Saint Mary’s congratulates Dr. Rachel Zellars on her appointment as the inaugural Jocelyne Bourgon Visiting Scholar in the Canada School of Public Service for 2021-2022.
Dr. Zellars, Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Justice and Community Studies, will be working closely with the federal service in the implementation of the recent Call to action on anti-racism, equity, and inclusion in the Federal Public Service. Her appointment begins on September 1, 2021.
Dr. Zellars has facilitated dozens of critical implicit bias trainings for government leaders and management, both provincially and federally since 2014. She is widely recognized for her abilities to center local historical contexts, locate implicit bias within living histories of anti-blackness, and address barriers to personal and structural change with pointedness and vision. She regularly facilitates critical implicit bias trainings in a multitude of areas related to social identity and difference, as well.
Recently, Dr. Zellars completed a five-month project with the Department of Justice, where she designed the data collection stage for ongoing, transformational agency-wide work regarding anti-blackness, diversity, and inclusion; designed and facilitated closed employee interview circles for hundreds of employees and managers; worked closely with the Director of Workplace Wellbeing & Mental Health to ensure proper data collection and respectful facilitation for Indigenous employees; and prepared a final report to the DOJ, detailing findings.
The Call to Action, released January 22 by the Privy Council, directs leaders across the Federal Public Service to take practical actions that will be the basis for systemic change. For more details, see this message and guidance for deputy ministers and heads of federal agencies, shared July 8 by Janice Charette, Interim Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet.
The Canada School of Public Service was established in 2004, with a legislative mandate to provide a range of learning activities to build individual and organizational capacity and management excellence within the federal public service. The Honourable Jocelyne Bourgon is President Emerita of the School; Founding President of Public Governance International (PGI); and Project Leader of the New Synthesis Initiative. She has had a distinguished career in the Canadian public service, serving as Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, as well as Deputy Minister of various departments and Canadian Ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).