Your Digest
Watch yesterday’s town hall recording
At yesterday’s town hall, CEO Dr. Graham Sher was joined by guest panelists Andrew Pateman, vice-president, people, culture and performance and Judie Leach Bennett, vice-president, general counsel and chief risk officer. The group answered employee questions on cybersecurity, future health care pressures and work/life balance.
Following the event, it came to our attention that there was a technical glitch with one of the meeting links in the invitation. For this, we apologize and are investigating the issue to ensure this error doesn’t occur again. For those of you who experienced the technical error or who were unable to attend live, a recording of today’s town hall can be viewed here. We appreciate your feedback to ensure we can continue to provide value with these events. Please take a moment to fill out our town hall survey so we can serve you better.
Pop-up barbershop stem cell recruitment event a huge success as big community events return
In mid-February Canadian Blood Services hosted a cutting edge in-person event by creating a pop-up barbershop at the Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga, Ont. to encourage people to sign up for the stem cell registry. This marked the first large in-person recruitment event of its kind since the pandemic began in 2020. No amount of video conferences or email campaigns can replace the genuine human connections created when people come together, and this event was proof of that. A total of 333 people gave swab samples on-site, joining the registry. This resulted in an enormous 48 per cent increase in South Asian stem cell registrants, thanks to Mississauga’s large diaspora population; an important step in making the registry more diverse. See photos and learn more about the event on Connect.
New password reset feature saves time
Resetting your password just got easier and faster. Employees who forget or need to reset their Microsoft Windows password can now make a change (at home or at the office) without contacting the National Service Desk. Starting March 13, and rolling out over the next couple of weeks, employees will see a pop-up notification to restart their computers. The new password reset feature will be installed within this update. Visit Connect for step-by-step instructions to use the reset option quickly and securely.
View the inspiring International Women’s Day panel recording
If you missed this week’s International Women’s Day event, the recording is now available to watch. During the event, one of our new board members, Gertie Mai Muise, who is Mi’kmaw from St. George’s Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, shared her experiences growing up and coming of age as a First Nations woman. She also shared her advice for responding to systems of oppression and colonization in society. Employee panelists Andrea Rogers, Khaedine Donald, Negin Farjad, and Verna Chow also openly shared inspiring and moving personal and professional stories about gender-based challenges they’ve faced and how they embrace equity in their lives.
Content warning: this event includes some discussions of gender-based violence. A reminder to employees to avail yourselves of our mental well-being resources, if you need them. If you would like to join the Women’s Empowerment Network and attend future events like this one, email dei@blood.ca.
