Yvette Blackburn, BA, is an educator, advocate, public speaker, and much sought after diversity consultant in education and government settings. She teaches at the elementary and college levels. Yvette has an extensive background in counseling, equity/diversity, policy and program training, fiscal responsibility, and fiduciary rights. Yvette is a long-standing community advocate and leader, sitting on various Boards of Directors, task forces, and committees. She has been a counselor for at-risk and underserved students and an employment counselor assisting racialized and new Canadian women having difficulty attaining and retaining employment. Besides, she has been an instructor with TriOS College teaching Canadian Government and Criminology in the Police Foundations Program.
Yvette is a trained facilitator and considered a subject matter expert on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion with specific emphasis on Anti-Black Racism, anti-racism, and oppression. Her expansive working knowledge of Human Rights, race relations, gender bias and neutrality, LGBTQI, Transphobia, feminism, and inter-sectionality shapes fulsome dialogue, analysis, and comprehension. She has facilitated and managed multiple projects, including Risk in Non-Profit Organizations, leading Boards effectively and strategically. Her focus on counseling and mediation involves guidance, liaison, conflict resolution, health promotion, and wellness, interviewing, negotiation skills, advising, investigation, anger management, participative management style, an advocate of team concepts, tact, innovation, flexibility, service-oriented, sound reasoning, assertive, customer service focused, results-oriented.
She possesses certification in Human Rights, Guidance Part 1, 2, Specialist, Equity, Inclusion & Diversity (EDI) Restorative Justice Part 1 & 2, Fair & Impartial Policing (FIP) Differentiated Instruction, Multiple Intelligences, Conflict Resolution 1 & 2, Conflict Management Skills, Strengthening Achievements, Motivation & Responsibility of At-risk/underserved students, Anti-Racism and Oppression, FNMI-Aboriginal and Indigenous Awareness, Microaggressions, Ableism, Attachment Disorder, Labour and Immigration Law, Collective Bargaining & Negotiations, Leading Boards Effectively & Strategically, WHMIS, WHSC level 1 & 2, Suicide Protocol, Creative Strategies for working with ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder).
Her emotional competencies include being involved with the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council–Government of Jamaica, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (Canada representative), ETFO Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario -Provincial Executive Board, TDSB Black Students Achievement Community Advisory Committee( BSACAC), PACER-EAC-Toronto Police Services External Advisory Committee, Toronto Police Services-Vice Chair, Black Community Consultative Committee (BCCPC), President-A-Supreme Foundation, Chair/Co-chair Elementary Teachers of Toronto-ETT Anti-Racism, Equity and Social Justice, Political Action, Professional Development, Governance, Budget and Status of Women committees.