2018

16 October, Ottawa

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As a community representative, Parents for Diversity attended the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board's Parent Involvement Committee meeting.

25 August, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity was in full effect at the annual Capital Pride Parade. This was the first year we marched in the parade as an organization and it was amazing to be surrounded by so much love and pride.

20 August, Ottawa

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What a great event enjoying our morning at the Drag Queen and King Story time at the National Arts Centre with Drag Queen Peechez and Drag King Cyril Cinder.

18 August, Ottawa

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There’s nothing more fun for kids than bouncy castles, ice cream, face painting and arts and crafts. P4D took our families along to celebrate another annual Family Pride Picnic.

18 August, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity attended this thought-provoking conference about racism and equity in the education system, which was supported by the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education.

15 July, Ottawa

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In collaboration with the African Caribbean Black Health Zone, Parents for Diversity participated in a discussion with parents and students about navigating the school system while Black.

30 June, Ottawa

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P4D’s Mante Molepo was invited to participate in the Sisterhood Garden showcasing storytelling and the untold stories, dreams and aspirations of Black, Indigenous and Women of Color in Canada. Mante talked about the importance of representation in education especially for racialized children.

21 June, Ottawa

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The Equity Ottawa partnership hosted a consultation on how to create an equitable and racism-free city. Parents for Diversity participated in the consultation and provided input on strategies to create diverse governance and leadership.

11 June, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity participated in a focus group to discuss the challenges that our children face and to identify systemic barriers and/or bias in our schools, in particular with respect to the collection of disaggregated identity-based data.

27 May, Gatineau

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Parents for Diversity presented at the Association canadienne-française pour l’avancement des sciences' annual conference as part of a panel on partnerships between parents. We shared our vision of inclusive curriculum, books and resources and encouraged researchers to study the impact of these and other issues in Quebec.

23 April, Ottawa

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The Ottawa Catholic School Board formally adopted its Declaration in Support of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent. Parents for Diversity was pleased to have the opportunity to consult on the development of the declaration.

April, Toronto

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Parents for Diversity presented at the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators on the topic of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy to Address Bias Against Students of African Descent.

April, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity has issued a press release about the implications of increased class sizes and mandatory e-learning courses on Black students. We have written a letter to the Minister of Education https://bit.ly/2FMPuYX. Click below for the link our press release.

21 March, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity's Mante Molepo participated in a webinar with Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights to talk about issues around gender and sexual rights in our education system. Check it out in the link below.  

February, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity will be presenting a workshop to teachers in Ottawa on addressing unconscious bias and developing positive engagement with students, parents and communities. 

16 February, Ottawa

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As part of Black History Month, we are delivering another interactive workshop for parents on how to advocate for your children when they experience anti-black racism. This workshop will be available in the afternoon. 

16 February, Ottawa

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We received an overwhelming response from educators and service providers, that we are offering a second workshop of February 16 on addressing ant-black racism. This workshop will be offered in the morning. 

1 February, Ottawa

Parents for Diversity will be featured in Connecting the Dots Film Premiere at the 2019 National Black Canadians Summit. Mante spoke about the work we are doing to advocate for students in schools.  

26 January, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity attended the opening ceremony of Black History Ottawa. In 2018, Canada officially recognized the International Decade for People of African Descent. This year's theme is "Our Canadian Story: Nothing about us, without us!" 

15 January, Ottawa

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Mante was invited to present at the parent council at John McCrae to talk about promoting diversity and inclusion in schools and how to set high expectations for students.  

December, Ottawa

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As part of the province-wide consultations on education reform in Ontario, Parents for Diversity submitted a detailed submission on education reform, including issues affecting Black students, and 2SLGBTQ+ students under the health curriculum. Click below to read our submission. 

18 December, Gatineau

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Le Droit published an opinion piece written by Julia Nicol on the importance of accurately reflecting history and the negative impacts of colonialism in the education system after she saw the content of a grade 3 text being used in her child’s Gatineau school. 

27 November, Ottawa

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Senator Mary Coyle invited Parents for Diversity to attend the launch of the UN 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign hosted by South Africa's High Commissioner to Canada, Sibongiseni Dlamini-Mntambo.

14 November, Ottawa

Mante Molepo presented at this year’s BLG Women in Leadership Conference about diversity in the legal profession and how to achieve diverse and inclusive workplaces 

13 November, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity delivered a workshop to teachers at Hillcrest High School on how to identify and address unconscious bias. The workshop also addressed ways in which parents and educators can engage with one another to improve educational outcomes for students.   

10 November, Toronto

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Mante Molepo participated in People for Education’s annual “Making Connections” conference where she presented on a panel discussing race and education.  

3 November, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity attended the annual Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE) forum des parents. There were great speakers and workshops on how we can improve the well-being of our children in school.  

November, 2018

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Following the municipal elections in October, Parents for Diversity is  meeting with recently elected school board trustees in all four of Ottawa’s school boards. To date we have met with OCSD Glen Armstrong and OCDSB Rob Campbell. We also met with Nathalie Sirois, Equity and Human Rights Advisor for the CEPEO. We will continue to meet with trustees in the coming months

24 October, Ottawa

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Mante Molepo participated at the Lead Associate Teacher Day Conference. The conference was about Taking up Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Education, and Mante spoke on a panel on Addressing Bias and Building Equity Together, in particular about how addressing bias in the education system can lead to student success 

20 October, Ottawa

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CHUO’s Black on Black hosts, Sarah Onyango and Patricia Harewood, interviewed Mante Molepo about the work Parents for Diversity is doing in our community to address discrimination in schools 

19 October, Ottawa

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Following her op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen, Mante Molepo was interviewed on 1310 NEWS Ottawa host about her thoughts on the role of school board trustees and the upcoming municipal elections 

19 October, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity attended the interactive education curriculum town hall hosted by MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean, Jeremy Roberts, to discuss the provincial government’s consultations on education reform. Topics included the health curriculum and improving performance in STEM  

18 October, Ottawa

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The Ottawa Citizen published an editorial by Mante Molepo on the importance of school board trustees and why voters should pay attention to who they are voting for in the upcoming elections.  

6 October, Gatineau

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Parents for Diversity attended the Anishinabe Nibin (Algonquin Summer) in Gatineau Park and learned about traditional Algonquin way of life, where there were demonstrations and presentations by local artisans, including one by Daniel (Pinock) Smith on building a traditional birchbark canoe  

3 October, Ottawa

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CBC invited Mante Molepo to participate on “The Fix”, All in a Day’s Storytelling Pop-up. Mante spoke about the challenges she faced as a student when the curriculum did not represent racialized people and what school board trustees can do to fix the lack of diversity in the school system 

20 September, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity delivered another successful workshop on how parents can address anti-black racism when it arises, exploring tools and approaches that parents can use to engage with their schools and advocate for their children  

20 September, Ottawa

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Julia Nicol and Mante Molepo appeared on CBC’s Ottawa Morning to talk about Parents for Diversity, the workshops we deliver and other activities to improve diversity and inclusion in our schools 

15 September, Toronto

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Mante Molepo attended the Accomplished Black Women gala where she was recognized as one of Canada’s accomplished black women for her contribution advocating against systemic discrimination in schools  

12 September, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity, along with Amy Wellings, OCDSB school board trustee candidate for Barrhaven Knoxdale Merivale, delivered a workshop for the community on how to address discrimination in schools. We heard from a parent who shared her experience with ableism in her school and what measures she took to address this problem     

26 August, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity attended the capital pride parade with thousands of others from across the region  

19 August, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity attended the LGBTQ+ family pride picnic with our families and enjoyed an afternoon of beautiful weather and great family activities  

19 July, Ottawa

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P4D delivered an interactive workshop on Addressing Anti-Black Racism in Schools, exploring different actors in our children’s education, the various forms of anti-black racism, human rights aspects of discrimination; and the standard of care that schools owe to students. We heard from a mother who successfully sued the OCDSB after her son was bullied  

5 June, Ottawa

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Mante Molepo participated as a mentor at the Generate U Dream Team Summit, speaking to high school students about her career path. She shared the story of Diana Nyad who at the age of 64 swam from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, having learned three lessons: 1. never EVER give up on your dreams; 2. you can chase your dreams at any age and 3. it is a team effort  

21 March, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity attended a town hall on Addressing Anti-Black Racism to review progress over the past year since the launch of the “Addressing Anti-Black Racism Report”. We heard from school officials from the OCDSB and CECCE who discussed measures to address anti-black racism, among other issues affecting the black community  

2 March, Ottawa

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Parents for Diversity along with the Ottawa-Gatineau Black Coalition participated in a meeting with the Attorney General of Ontario, Yasir Naqvi on addressing the criminalization of black children in the school system. We called on the Government of Ontario to develop of methodologies for survey and other data collection instruments used in the collection of identity-based data