CANADA (2019)
We contributed 5,000 books to housewarming care packages distributed to thirty groups that support women’s shelters across Canada by First Book Canada. Thousands of women and their kids received the gift of a book to read together and some soothing skin care products as they began the transition to a new life via the shelter system. To learn more about the housewarming kit initiative, please click here and here.
CANADA (2019)
As part of Michelle Obama’s four-city Canadian tour for her best-selling memoir, Becoming, we provided 40 local community groups with 400 complimentary tickets to distribute to their members. In Toronto, members of A Room of Your Own Book Club were able to meet Mrs. Obama in person and receive copies of Becoming. We also provided 25 tickets to Alberta librarians to attend Mrs. Obama’s Edmonton event. To learn more about her book club meet-and-greet, click here.
CANADA (2020)
The Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) was founded by writer Jael Richardson to celebrate diversity in literature by promoting underrepresented authors and stories. Based out of Brampton, Ontario, one of Canada’s most culturally diverse cities, the festival marked its fifth anniversary in 2020 with its first-ever all-virtual festival, in light of the circumstances around COVID-19. We were once again a lead partner for its main event in May, providing support through author appearances, sponsorship, and staff involvement. This year, two of our editors held a Process of Publishing workshop via Zoom, informing more than 400 participants about the publishing industry and taking time to answer specific questions during a Q&A segment. And as in past years, select Penguin Random House Canada employees took part in Pitch Perfect, an opportunity for writers to submit sample pages to a publishing professional for one-on-one feedback. To learn more about FOLD, click here.
CANADA (2020)
We partnered with Bell Let’s Talk in Canada, a program that promotes mental health awareness, to host a free public panel about writing, reading, and mental health. The panel was moderated by Dr. David Goldbloom, director of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Foundation Board, and featured writers Don Gillmor, Jael Richardson, and Yasuko Thanh. A display in our Penguin Shop allowed employees, authors, and guests to share their own messages about wellness and mental health and discover related books. In 2020, our second Mental Health Awareness Month focused on in-house sessions promoting employee well-being, including a Drop Everything and Read event that encouraged everyone to take a break from their computers and enjoy a good book, with free health and wellness titles on offer to staff. To learn more, click here and here.
We engaged award-winning leadership and diversity expert Ritu Bhasin (author of The Authenticity Principle and president of bhasin consulting inc.) as our diversity and inclusion consultant. Together with Bhasin, we are working to create a forward-facing diversity and inclusion strategy. We kicked off these efforts with the introduction of cultural competence and anti-bias training, which has so far been delivered to more than a third of our employees, including all those in leadership positions.
Women Talking is a unique salon-style series run by an employee-led team that aims to empower female-identifying colleagues through access to peer support and advice, learning and growth opportunities, and guest speakers. Since launching in 2018, we have hosted quarterly events, including author conversations (highlights include appearances by Dionne Brand and Carmen Maria Machado), goal-setting workshops, and book discussions. To celebrate International Women’s Day 2019, Women Talking highlighted women employees’ favorite books by and for women and led employee fundraising efforts in support of Sistering, a multiservice agency for at-risk women in Toronto who are facing housing insecurity.
For International Women’s Day 2020, Women Talking presented an in-house author panel on the global IWD 2020 campaign theme, #EachforEqual, which included Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Tara Henley, and Anna Mehler Paperny. In addition, our Social and Charitable Committee led a book sale and donation drive of clothing and menstrual products for Sistering, as well as put together a Women’s Library consisting of donated titles nominated by employees. To learn more about Sistering, click here.
