CARA Diversity Statement

Anti-Racism and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Statement

The Canadian Association of Research Administrators (CARA) supports communication, advocacy, and collaboration in support of its members’ professional development. CARA members are a diverse group of over 1,000 professionals who live and work on Indigenous peoples’ ancestral and unceded lands in what is now called Canada. We acknowledge that Indigenous peoples have lived through decades of legislated oppression and continue to feel the effects of ongoing colonialism today. Those of us who are newcomers in Indigenous territories are responsible to promote truth-telling and to proactively pursue reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

We are committed to becoming an anti-racist organization and, as part of that journey, we seek to raise our awareness and understanding of systemic oppression and marginalization of Indigenous peoples, Black people, people of colour, and other historically marginalized racialized and ethnic peoples, and to have in place policies and practices that remove systemic barriers. We understand the importance of taking into account intersectionality, and as such the intersecting identities of gender, disability, sexual orientation, as well as other attributes. As an association that serves a diverse membership, we are committed to providing equitable and inclusive services and supports, and building a community that is actively anti-racist and anti-discriminatory. We are committed to showing leadership in developing and supporting equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion in all aspects of CARA.

As we move forward, we commit to:

- Review our policies and practices from an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) lens;

- Provide CARA members with education and training opportunities to support them in building stronger, more equitable and anti-racist research administration environments;

- Hosting webinars related to EDI in the Canadian research environment;

- Having sessions which focus on EDI at our regional and national conferences;

- Supporting members working in the field of EDI through our special interest groups;

- Establishing special interest groups as needed to respond to specific issues that arise in society related to EDI

To meet the needs of our members, we welcome questions or feedback regarding this statement. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions on this statement, please contact CARA President Dominique Michaud

Thank you to Senomi Solutions, the sub-committee of the CARA Equity Diversity and Inclusion Special Interest Group (Theresa Burley, Ailsa Fullwood, Gwen Hill, and Colleen McKay), Rainwatch Advising and D&D Inclusion Consulting.