Camille Dundas Advocate Consultant Storyteller Facilitator Speaker

About Me.

Co-founder ByBlacks.com | Keynote Speaker | Racial Equity Consultant

I’ve gone from intentionally failing half my classes in high school, to being named one of the top 100 Accomplished Black Women in Canada. I’ve gone from asking the Canadian government for help, to helping the Canadian government as a consultant. I’ve had dozens of job applications ignored and now I’m the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of an online magazine that’s been recognized by the Prime Minister. How did I get here? Vulnerability, storytelling and a message of radical transparency.

Sharing my own personal story about how I accidentally found out I was part of a diversity workplace program, to the stream of microaggressions I’ve navigated in life and at work, has led me to spend more time researching and talking about Canada’s unique place in the diversity, equity and inclusion space.

Statistics show that industries across the board could make serious gains in revenue per year through diversity, inclusion and belonging efforts. But despite throwing millions of well-intentioned dollars at D&I programs, underrepresented groups struggle to get their foot in the door, and when they do, they almost never make it up the ranks. Something doesn’t add up.

My public speaking and corporate DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) consulting is anchored in intersectionality, with specific emphasis on the idea that effective diversity work must go beyond gender. Diversity and inclusion initiatives that try to group people into such categories as gender, ethnicity, and age provide a narrow view of what shapes our identities. No one is defined by a single category, we are influenced by our socialization, experiences, culture, and background. This is a core concept behind intersectionality. My approach is also heavily rooted in explaining what allyship looks like and giving tangible steps to transforming how teams understand how this plays out in the workplace.

Through keynotes and workshops, I’ve helped kickstart these difficult conversations at both mid-size and large scale companies such as Google, Canada Goose, KPMG, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.

Take a look through my most popular speaking topics below, and contact me today to inquire about booking a customized workshop or keynote.

Contact

Speaking.

Signature topics:

Discrimination to Determination: How I Turned My Experience with Racism and Sexism into Lessons on Equity in the Canadian Workplace and Beyond

In this deeply personal keynote, Camille Dundas shares a story of resilience with radical transparency. From accidentally finding out she was a diversity hire in the newsroom, to being told to “get a sugar daddy” at the end of a pitch meeting, Camille Dundas has come close to giving up on her career goals. In the face of racism, sexism, and microaggressions Camille has learned the most important steps to making Canadian workplaces more equitable for all of us.

Beyond the Underground Railroad: A deeper look at Canada’s History with anti-Black Racism

What can we learn from the past that can help us do better in our present? In this keynote, Camille Dundas uncovers some hidden history about Canada and how that has impacted all of our experiences with racism in today’s workplace.

How To Recognize and Confront Racism in the Workplace

The most recent iteration of the Black Lives Matter movement has sparked renewed discussion about how to achieve inclusion and belonging for racialized employees in the workplace. This educational session will help you understand why racism is not an “American” problem by walking you through the historical Canadian context of systemic racism. The course also explores how racism manifests in the Canadian workplace and how leaders can show true allyship in a time that requires deep empathy and sensitivity.

How To Practice Allyship in the Workplace

The global pandemic and the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests revealed so many of our knowledge gaps when it comes to making sure everyone is included and feels a sense of belonging. Allyship is not a destination, it is a constant daily journey of understanding and showing up in solidarity with colleagues from underrepresented groups. This session is a combination of educational awareness and action steps for supporting colleagues in allyship.

How To Handle Microaggressions In The Workplace

The micro in microaggressions is a bit of a misnomer. Because when you experience one, it doesn’t feel very micro. In fact, it can feel like death by a thousand cuts. It might be one of the reasons an astonishingly low number of Black employees (3%) say they would want to return to the office full time. This session helps us understand where microaggressions come from, how to recognize when they are happening, how to speak up when you observe one, how to cope when you experience one and lastly, how to respond when you have committed one.

Why Are We Still Talking About Race: the Media’s Role in Upholding Systemic Racism

The resurgence of a global conversation on racism has shocked a lot of us who felt like racism was a thing of the past, leaving many asking, ‘why are we still talking about race?’ In this keynote, Camille explains the origins of systemic race and why that still matters today. This talk focuses on the role of news media in perpetuating and upholding that systemic racism.

Training.

All training is now offered through my online micro-credential program, Foundations of DEI In The Workplace, in partnership with Dalhousie University. Click here to learn more.

Camille Dundas online course diversity equity inclusion with Dalhousie University

"A unique approach that tackles uncomfortable topics with proper context laying down the groundwork for a heightened understanding. Camille Dundas’ real talk, fresh approach allows for difficult concepts to become relatable and meaningful."

Foundations of DEI In The Workplace is an Inclusive Communications Micro-credential Program in partnership with Dalhousie University. Learn at your own pace with dynamic and informative short videos, helping to integrate DEI in a thought-provoking yet tangible way in your workplace culture.

This self-guided microlearning program created by renowned consultant and educator Camille Dundas is a thorough corporate education program formatted as short easily digestible pre-recorded videos. The program can also be extended to the onboarding of new employees.

The course is complemented by four live Q and A’s with Camille Dundas (or another consultant on her team) to promote learner discussion and engagement.

Upon completion of the course, each learner will receive a micro-credential certificate from Dalhousie University. This digital badge can be used on a resumé or Linkedin Page.

Course Overview:

8 hours (4 asynchronous hours and 4 hours with facilitator)

This course will help you build knowledge on the topics of equity, diversity and inclusion. You will develop skills, confidence and the capacity to make intentional changes in your workplace communication. Learners will earn a micro-credential in Inclusive Communication Strategies.

The course consists of approximately 4 hours of asynchronous content and 4 hours of Q & A sessions with a facilitator.

What You Will Learn

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Define diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
Identify unconscious biases
Explain intersectionality
Implement inclusive terms and language

Topics covered

The difference between diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
What it means to take an intersectional approach
How to Identify Unconscious Bias In the Workplace
The different Dimensions of Diversity
How to implement inclusive terms and language
The four different types of racism
What does white supremacy actually mean?
Why we are all treaty people
The history of racism: where did racial categories come from
The evolution of racism: where does Canada fit in to this story?
How did racism become systemic? How is it still impacting the workplace now?
Implementing racial equity in the workplace
The importance of fostering belonging
How to disrupt biased processes
How to handle microaggressions
Allyship vs solidarity
How to speak up in the workplace against injustice
Communicating solidarity as an organization

Prerequisites

None

Recommended For

employees of all levels of an organization
corporate groups
those interested in building capacity for inclusive communications

Cost

Costs are calculated on a per-user basis, and ser access expires after 12 months

$497 per person (1-50 users)
$450 per person (50 - 100 users)
$397 per person (over 100 users)

How to enroll

Contact [email protected] to register your team, or click here to enroll as an individual learner.

Clients.

Recommendations.

Had the pleasure of attending Camille's workshop on Personal Branding at a recent BCorp Leadership Development conference in Toronto. Camille immediately commanded the room in a most engaging way. She started by telling her story and through a series of really creative and authentic exercises with the audience got us to start to tell our stories. What I learned was that we all have a story to tell, which is important in itself, but in doing so we create a safe space to others to open up and share their experiences. If you have a chance to attend Camille's workshop or hire her to work with your team, do it!!!

Andrew Simpson

Principal Consultant Ecotone Software

Camille facilitated a very powerful workshop on leveraging your personal brand for our annual B Corp Leadership Development conference. By the end of the session, everyone was eager to share their story and people left the room saying "that was the best session of the day". I would highly recommend inviting Camille as a public speaker as well as a workshop host!

Katie Allen

Corporate Social Responsibility

Camille is a pleasure to work with and I look forward to building a long working relationship with her. The expertise she shared coupled with her dynamic personality captivated the young entrepreneurs she addressed at CEE's Signature Style Event. The feedback forms were filled with praise for her effortless ability to connect and share valuable information with them (in this case 60 young entrepreneurs ages 18-29). Camille is smart and savvy; we welcome her support for CEE and our work with young entrepreneurs in Toronto.

Shereen Ashman

Non-profit Operations Manager

Camille is thoughtful, relevant, engaging and has the ability to form deep connections with any audience. Her work with our new summer employees had a deep impact on how they now view marketing themselves online and how they will strategically use social media platforms in the future. Although this was information they had received on some level before, Camille was able to connect it to the new realities of the job market by making it relevant and urgent for them. Her unique style of facilitation was personable and accessible to the group and it was evident that she was a thought leader on the subject. It was by far the most popular workshop of the week!

Letecia Rose

Diversity & Inclusion Specialist, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment

Camille’s keynote was OUT OF THIS WORLD! Her engaging presentation on mitigating microaggressions in the workplace received some of the highest speaker reviews I have seen in over 15 years of managing HR conferences.

On a personal level, I can attest that in 20 years of conference management, her presentation was in my top 3 favourite keynote speakers I have ever had the pleasure working with (the other two are Brene Brown and Chris Hadfield.)

Camille is a masterful storyteller with a presentation packed with tactical tools and learnings.