Interactive Ontario is pleased to launch A Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit for the Interactive Digital Media Industry today. The toolkit was authored by Kelly Lynne Ashton and created with the support of partners the Ontario Media Development Corporation, the Canada Media Fund, Ubisoft and the Humber College School of Media Studies and Information Technology.
The toolkit provides interactive digital media (IDM) companies with pragmatic and actionable advice for enhancing their talent management strategies with the goal of improving team diversity while fostering an inclusive culture. The strategies in the toolkit are tailored to the unique needs of the IDM sector to help leaders attract and retain top talent from diverse backgrounds. Through implementation of these strategies, IDM companies will increase employment opportunities in the sector for talent currently underrepresented due to gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, religion, age, ability and other identities.
The impetus for the toolkit came from anecdotal and statistical evidence that the sector lags in diversity – Interactive Ontario’s recent Measuring Success report indicated that women account for just 25 per cent of IDM sector employees, with 20 per cent of companies employing no women at all.
A more diverse workforce will allow digital media companies to create stronger content and tell a wider range of stories. Companies will reach new audiences, while providing important opportunities for participation in the flourishing digital economy by those who are currently underrepresented.
Read the report in English
