Penguin Random House | Toronto, 09/24/2020

PRH Canada Publishes Update On Anti-Racism Action And Accountability Plan

In early September, the Canadian publishing group communicated the measures it has already taken to promote diversity and combat racism, and what it plans to do by the end of the year. Like its U.S. counterpart Penguin Random House Canada strongly supports the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

In the summer, alongside Penguin Random House territories globally, the publishing group in Canada also expressed its support for the Black Lives Matter movement and its commitment to countering anti-Black racism specifically, and racism and discrimination generally, within its community. After Penguin Random House Canada outlined initial measures and goals in the fight against racism in June, the publishing group published an interim review of its activities at the beginning of September. This summer, Penguin Random House Canada and its employees donated a total of around 75,000 Canadian dollars to support organizations that work against racism in society and advance racial equity. The publishing group had already donated C$60,000 to the Black Legal Action Centre, the Black Health Alliance, and the Nia Centre for the Arts in June, and matched C$7,000 in private donations by its employees.

Penguin Random House Canada is also working with various organizations from the publishing and cultural sector to speak out against racism and support equity for other marginalized communities. In addition to the Raptors 905 Summer Reading Challenge, in which 200 fifth-grade students read books by black authors,  the publishing group donated books to two LGBTQ2+ organizations, Friends of Ruby and Egale. In collaboration with Friends of Ruby, it will create an online series of talks focusing on careers in publishing. In the lead-up to Canadian Independent Bookstore Day,  which this year took place in late August instead of April as usual, Penguin Random House Canada launched the Indie Feature Friday online campaign, which presented independent bookstores owned by members of the BIPoC community (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) or are particularly supportive of the interests of these groups.

Going forward, Penguin Random House Canada will renew its focus on diversity not only in society at large, but also in-house. The publishing group commissioned a Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) survey to take a closer look at the demographic structure of its workforce. With a response rate of 92 percent, Penguin Random House Canada employees gave the CCDI the highest participation rate seen so far for a company of this size. The results will be published in December. With special mentorship and networking programs currently in development, the publishing group also aims to offer more support for the professional development and well-being of employees from BIPoC communities, as well as LGBTQ2+ and disabled employees and those from other marginalized groups.

In future, Penguin Random House Canada will also increasingly work with nonprofit organizations to find a broad and diverse selection of candidates for internships. An internal committee of leaders was also appointed early this summer to review the publishing group’s publications and book acquisitions in terms of how they reflect diversity in society. In addition, Penguin Random House Canada is planning anti-racism training for all employees, following the newly created monthly BIPoC Forums, where racialized employees can share experiences with each other in confidence. Details of this training will also be announced in December.