Introducing the Origins community

We're speaking with Thourla and Mary, co-leads of Origins, who discuss the community and the impact it has here at Aviva.

So Thourla and Mary, what is the Origins community?

The Origins community is about celebrating cultural harmony, championing, and supporting the differences that unite Aviva employees based on race, ethnicity, faith, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.

How has Origins been a changemaker at Aviva?

When we reflect on the past two years and the world events we have witnessed and experienced, we know continuing awareness and education on critical issues that stem from centuries ago is necessary. In the past year, we’ve focused on unconscious bias in the workplace, and ensuring we’re providing our colleagues with a safe space and educating them on these issues. We’ve set the stage for people to come forward and have conversations that are uncomfortable. Our goal is to keep the conversation going and push forward change because there is still work that needs to be done.

Our experiences shape who we are, and our race, religion and gender all are factors that impact the lens with which we view the world. No two people share the same experiences, and some are not even aware how vastly our experiences differ based on things like ethnicity and religion day to day. To address this, we partnered with Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts, to provide our colleagues the opportunity to learn about unconscious bias and racism. We’ve been able to provide educational resources to identify and acknowledge our own unconscious biases and recognize the negative effects bias can have in the workplace, as well as the benefits realized when uncovering bias in decision-making processes. We’re happy to state that 98% of our colleagues at Aviva Canada have taken this training which leads to more open conversation and greater opportunity in embracing equality.

Origins also has worked to implement “this is me” data across the organization, so that Aviva can evaluate and understand the multicultural diversity that makes up the Aviva Canada workforce.

Who’s a part of the Origins community?

Our community is all volunteer based, with allies for people of all ethnicities, cultures, and faiths, who are interested in learning about one another and standing together to make viable change within Aviva and more. Our community also works with leaders of all levels across the organization. They value and support the work we do and are involved in discussions and decision making to help implement change for diversity and inclusion. As with any new role we had to make serious adjustments in balancing our day-to-day workload with the challenges of leading the Origins community to give it our best.?

Why was it important for you to volunteer??

I (Thourla)?volunteer to be lead of Origins as someone coming from a minority group with the hopes that I can bring new perspectives and experiences to the workforce.????

I (Mary) feel it is important to volunteer and make a difference within Aviva as I came from a company where the D&I culture was deeply embedded into our daily work. I had experienced the difference it made for employees to feel valued, listened to as to their differences. Being able to share their culture and faith was important to feel included. I wanted to foster that same sense of belonging within Aviva.?

Over the years, there has been one core value we’ve brought forward from our experience in our customer service roles that has been so important to implement within the community - to lead by example, and lead with respect. We volunteered because we felt it was important to foster a sense of belonging for our colleagues, so they can feel valued and listened to and can share their culture and faith. By respecting one another regardless of ethnicity, we can make that possible.

We give Aviva kudos, for willingly embracing people from all ethnicities, and opening the floor to have uncomfortable conversations about what needs addressed from within to make change. But there is still work to do – with a clear insight into what our goals are. Our purpose is to make sure we are a voice for diversity and to help our people know that it is a safe space for them to speak up.??