Meet Rainbow Refugee's co-leadership team
Rainbow Refugee is pleased to welcome its first ever co-leadership team of Aleks Selim Dughman Manzur, Programming Director, and Andrea Arnot, Managing Director.
“Rainbow Refugee welcomes Andrea and Aleks as together they form the co-leadership team.” says Rainbow Refugee founder Chris Morrissey. “Both are long-standing leaders in LGBTQI communities and I believe that they, in partnership with our staff and many volunteers, will continue supporting queer, trans, and HIV+ refugees. Rainbow Refugee has grown and needs full-time staff as the organization responds to the on-going requests from LGBTQI people from across the globe to find a safe place here in Canada. Together Andrea, Aleks, the staff and many volunteers will continue working in solidarity to create a more just world for all of us.”
Aleks serves as Programming Director, leading all of Rainbow Refugee’s well-respected sponsorship, settlement, support, outreach, and advocacy programs. Aleks (they/them) is a transmasculine Palestinian born and mostly raised in Chile who migrated to Canada in 2008. They are a trained lawyer specializing in human rights, women’s rights, reproductive and sexual health law, LGBTQI+ rights, and refugee rights. Currently, Aleks is Vice-President of the Canadian Council for Refugees and formerly worked as Director of LGBTQ+ Refugee Programs for the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, for LEAF (Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund), the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) and the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Programme at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto.
Andrea Arnot (she/her) is Rainbow Refugee’s first permanent Managing Director. In her new role, Andrea will lead Rainbow Refugee’s finance, human resource, and operational strategic direction. Joining Rainbow Refugee from her role as Executive Director at Vancouver Pride Society (VPS) since 2016, Andrea comes with an array of leadership experience, including as head of one of Canada’s largest LGBTQ2I+ events. She successfully led VPS’s transitions from a volunteer working board to a governance board with a robust year-round paid staff team and complex and changing relationships across LGBTQ2I+ communities. Andrea previously spent eight years at Richmond Multicultural Community Services working in their Inclusive Communities department.
Rainbow Refugee’s co-leadership model represents a next step forward into local and national leadership in support for and issues affecting LGBTQI+/HIV+ refugees. While respecting its commitment to collaboration and shared decision-making, the new leadership is keeping pace with Rainbow Refugee’s rapid growth.
“Rainbow Refugee has grown into a national leader in support and advocacy with LGBTQI+ refugees and we are excited to launch the next step in our growth by bringing on our first ever leadership team,” says Board Chair Sharalyn Jordan. “The depth of experience and skill Aleks and Andrea bring to Rainbow Refugee will enable us to build on the solidarity LGBT2QI+ communities across Canada are showing to strengthen our impact on SOGIESC refugee human rights and refugee protection.”
Rainbow Refugee promotes safe equitable migration and communities of belonging for people fleeing sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, sexual characteristics (SOGIESC), and HIV+ persecution. We deliver programs and build partnerships to create a whole-community approach to care and advocacy with LGBTQI+ refugees in order to address intersectional inequities and support gaps. We amplify the voices of LGBTQI+ refugees, promoting their leadership and perspectives in public dialogue and policy making.
- September 23, 2021
Rainbow Refugee COVID-19 Safety Plan
February 21, 2021
This document is intended to guide Rainbow Refugee staff, contractors, volunteers, and community members engaging in Rainbow Refugee business and programs during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Rainbow Refugee’s priority is the safety, health and well-being of our staff, contractors, volunteers, and community members.
COVID-19
If staff, contractors, volunteers, or community members present any COVID-19 symptoms, go home or stay home. Contact 8-1-1 or general physician for a health assessment. If you have been in contact with or exposed to someone with COVID-19, go home or stay home. Please be in contact with your supervisor or other Rainbow Refugee colleague to inform them of your absence and to allow them to check in on you.
Anyone attending the Rainbow Refugee office will complete a self-assessment before coming into office. If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you cannot come into the office and should contact public health for further direction.
For employees and contractors: In the event that you contract COVID-19 or must be the primary caregiver for someone with COVID-19, you will require time away from work. Please consult the Personnel Policy and be in touch with your supervisor to discuss options to support you over this period. Rainbow Refugee’s goal is to provide the support necessary, within its capability, to ensure that employees and contractors do not experience hardship as a result of contracting or caring for someone with COVID-19.
Office Use
Rainbow Refugee is occupies a single office at 1170 Bute St. The office is currently closed to visitors, unless it is unavoidable and arranged in advance with knowledge and adherence to the COVID-19 Safety Plan.
Staff and contractors are, wherever possible, to work from home and use phone, Zoom, Slack, etc. to communicate with colleagues and clients. All meetings and program gatherings are either cancelled, postponed, or moved to a virtual platform.
The Rainbow Refugee office is restricted to one person, per office, per day, wherever possible. Office mates are expected to communicate with each other in advance about their intentions for being in-office or working at-home. Those using the office are encouraged to keep office doors and windows open to encourage air flow and circulation.
Anytime two people are required to be in the office at the same time, both must wear masks, minimize their time in the office, and stay as far apart as possible. Before entering another person’s office or work space, explicit consent to enter is required.
In the case of inland hearings, only the applicant will be in the office. The staff member will open up the space, set up the computer, and greet the community member before leaving the space while the hearing occurs. If that isn’t possible, the two individuals are to be separated by more than 6 feet and wear masks.
Meeting Rooms
Meeting Rooms will not be used. All meetings and gatherings will now occur virtually.
Other In Person Gatherings
From time to time, Rainbow Refugee people are required to accompany members to appointments and government agencies. Where this is unavoidable, masks are worn, hand sanitizer is used, and they remain 6 feet apart or as far apart as possible. When travelling in a car, they lower the windows to increase circulation.
Cleaning, Sanitation and PPE
Staff are expected to wash their hands upon arrival at the office, and regular handwashing throughout the day including before and after food prep, after washroom use, etc.
QMUNITY has a cleaner in once a week on Sunday. The BCCDC has a cleaner that comes in every night (except Sunday). The BCCDC cleaner cleans the Bute St. Clinic space, front staircase, breakroom, waiting room, staff washroom and public washrooms.
Rainbow Refugee will provide cleaning supplies. Each day upon arrival and departure, areas touched are to be cleaned by the person using the office.
Rainbow Refugee will provide sanitizer, masks and gloves; daily use while on-site is encouraged and mandatory for masks.
Shared & Common Spaces in the Building
The Rainbow Refugee office is a single office in a much larger space that is shared. The following are the COVID-19 safety requirements of Qmunity, the leaseholder.
Signage & Communication
Questions, Comments & Concerns
Rainbow Refugee has been selected to receive $50,000 from lululemon’s Here to Be social impact program.
Rainbow Refugee is a Vancouver based community group that supports people seeking refugee protection in Canada because of persecution based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression (SOGIE) or HIV status. lululemon athletica is a technical athletic apparel company for yoga, running, training and most other sweaty pursuits.
In alignment with lululemon’s Impact Agenda commitments, lululemon is scaling Here to Be, a premiere social impact program. For the past five years, Here to Be has supported mental, physical and social wellbeing, by partnering with non-profit organizations to create access to movement and mindfulness in communities across the globe. This year, Here to Be received an additional USD $3 million in funding to support organizations that advocate for civil rights and social justice for people that are most impacted by systemic inequity. Rainbow Refugee was chosen as one of the inaugural advocacy donations to receive funding in the amount of $50,000 CAD.
“LGBTQ+ refugees are living on the extreme edge of societies in many parts of the world,” says Rainbow Refugee’s Chairperson Sharalyn Jordan. “The pandemic has pushed them into more desperate economic situations and, in some cases, life threatening conditions. We can put this money to very good use, directly helping LGBTQ+ refugees to resettle in Canada.”