Date of Submission

8-1-2024

Document Type

DiP

Degree

Doctor of Education

Department

Education

Keywords

needs assessment, government-assisted refugees, equity, transformative leadership, Ubuntu, social justice

Abstract

The dissertation-in-practice (DiP) addresses the equity and consistency of the resettlement needs assessment and referral service standards for government-assisted refugees (GARs) within the confines of defined autonomy and equity, diversity, and inclusion at Safe Haven Refugee Resettlement Sector, a midsize national resettlement sector in Canada. The current service standards are inequitable and inconsistent, and their application marginalizes GARs. In the DiP, I adopt and adapt an integrated Euro-Afro-Indigenous Ubuntu transformative leadership approach rooted in a decolonizing lens and embedded in equity by addressing inequitable social conditions of a community-in-practice service that causes injustices. The change implementation plan, enacted on the premise of collaborative governance and collectivism, is articulated to invite Safe Haven Refugee Resettlement Sector employees to share their voices equitably to address the product, process, and human-centric change from a regional-specific perspective in the multicultural diaspora of global GARs. As the daughter of South Africa and adopted daughter of Canada, my experience as a marginalized woman of colour has taught me that there is no path to social justice in addressing this problem of practice: Social justice is the path in this DiP to achieve equity because without embracing the social justice path, the dream and hope of achieving service equity for all GARs becomes unclear. The equitable change journey ahead is filled with humility, compassion, and empathy and will be beneficial for the resettlement service agencies administering the service standards and global GARs receiving service standards equity.

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