Leslie-Ann Fullerton

Each interactive workshop is designed to identify problem areas, collectively create solutions and then design action plans to encourage sustainable improvement. At the core of each workshop is mindfulness practice, which Leslie-Ann sees as integral to improving staff wellness during the DEI process. She also provides crucial support to cultivate employee wellness in the form of mindfulness workshops that tackle wellbeing and stress reduction.

Leslie-Ann says: “Paying attention to employee wellness is an integral part of creating a healthy workplace culture, which in the long run will contribute to the maximization of potential and bottom lines. These mindfulness-based workshops are healing methods that helo employees manage stress and build relationships.”

Holding over 10 years of professional and academic ARAO and DEI advocacy experience, Leslie-Ann has worked in both the public and private sectors. Time and again, she has noticed that organizations labelled as ‘oppressive’ are often aware that their systems are inefficient, but unaware of how to mitigate or improve operations. She grew inspired to create her consultancy business after a decade of working on the frontlines: “I've seen firsthand how feeling included in a space can be the difference between employment and unemployment. As a member of a visible minority group, with my lived experiences of trying to navigate a system that is traumatized by complex and nuanced systems of oppression, | am acutely aware that creating safe spaces requires the institution's ability to change. | want to help make that possible, and to make the process easier, it’s important to ground the DIE practices in mindfulness.”

Leslie-Ann immigrated to Canada in 2010, where she enrolled in the University of Toronto and double majored in Political Science and Caribbean Studies. Like most immigrants, she thought Canada would be a new home free from oppression, a multicultural safe haven. However, something still felt off. She began paying attention to the roles that history, policy, and institutions play in creating the world we live in — and that’s when she began to understand that what she was experiencing effects of systemic oppression.

Whilst studying, Leslie-Ann created and facilitated anti-racist and anti-oppression workshops, conferences, and symposiums at the University of Toronto. She then took up a postgraduate degree in Adult Education with a focus in Social Justice Education at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She went into advocacy after graduating, keen to become an expert both in theory and practice. Whilst working in NGOs, she partnered with multiple organizations and experienced various ARAO and DEI workshops over the years.

At one workplace, after identifying the need for an internal strategic restructuring that called for an Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppression (ARAO) framework. She designed and implemented a four-year strategic plan which resulted in over 60% client retention and over 70% staff retention. This was when she saw firsthand the impact and value of effective ARAO strategy.

As Leslie-Ann puts it: “We spend so much time at work. Having a safe workspace and positive work culture must be a priority in any organization. Far too often, a healthy workspace is compromised by antiquated structures or practices that can be mitigated with the incorporation of DEI in mindfulness. That's where can come.”

Leslie-Ann Fullerton transforms organizations from the inside out using DE| initiatives rooted in mindfulness. Backed by the Six Sigma methodology, she provides organizations with measurable and objective outcomes that create sustainable, long-lasting change. Contact her today.