The Manitoba Museum is committed to creating a space where everyone feels valued, respected, and encouraged. We welcome all people and know that it is important that our employees, volunteers, and leaders reflect the diversity of the community we serve.
We embrace the principles of social justice, anti-racism, and gender equity. We aim to create equitable access to opportunities for everyone by recognizing and supporting communities who have often been excluded in the past.
The Museum acknowledges the complexities of our shared history. We commit to meaningful actions and community accountability in our efforts to advance Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the following six areas:
Visitor Experience
The Manitoba Museum is committed to ensuring all visitors feel welcome, safe, and represented. To achieve this, the Museum will continue to:
- Develop and clearly communicate the Visitor Code of Conduct, advising Museum visitors that creating a space which welcomes all is a shared responsibility, and that the Museum has a responsibility to all communities to support their wellbeing as they engage in Museum initiatives.
- Curate exhibitions and deliver public programs that reflect the diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and histories of our ever-changing community.
- Improve our spaces, content, and facilities to provide accessible resources and accommodations for visitors with disabilities. We aim to address accessibility needs as comprehensively as possible, with considerations for physical, psychological, developmental, and neurodiversity needs.
Governance and Leadership
The Museum is dedicated to fostering an inclusive environment where diverse voices lead. To fulfill this commitment, the Museum will continue to:
- Conduct an annual diversity audit of board composition, setting targets for increased representation of systemically excluded groups, while adhering to the Indigenous Governors Policy, and seeking proportional representation of Manitoba’s demographic landscape.
- Empower the Museum’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) committee to advise on organizational policies and practices. Conduct regular Employment Equity surveys to establish consistent data points that track changes. Investigate and organize staff training needs and options for effective delivery.
- Create a Newcomer Advisory Committee specifically focused on engaging with individuals who are new(er) to the community and Canada, providing a platform for their perspectives and experiences to be heard and integrated into Museum initiatives.
- Guided by the Indigenous Advisory Circle, a key advisory body to the Museum’s Board of Governors, the Museum will act upon its advice and recommendations as they pertain to the integration of perspectives, knowledge, teachings, values, traditions, and worldviews of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples. The IAC helps inform the Board when shaping the organization’s strategy related to integrating Indigenous rights, interests, and values, and helps the Museum to grow and achieve related goals.
Operations
Equity and inclusion are integrated into all Museum operations, processes, and procedures to create a fair and accessible environment for employees and visitors. The Museum has already started to operationalize these values, and will continue to:
- Conduct an Accessibility Audit, the results of which will inform a multi-year Accessibility Improvement Plan with the aim of improving accessibility features throughout the Museum, addressing many of the barriers to entry experienced by individuals with diverse needs.
- Review procurement policies and procedures, working towards the implementation of a Supplier Diversity Program, including contracts with businesses owned by First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, people of colour, women, and other underrepresented groups.
- Deliver the Museum’s Rentals Program requiring external parties to respectfully adhere to the Museum’s Visitor Code of Conduct, ensuring all guests feel safe at the Museum.
Employee Experience
The Museum is committed to cultivating a workplace culture that celebrates diversity, fosters belonging, and promotes equitable opportunities for all staff members. To support this commitment, the Museum will continue to:
- Conduct regular staff training sessions to foster cultural understanding, and sensitivity in interactions with visitors and colleagues. Ensure training, policies, and practices advance social justice, anti-racism, and gender equity efforts, and provide a clear Employee Code of Conduct that requires adherence and ensures accountability.
- Review and improve recruitment and hiring policies and procedures to ensure diverse representation at all levels of the organization, including leadership positions.
- Designate specific roles within the Museum with bona fide requirements for lived experience, recognizing the invaluable insights and perspectives that individuals from systemically excluded communities bring to their work.
Community Engagement
The Museum seeks to build meaningful relationships with diverse communities, actively involving them in the Museum’s mission and programming. To achieve this goal, the Museum will continue to:
- Collaborate with local community organizations to co-create exhibitions and programs that reflect the cultural richness and diversity of Manitoba.
- Offer complimentary admission and special programming as part of the Museum’s First Fridays, ensuring financial barriers do not prevent access to cultural experiences.
- Supported by the Access for All Program, enter into partnerships with local social services organizations to provide complimentary passes to community members facing barriers to Museum engagement.
Responsibility to Truth and Reconciliation
The Manitoba Museum recognizes the importance of Truth and Reconciliation as essential steps towards healing and building stronger, more inclusive communities. In alignment with this commitment, the Museum will continue to:
- Host skills and knowledge reclamation workshops and events, inviting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Knowledge Keepers and educators to support learners on their journeys to cultural revitalization.
- Collaborate with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities to co-curate exhibitions and programs that amplify Indigenous voices, stories, and cultural heritage, fostering understanding and empathy among visitors.
- Develop educational resources and outreach initiatives, such as Orange Shirt Days, focused on teaching the history and ongoing impacts of colonialism, residential schools, and other forms of systemic oppression, promoting dialogue and critical reflection.
- Establish partnerships with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis organizations and grassroots initiatives to support Indigenous-led initiatives for cultural revitalization, language preservation, and heritage stewardship.
- Designate specific roles within the Museum with bona fide requirements for lived experience as a First Nations, Inuit, or Métis person, recognizing the invaluable insights and perspectives that these individuals bring to their work.
- Host the Indigenous Scholars in Residence Program, supporting First Nations, Inuit, or Métis graduate students in conducting research within the Museum collections.
EDIB Glossary of Terms
Race: “A social construction focussed on supposed biological or ethnic differences that is used to produce material consequences for people of supposedly different races.” – Oxford Dictionary of Human Geography, 2013
Anti-Racism: “Anti-racism is the active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably.” – Government of Canada Anti-racism lexicon
Social Justice: “The objective of creating a fair and equal society in which each individual matters, their rights are recognized and protected, and decisions are made in ways that are fair and honest.” Oxford Reference
“Social justice is a virtue or societal value that guides human interaction and, in particular, the fair distribution of society’s benefits, advantages, and assets, not just by law and in the courts but in all aspects of society.” – from Grade 12 Global Issues: Citizenship and Sustainability: Backgrounder: Social Justice and Human Rights, Government of Manitoba curriculum.
Equity: “The term “equity” refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from equality: Whereas equality means providing the same to all, equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances. The process is ongoing, requiring us to identify and overcome intentional and unintentional barriers arising from bias or systemic structures.” – National Association of Colleges and Employers
Gender Equity: “Provision of fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between men and women.” – European Institute of Gender Equality
Diversity: “The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.” Oxford Languages, 2024
Systemic Barriers: “Systemic barriers are defined as attitudes, policies, practices or systems that result in individuals from certain population groups receiving unequal access to or being excluded from participation in employment, services or programs (e.g. through discrimination, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, etc.) – Government of Canada SSHRC Funding Guide.
Inclusion: “The act of including someone or something as part of a group, list, etc.”
Belonging: “Belonging is the feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity for a member of a certain group. It is when an individual can bring their authentic self to work. When employees feel like they don’t belong at work, their performance and their personal lives suffer. Creating genuine feelings of belonging for all is a critical factor in improving engagement and performance. It also helps support business goals.” Cornell University Diversity and Inclusion web page