history of violence and dictatorship. He recalls being evacuated from school as gunmen were terrorizing the streets a few blocks away. His family moved to Ottawa in the mid-90s where he spent most of his teenage years and adulthood. He now calls Ottawa home and the best city to live in.

Starting his career as a Programmer Analyst for the Royal Canadian Mint and various not-for-profit organizations, Reginald also spent 13 years at Canada Post in increasingly senior positions, as Senior Manager in Business Operations and Planning for a Digital Division and an Advisor to the Director and Senior Vice President in Strategic Planning.

He joined the public service, indeterminately, in 2020, and is now Manager, Financial Oversight and Reporting, IT Framework Enablement at Environment and Climate Change Canada.

He has a BA in Marketing and Public Relations from l’Université du Québec en Outaouais, and is also a graduate from Collège La Cité in Computer Programming.

Interests and Activities:

• All types of physical activities – Reginald challenges himself primarily with callisthenic and gymnastics ring workouts.
• Volunteering for not-for-profits – Reginald has supported the CHEO Foundation for years as a coordinator for a bi-annual fashion show that raised over $33K for Sick Kids. He also led efforts that raised $30,000 following the earthquake that hit Haiti working directly with the President and CEO of Canada Post mobilizing the entire corporation of 65,000 employees.

Aspirations: To make a difference by always contributing for the greater good and spark the mind of kids to make a difference in this world.

Nicole Elmy, Director of Indigenous Relations, Canadian Coast Guard

Nicole Elmy is looking forward to speaking about her interesting journey to the Executive cadre in the federal government. Her varied experiences over the past 15 years range from working in Enterprise Architecture and Information Management in long-term acting executive assignments, to working directly with Deputy Ministers to advance Reconciliation priorities with Indigenous Peoples.

Nicole is a proud member of the Mohawk of the Bay of Quinte First Nation. She lives her passion for advancing Reconciliation through respecting each individual’s ongoing journey and promoting the voice of Indigenous youth in the Public Service. Nicole advocates strongly for education and cultural awareness as meaningful demonstrations of Reconciliation commitments.

She has recently taken on a new role that will position her to advance Reconciliation at the Canadian Coast Guard. As the first Director of Indigenous Relations (CCG), Nicole is accountable for enabling First Nations, Metis, and Inuit partnerships and collaboration across Canada, at CCG and in inter-departmental fora. Before joining CCG, Nicole led the establishment of the Canada Border Services Agency’s first Indigenous Affairs Secretariat, delivering on key commitments including an Indigenous Framework and Strategy for the Agency.

Meet Our Co-Moderator

Parthiban (Parthi) Muthukumarasamy, Executive Director of Food Safety Science, Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Parthi Muthukumarasamy is currently working as the Executive Director of Food Safety Science at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. In this role, Parthi manages a team of executives and professional staff involved in food safety surveillance, risk intelligence, risk assessment, science advice and research.

Parthi moved to Canada from India to pursue graduate studies. Upon graduation from University of Manitoba, he worked for private sector. He began his career with the public service in 2007 and has served in a variety of progressively senior roles within the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Parthi has experience in program development, operational delivery of regulatory programs, transformation, research and development, emergency management and international trade.

Parthi has represented Canada (2015-2018) as Senior Trade Commissioner responsible for agriculture trade at the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi and as head of Canadian delegation, he has led international negotiations with several countries on Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) matters and agriculture trade.

In 2020, Parthi was nominated as Champion of Visible Minorities at the CFIA. Together with the Chairs of the Visible Minorities Forum and volunteers, he works towards building a network to exchange ideas and best practices, creating awareness on Diversity and Inclusion, removing barriers and supporting recruitment and career development for visible minority employees at CFIA.

Meet the Host of Ask Me Anything

Samantha Moonsammy, L1 Advisor for Diversity and Inclusion for the Materiel Group, National Defence Headquarters

Samantha Moonsammy is the L1 Advisor for Diversity and Inclusion for the Materiel Group founded at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, Canada. She has spent over 15 years in the public service working in numerous communications, outreach and engagement initiatives that focuses on the people side of business.

But Samantha is much more than that. Her layers include being a woman, mother, partner, daughter, sister, community builder and immigrant. As an Indo-Caribbean Canadian she was born in Guyana, South America and immigrated to Canada as a toddler. From a young age, dating back to elementary school to the present, Samantha has been a leader in diversity, inclusion and equity, always helping to amplify the voice of others and create sustainable change in organizations to build deeper respect and understanding for all humans. Samantha lives in the Ottawa area and spent some time in Toronto and Barbados during her Master’s degree in Communications and Culture. She is a passionate world traveller who has worked and studied in India, China, France and the Caribbean. Her daily mantra: Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Mission - Ask Me Anything Series

We recognize that individuals are composed of a multitude of layers that make us who we are. We do not fit easily in one box or another and we can’t be neatly counted. We represent the mosaic of Canada.

It is important that we find value in each other’s experiences, differences and unique characteristics. When we build our cultural competencies, we are able to work better together in our teams and respond to each other with relevance, empathy and compassion. By celebrating and sharing our authentic selves, we gain greater appreciation of each other and the diversity that surrounds us.

We know through diversity, workplaces and communities are stronger, more successful and resilient. And most important, it creates spaces of inclusion and fosters a workplace of belonging where people feel valued.

#AMAChallenge

We encourage others to have courageous conversations with their peers. Use the monthly Ask Me Anything sessions as an opportunity to have brave conversations in your workplaces with your teams.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Invite your leaders and colleagues in your organization to an Ask Me Anything watch party, tune in live and watch the session together. Make sure it’s in their calendars.
• Before the watch party, book a “After the AMA – Team Session” with your immediate team for the day after the event for 30-60mins. Share the resource guide and have these questions for discussion.

After the AMA – Team Session Discussion Questions

1. What was my main takeaway – expand and share an amazing quote, story or moment
2. What made me uncomfortable/ what was one of my blind spots?
3. What is an example of a systemic discrimination that I am aware of in my life?
4. What am I not going to do anymore?
5. How can I use my voice/ influence – both overtly/covertly
6. Where am I going to dig in and learn more?
7. How will I continue this conversation?

It is important that we find value in the experiences, the unique characteristics of each other. When we develop our cultural competence, we are able to work better together within our teams and respond to each other with relevant empathy and compassion. By celebrating and sharing our authentic selves, we gain a greater appreciation for each other and the diversity that surrounds us.

Thank you to our contributors

Thank you to our contributors from across the Public Service of Canada – Canadian Coast Guard, Health Canada, National Defence, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

MCs: Parthiban Muthukumarasamy and Samantha Moonsammy

Panelists: Reginald Desjardins, Nicole Elmy, Wendy Desir, Chris Scipio

AMA Team: Tara Lockhart, Terri-Ann Hurst, Melissa Michaud, Natasha Lim, Jasmine Cousineau, Shelby Racine, Katie Freer, Lyrique Richards, Salisa Bose, Sandra Griffith-Bonaparte, Kurtis DePippo and Karim Kanji

Back to top