28/01/2020 |

Centre for Multicultural Youth

Pausing to recognise the value of our differences

 

The Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) is an organisation focused on supporting young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds and helping them to become connected, empowered and influential Australians.

 

Marissa Phillips, Executive Manager People & Culture, says CMY is a diverse organisation that supports many people from all parts of the world to live their best life in Australia.

 

Even as an organisation already set up to promote, advocate and celebrate cultural diversity, Marissa says CMY still gets a lot of value out of participating in A Taste of Harmony.

 

“For us, it’s an opportunity to pause and recognise the value that differences bring to the organisation – both from the young people we support and also from our own employees.”

 

“It is a permanent fixture on our calendar and our team really look forward to it each year. While the event is well supported by myself and our CEO, it is really employee-led. We don’t have to do much to encourage our people to get involved.”

 

Event Organiser and Administration Support Officer at CMY, Thasneem Thowfeek, says their event is easy to organise and just a matter of reminding colleagues about the date to bring along their dishes.

 

“Food definitely has a superpower in connecting people,” says Thasneem. “Other than indulging in our love of food (we’re big time foodies at CMY), it is my hope that each team at CMY gets to know each other better, especially as CMY’s growth has been incredible over the past few months.”

 

“As we have quite a few new staff members within different teams, it is a fantastic opportunity for people to get to know one another in a relaxed setting, and not just to learn about each other’s work and lives, but also their cultural heritage.

 

I feel that what people learn about each other’s worlds may bring them closer to one another and add to the already wonderful working environment at CMY.”

 

Passionate about encouraging other organisations to get involved, Thasneem says, “We need to promote cultural diversity and work together in ending racial discrimination of any kind. The more organisations that participate in A Taste of Harmony, the more the message of inclusion and understanding can be spread, which is pivotal at this point in time.”

 

A greater insight into CMY’s A Taste of Harmony event and their reasons for taking part can be found here in a short video.

 

Click here to learn more about A Taste of Harmony and how your workplace can register and get involved.

 

Download CMY’s ATOH story here:

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