Transcription for DiverseCity Video Featuring Enrique Robert

My name is Enrique Robert.  I am the Executive Director of Birchmount Bluffs Neighbourhood Centre.  I am a political refugee in North America.  I was a human rights lawyer in my homeland, that in the time of the war put in danger my life and my loved ones, and ended up coming to Canada.  Before coming to Canada I didn't know that I was a minority.  I was one of the privileged class.  Suddenly in Canada I have a status that is attached to my ethnicity.  Hold on a second!  What does ethnicity have to do with your skills, or the way that you think?

The risk of hiring outside of that famous proverbial box is worth it, because we find the best of the best.  One day, the society will see us not as ethnic backgrounds, second language, but who we are.  And that is our real challenge.  As a leader, if we talk about the concept of a leader, leadership is not to be the head of, it's to earn the right to be the head of.  That is the concept of leadership.