Gérard Étienne is a renowned Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) strategist. He has worked with world-class organizations in the public, not-for-profit, and private sectors that needed to maximize the convergence and collaboration of individuals of diverse identities, experiences, and ideas. He specializes in readiness assessment, intercultural development for executives, ED&I strategic planning, leadership, human resources renewal, and organization development. He is an author and lecturer at l’Université du Québec en Outaouais.

Mr. Étienne is a Senior Associate at DiversiPro. He is a former Vice-president of Diversity Initiatives at the Institute on Governance, Vice-president of Operations at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Vice-president of Human Resources at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Vice-president at TD Bank Financial Group, Director General of Human Resources at Health Canada, and Vice-president of Human Resources at the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency. He was the Vice-Chair of the Community Equity Council for the Ottawa Police Service. Mr. Étienne was the leading organizer for the first symposium in 2019 of the Federal Black Employee Caucus (FBEC). He is currently leading a new research initiative aimed at exploring the causes of under-representation of Black employees in senior executive positions in the federal public service.

Mr. Étienne is currently finishing his thesis for a PhD in Industrial Relations from Laval University. He holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Relations from l’Université du Québec à Hull; an MBA from l’Université du Québec à Montréal; a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Ottawa; and both a Bachelor of Social Sciences and a Bachelor of Administration from the University of Ottawa. He was conferred the designation “Fellow” by the Institute of Canadian Bankers with Honours. Most recently, Gérard graduated from the University of Ottawa Certificate Program in Public Sector Leadership and Governance and was named Valedictorian of his class. Finally, he is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®).