Ask Me Anything with Ryan Trudeau: A Courageous Conversation on White Fragility

December 6, 2021 - Defence Stories

Featuring: Ryan Trudeau and Rob Chambers

Co-hosted by: Faduno Ali and Samantha Moonsammy

Date and time: Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 1:00 to 2:30 PM EST

Audience: Open to all Government of Canada employees

Link to join: Join the Live Event

Ryan Trudeau is using his voice of privilege towards our goal of creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive public service.

Join us for a courageous conversation on December 15, 2021 at 1pm EST with guest speaker Ryan Trudeau, Senior Innovation and Risk Analyst from Global Affairs Canada on the topic of white humility evolved from white fragility.

This session is titled Ask Me Anything with Ryan Trudeau - Turning White Fragility into White Humility: My Journey Through Change. Through his presentation, Ryan guides his audience through his struggles with his own white fragility using powerful personal experiences, practical change management principles, as well as material from leading antiracism scholars. He then shares pertinent information related to allyship, finishing-off with an inspiring but challenging message to all in embarking on our own respective journeys in dismantling systemic racism.

This event is brought to you by National Defence Teams Infrastructure and Environment (ADM IE) and Materiel Group (ADM MAT) as part of a series of Ask Me Anything sessions that give us a platform to share stories, listen, ask respectful questions and continue on our journey to becoming a more inclusive public service. The conversation will be co-hosted by Samantha Moonsammy and Faduno Ali, with opening remarks by Rob Chambers.

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.

These Ask Me Anything events provide 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.

We want you to know, you are not alone, these experiences, especially the negative ones are systemic and can happen all too frequently throughout the public service. This is not the end – we have more work to do. This work is essential to fulfill our core purpose and mandate to serve Canadians and the government.

The objective of these conversations is to continually increase the network of public servants ready to take action and move forward towards a culture of inclusivity and belonging.

We invite you to attend so that you may reflect, learn and unlearn through this conversation. An accompanying resource guide and #AMAChallenge questions will also be shared so you can continue the conversations with your teams, family and friends.

If you require accommodations or have any questions please contact the Defence Team - Materiel Group’s Diversity and Inclusion office: DiversityandInclusion-Diversiteetinclusion@forces.gc.ca

Biographies

Faduno Ali is a Project Officer with ADM (IE) Workplace Programs. Faduno Leads the anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives for ADM (IE) and has over 13 years of experience working in the Department of National Defence. Faduno is also the co-chair of the Defence Team Black Employee Network (DTBEN). She strives to empower, educate and provide tools for marginalized individuals in order to self-advocate for themselves. Her aspiration is to focus on social justice, equity and inclusion within the public service and the larger communities.

Rob Chambers joined Infrastructure and Environment at the Department of National Defence in November 2017 and has been serving as the Assistant Deputy Minister since June 2019. He has been a federal civil servant for more than 20 years, dividing his time between central agencies such as the Privy Council Office, Treasury Board and the Department of Finance, and line departments such as Employment and Social Development Canada and Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. He studied political science at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, and is a graduate of the National Security Programme at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. He also served in the Primary Reserve with the 30^th Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery. Rob and his wife, Nancy, have two daughters, Aliana and Keira.

Samantha Moonsammy is the Section Head Lead 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 traveler 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.

Ryan Trudeau is currently working as a Senior Innovation and Risk Analyst for the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program (PSOPs) at Global Affairs Canada. He describes himself as a father, husband, and experienced federal public servant who is dedicated to making our world a better place for all future generations. He is a Prosci® certified trainer and change practitioner, expert facilitator, and natural born leader with a background in participatory research, and grassroots engagement. As a straight, able-bodied white man born in Canada – Ryan’s perspective on matters related to diversity and inclusion may not seem obvious or even logical at first glance. However, the convergence of his experiences as a father, his personal journey with his partner, and professional background intricately illustrate how we are all capable of change; and that the systemic change we desire first begins at the individual level, one person at a time.