Lyle Ahenakew (right) meets with GHD Canada colleagues at a recent inclusion and diversity forum.Provided
When Lyle Ahenakew was at university, he knew he wanted to use his education in environmental engineering to help Indigenous communities, like his own Snuneymuxw First Nation near Nanaimo, B.C. He found a way to do that by joining the Vancouver office of GHD Canada, part of the employee-owned global engineering, architecture and construction services company.
Ahenakew was able to take part in a GHD Canada internship program focused on Indigenous students with backgrounds in forestry, chemistry, STEM (sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics) or other sciences. Now, three years later, he is an engineer in training in GHD Canada’s Waste Management group.
“The job gives me an opportunity to help remote First Nations with waste management,” he says. “What I like is that it encompasses different things for different communities that include fulfilling needs for procurement, recycling logistics, civil design, leachate and gas collection.”
Jan Fontana, GHD’s people leader for Canada, says that the company’s focus on inclusion and diversity informs everything from hiring practices to committee appointments, as well as the establishment of employee resource groups to support diverse and often marginalized populations.
“The employee resource groups give our LGBTQ+, Hispanic, Asian, Black, neurodiverse, Indigenous and women employees opportunities to get together and network,” she says. “Everyone is invited, allies are welcome to come and talk about what’s going on in the world, and there’s strong support from our leaders.”
Ahenakew is chair of GHD Canada’s Indigenous Employee Resource Group. “We have regular meetings, we put on events and focus on recruitment and allies,” he says. “It’s open to all employees and supports an inclusive work environment, and I really like that. We’re taking a lot of steps in the right direction to build on diversity in the workplace.”
In addition to leading the group, he’s also a member of GHD Canada’s Reconciliation Action Plan committee, which works on ways to acknowledge and respect the rights of First Nations in all its projects, including using Indigenous contractors and vendors when possible. “I’ve also been involved in developing wording for land acknowledgments to show respect for the different territories we’re meeting or working on,” he says.
Ahenakew appreciates his job’s flexibility, with a hybrid work model that allows him to spend time with his family, and its variety. “I like that the work is always changing, there’s always a different project in a different community,” he says. “I also got a lot of responsibility early, which is great, because that’s how I learn.”
He also gets a lot of professional development support, including quarterly check-ins with his manager and mentorships with senior staff.
“On all the work I do, I have one or two senior engineers providing guidance and direction, so I’m never left to do projects on my own,” he says. “I can get my hands on things and get involved in projects, but I’m always being mentored and it’s great. It builds your professional skills and experience.”
Fontana says that diversity and inclusion, supporting employee development and sustainability are all part of the company’s vision to create lasting benefits in the communities it works with. “It’s built into our strategy and our purpose,” she says, “and it resonates with everyone at GHD.
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Advertising feature produced by Canada’s Top 100 Employers, a division of Mediacorp Canada Inc. The Globe and Mail’s editorial department was not involved.