Our Group Description:
The Queers and Allies (Q&A) Committee provides information, guidance, feedback, and recommendations via equity-seeking and intersectional lenses to discussions of organizational culture/employee experience, service provision, and community partnerships/collaborations in an effort to improve experiences for 2SLGBTQ+ (Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, queer and/or questioning, and inclusive of other identities) service recipients who are working with and employees who are working for Family and Children’s Services of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (FACSFLA).
We carry forward the agency’s Vision of children/youth growing up in their families, cultures, and communities, and we believe that engagement with families, children/youth, community partners, and our employees in ways that allow them to see themselves reflected in service is central to our ongoing work. The Q&A Committee strives to contribute in whole-hearted, intersectional ways to embed equity, diversity, and inclusion and ground agency culture and service provision in equitable practices and processes, particularly those related to 2SLGBTQ+ service recipients, employees, and communities.
We believe FACSFLA and our community are enriched by diversity and inclusion. As leaders in the equity work FACSFLA is undertaking, we aspire to be diverse, fair, and open, and membership makes a personal commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Our Work Plan:
The Q&A Committee seeks to develop strategies for full implementation of equity, diversion, and inclusion through honouring and encouraging advocacy and allyship in ways that align with our Strategic Directions in relation (but not limited) to inequitable practices identified stemming from:
- Racism, colonialism, and anti-Indigeneity;
- Homophobia and transphobia;
- Discrimination with respect to creed and/or spirituality;
- Ableism;
- Classism
- Other forms of oppression and inequity
Our Current Focus:
In the spirit of FACSFLA’s Signs of Safety framework, the Q&A Committee strives for meaningful engagement with our community and one another through building relationships, fostering a spirit of inquiry, and landing grand aspirations in everyday practice. In this same vein, the Q&A Committee is hopeful that everyone at the agency comes to see how they are part of a big safety network for the community, and ultimately, that their roles are tied to the service, safety, and well-being of children, youth, and families, and that our organizational culture is reflective of this common goal which allows us to lean into and continually evolve our advocacy and allyship with service recipients and our colleagues.
The Q&A Committee includes diverse representation from employees (both management and non-management) from all areas and departments of the agency. Interested individuals wishing to join the Q&A Committee will submit an Expression of Interest to be considered for membership. Membership will be selected based on demonstrated lived experience and/or allyship, related education and/or work experience, and a clear personal and professional understanding of inclusive excellence. Priority for membership will being given to individuals who self-identify as part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. That being said, we believe in the inherent value that each voice brings to the table in the equity-seeking work we are endeavouring to do.