Maya Toussaint (Creative Arts, 2000) had been working in the recruitment space for a decade when she founded the first Black employee resource group while working at LinkedIn Canada.
The Black Inclusion Group’s (BIG) mission was to leverage LinkedIn data, resources, and employees to close the opportunity gap for people of colour in the technology industry.
Maya worked for months with the leaders of the American chapters for BIG to organize programs, events and visibility for Toronto employees of colour and allies.
She is also a founding council member of the Black Alumni Network at Concordia University, where she completed a Bachelor’s in journalism in 2005.
While working in recruitment and customer success, Maya was also working as a public speaker and started training and facilitating on topics of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
‘With my training and my lived experience, I was able to start hosting sessions on unconscious bias and microaggressions,” said Toussaint. “It’s pretty emotionally draining but very, very worth it,”
Maya said that in recent years, there has been increased awareness and demand for DEI training and resources.
“I think historically, it feels like a moment where we’re more open to having these uncomfortable conversations,” she said. “It feels really good when I get feedback after a session that I’ve maybe changed how someone sees a particular community.”
Maya started working on learning and development programs, “pulling tools and resources for recruiters and hiring managers so that they are up to date when it comes to these (DEI) practices.”
As well as facilitating on a consulting basis, Maya has two certifications from WSET to be a sommelier and worked as the Senior Program Manager of Diversity in Engineering at Shopify until July 2022 when she took a job with Amazon.
As a DEI Learning and Development Program Manager at Amazon, Maya says she can make a positive impact.
“It’s an opportunity for me to connect with people and have a direct impact on how someone sees somebody else,” she said.
Maya’s advice for current students and recent grads: “It’s okay to not know what your next step is. I’m 41 and I’m always asking myself what I want to be when I grow up.”
