Seeta Ramdass appointed Associate Director, Office of Social Accountability and Community Engagement, FMHS

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Seeta Ramdass as Associate Director, Office of Social Accountability and Community Engagement (SACE), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) at McGill University. In this newly created position, Ms. Ramdass will be responsible for leading the development and implementation of strategic Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives in the Faculty and ensure an understanding of EDI principles and values so they may form part of the teaching, learning and working environments.

Ms. Ramdass has over 20 years’ experience in communications, community and media relations within the fields of public health and education. Through much of her career, she has advocated for socioculturally safe and equitable health care, inclusion and respect for diversity for vulnerable and marginalized populations. She has served as a communications consultant to multiple organizations, including the Black Community Resource Centre and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, collaborated on research with various organizations, such as the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Diabetes Action Canada and Université Laval, among others and given presentations and workshops on unconscious bias, cultural safety, EDI, vulnerable populations and other social justice issues.

From 2008 to 2016, Ms. Ramdass was Director of Public Relations, Communications and Community Affairs at St. Mary’s Hospital Center (SMHC), where she created awareness campaigns and collaborated on various community initiatives and policies to support and promote diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. She also served as public health information officer for the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay and was the official spokesperson for the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) for eight years, promoting their research, clinical and community initiatives, through media relations, including the production of news stories and health documentaries such as Doctor*ology.

Ms. Ramdass has also been an active member of several governance committees including the Boards of Directors of the MUHC, the Conseil pour la protection des malades, and the Just For Kids Foundation. She is currently Co-Chair of the MUHC’s Committee for Action on Inclusion, Diversity and Equity.

A graduate from McGill with a Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Psychology, she has completed numerous courses in Health and Social Services Management at McGill, and several certifications and diploma courses which include: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Core Competency course in Gender and Health,  the Training Program on Human Factors in Patient Security and Safety offered jointly by McGill and St. Mary’s Hospital Center, and Prevention of Harassment in the Workplace at APER Santé et Services sociaux. She served as a member of the FMHS Social Accountability and Social Engagement Task Force, the Quebec government Groupe Action Contre le Racisme, and is a member of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada Standing Committee on Social Accountability.

Reporting to the Director, SACE, as Associate Director, Ms. Ramdass will develop and promote EDI-related activities and build capacity in this area throughout the Faculty. She will work closely with senior academic, administrative and student leaders to provide expert advice on EDI issues and act as a resource for faculty and staff on EDI projects and proposals. She will ensure that initiatives further the commitments of the University’s Strategic EDI Plan, and will also lead the implementation, communication and evaluation of the FMHS strategic plan in response to the University’s Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism.

Ms. Ramdass will also provide leadership and guidance to individual Schools within the Faculty to increase the representation of equity-deserving groups among students, staff and full-time academic staff. She will collaborate with leaders in other university units representing the interests of racialized, Indigenous and other underrepresented communities on campus on joint projects of EDI awareness raising.

Her responsibilities will also include developing quantitative and qualitative instruments to assess the presence and success of underrepresented groups within the Faculty, and collaborating with McGill’s Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to provide EDI capacity building and training to the FMHS for academic search committees and other initiatives.

Please join us in congratulating Ms. Ramdass on her appointment and wishing her every success in her new role.