Our vision
Diversity drives prosperity. When immigrants prosper, we all do.
Who we are
The Global Diversity Exchange (GDX) is a think-and-do tank, based at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University and funded by Maytree. We focus on the diversity that is a result of global migration. With more than 214 million people on the move in the world, from one place to another for reasons ranging from education, to work, to freedom, to family, to love, this diversity of race, religion, lifestyle and culture is inevitable.
Under the leadership of founding Executive Director Ratna Omidvar, the GDX team identifies and amplifies the links between diversity, migration and prosperity, and anchors these in policy, research and practice. GDX also brings together a group of international advisors from academia, policy, business, politics and civil society to further our vision globally.
What we do
GDX provides thought leadership and analysis that helps nations, governments, communities, employers and institutions become immigrant-competent and immigrant-confident. We contribute to an international policy agenda and deepen our work through academic and applied research and partnerships. We uncover and disseminate “what works” and so build a global movement that is anchored both in evidence and practice.
In particular we focus on what we think are significant levers for research and action:
Employment and Entrepreneurship: Profile “what works” in immigrant employment worldwide, enabling businesses to source, select, develop and include immigrants as creative contributors to the workforce. Our primary platform is www.hireimmigrants.org, an international resource.
Program: Hire Immigrants
Diversity in Governance: Equip diverse candidates to take their place on the boards of not for profit and public institutions in the largest cities in Canada, and share our experience with an emerging international community of practice.
Program: DiverseCity onBoard
Migration and Cities: Showcase promising practices and policy innovation in major cities of migration around the world, taking local successes to global movements of change.
Program: Cities of Migration
Refugees: Transform complex refugee issues and policies into human stories using in-depth interviews, analysis and storytelling.
Program: Flight and Freedom
Thought Leadership: Profile notable global thinkers with big ideas on issues of diversity, prosperity and migration.
Program: GDX Annual Lecture