About WorQshop
Purpose
Our purpose is to provide education and consulting in order to:
- Address and decrease occurrences of homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, cisheterosexism and targeted violence, harassment and discrimination in Canada.
- Expand the number of health and social services and workplaces offering culturally competent services by educating employees on 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion to promote accessible public services and workplaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
- Cultivate visibility, safety and support for 2SLGBTQIA+ people to thrive in their communities.
Vision
We want to achieve:
- Safer and more inclusive communities in which 2SLGBTQIA+ folks have equitable access to services and opportunities in order to lead vibrant and thriving lives.
Organizational Principles
- Guided by inclusion – we value and center 2SLGBTQIA+ voices and the perspectives of those with diverse lived experiences.
- Community and relationship-driven – we foster nurturing communities by valuing interpersonal and collaborative relationships with one another and to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community as a whole.
- Strong commitment to collaboration and problem solving – our decision-making process is consensus-based.
- Accountability – receptive to and reflective of feedback from the community to continuously improve our content and organizational practices.
Approaches to our Work, Training, and Life!
- Trauma-informed – We apply a trauma informed framework to our research, content development, facilitation, and work with 2SLGBTQIA+ people by prioritizing safety, choice, trust, collaboration, empowerment, and respect for diverse perspectives.
- Intersectional – We take into account how 2SLGBTQIA+ identities interact with other aspects of identity such as race, class, ability and religion.
- “Nothing about us, without us” – A phrase commonly used in disability and/or Indigenous advocacy work, we apply this ideology to ensure our training is developed and facilitated by 2SLGBTQIA+ scholars, social workers, healthcare workers, and community members.
- Calling in – Based on the work of Loretta Ross and Loan Tran, WorQshop uses “calling in” as a way of inviting allies into conversations about 2SLGBTQIA+ issues while minimizing harm. While some topics may cause discomfort and challenge common beliefs, this is where learning and growth happens. We recognize that people make mistakes, and we believe in everyone’s ability to listen, reflect, learn and act.
Connect With Us
Building Safer Spaces
At WorQshop, we work to create safer and inclusive health and social services and workplaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Connect with us today to learn how we can help your organization.