Hey, Cis!

HEY, CIS!_E.37_Mariat Jibril_Feb.16_Ver.2.mp3

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:00:04] Hey, Cis! from coast to coast, we're bridging the gap between the cisgender and transgender community, creating meaningful dialog and space to learn and grow.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:00:12] So I asked as we connect with our community, breakdown tough conversations and get comfortable being better humans.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:00:27] On Hey, Cis!. We've had the great honor of talking to small queer business owners across the globe about their unique experiences navigating the world of business. However, one barrier continues to present itself and pose a challenge to queer businesses finances. According to the 2020 Egale Canada study, the impact of COVID 19 Canada's LGBTQIA+ community and focus 53% of to LGBTQ+ Canadians are not confident in their current financial situation and their ability to find another job if necessary, compared to 40% of overall Canadians. And more than half of queer households were affected by layoffs and reduced hours as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020, compared to 39% of non-queer respondents.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:01:12] To explore financial barriers posing a challenge to queer businesses and how connecting with community is impacting this, we are joined by Mariat Jibril, Regional Manager of Lgbtq2s+ Business Development at TD Bank Group. Mariat advocates for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. As a black queer influencer in her field and in the community, Mariat has a passion for creating success for business owners and the community at large. Her advocacy means using the lens of intersectionality for a just and equitable society while amplifying voices, listening and serving the needs of diverse groups, black, indigenous people of color, the two LGBTQ community youths, women and non-binary and persons with disabilities. Welcome to Hey, Cis! Mariat.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:02:03] Thank you for having me. I'm really happy to be here. Thank you so much and good morning.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:02:08] It's so great to have you here. And why don't we kick it off by if you could share with us where you're currently residing and where you call home?

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:02:17] Yeah, I'm currently here in Vancouver and I call Vancouver home. And, you know, I also want to acknowledge their ancestral land that I call home and give you or the legend honors to read. And I'm just grateful to be in this beautiful province like Canada as a whole is beautiful, and I think I couldn't be any more Canadian since I left England in 2014, and I've lived in three different provinces now. I lived in Alberta and in Ontario, and I'm now here in B.C. and I think this is my, you know, as we say, and sometimes we don't want to hear it. I think it's my final step. I'm loving it.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:02:53] I love that. It's stunning over there.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:02:56] It is. Yeah.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:02:57] I think this time of year, too, you get past that extended gray period, right? That it's kind of December to the end of January. I think it can be very great. And then it's spring all of a sudden.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:03:07] Yes, definitely. Yeah. And I know you're from I know you're talking from your speaking from Halifax if from correct. And that is so a place that I love. It's a place that is in my heart as well. And I remember doing my MBA and I had to go to Halifax for my leadership training. And I didn't feel like coming back because as a pescatarian, there were so many seafood that I could explore and just enjoy and work through the ABOT. And it's really stunning there as.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:03:31] Well is it's amazing how different the two coasts of of Canada are, the West and the east. And you also work up in the Yukon. And I'm wondering if maybe you can highlight some of the unique aspects of working up in the Great White North.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:03:44] Yeah, of course they had a great privilege to actually visit Yukon during the Pride season last year, where we had colleague and client activation and just create awareness in the community. And I was really very impressed to see the work that has been done in the community in terms of creating that awareness and that acceptance from even, you know, older generations. And I was in the I was in the bank, in the in the branch, you know, talking to clients and just kind of like communicating with my colleagues. And I could see how far Canada as a whole has become a leader when it comes to, you know, 2SLGBTQ, and that just makes me really proud. I had a mixed feeling when I was traveling to to Yukon, you know, as you as as as a human, you hear people say different things like, oh, you know, the rural places are not accepting as much as the urban. But I think that wasn't sure I was able to speak to a lot of people. You know, they were very interested in the parade, they wanted to join in. And I just felt like, you know, there is a huge progress here in Canada, you know, in comparison to other countries. So someone like me that I've lived in different countries and I don't think I can walk proudly on the street of my own country, Nigeria, and and say to 2SLGBTQ+ would have been in danger. So I was proud to say.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:05:07] That, yeah, I think people would be really surprised to how to as LGBTQ individuals in small communities can come together. Like, I had an old roommate, she was up here in Halifax, and then she moved to Iqaluit with her girlfriend and they have like a full household of queer people up in the Great White North. So it's kind of interesting to see how much camaraderie is is there.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:05:29] So I think this also shows, you know, when you lead with love and you sort of like I think there's this acceptance that it is in the great white north area that everyone is just so warm and welcoming. And then so we shouldn't, as advocates, shy away from our responsibility to create that awareness. Sometimes the the hurdle could be in assumptions rather than taking a lead and feel, no, I shouldn't go there because the public would be very discriminatory with the community. But I think as an advocate, you should go into the open and embrace and continue amplifying, creating that brand. And I believe every part of the organization I work with that they were able to support me to do that. And that's why I chose TD. And I mean, when I joined in, I was very surprised to see an organization that had so much vision and passion to create awareness and also to create support in my unique role speaks for me. There's no other financial institution that has a rule like my regional manager for a segment, right? So it just shows the depth and true intention in diversity and inclusion within TD.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:06:49] Yeah, absolutely. And just continuing on that note, in your role in particular, what do you see are the biggest barriers for trans and non-binary people, in particular with the communities that you do connect, noting that you're on the West Coast in regards to accessing financial security?

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:07:07] That's a good question. We all know that trans people are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations, right when their name and sex details on their official documents are often suspected as fraud. They feel like the official documents does not match their gender identity or expression, which should be a simple administrative process and it shouldn't be an issue at all. So I take really great interest in going to branches and then I'm really very proud with TD, making sure that we are respectful to every individual, not a label, not put any label on and affirm gender identity, name and pronouns, and continue to do that by training colleagues and having conversation about it. And it's just about just treating everybody with respect, right? It's really very important that we conduct business that way and then just kind of affirm on pronouns and respect and gender identity and all of that. So that's what we do.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:08:08] With the systems that TD uses, then like with the data intake, there's probably a line is there where if somebody hasn't done a legal name change, you could put in their preferred name or or not their preferred name, but their name and then have a different line where it might be their legal name or do you know anything about that?

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:08:27] Yes, of course. Like this is something we pride ourselves in and that's why we stand as a strong pillar when it comes to diverse segments. We really understand it. And this is the reason why someone like me is a liaison between the community and TD and that means that it's all about communities, the customers and my colleagues, and making sure that everyone is informed, is aware and we know how to treat and how to conduct business, put it our way. So we do not only accept that we will, with respect, put the name onto the legal name and everything, what they choose to be called. We're happy. I think I'm a good testament to that. When I joined TD and I remember joining TD with Alison Lennon and I was really very I have a story to that name. It wasn't a name that was I was bettered with. It was a name that was given to me prior to marriage and I was in a vulnerable state at that time. And, and when I didn't feel like I should be called Alison Lennon because it's not my birth name, I remember I've in my employment when I was hired, the first thing I told TD was like, I want to be called Alison, I want to be called my birth name Mariat. And today was like, Okay, fine, we're happy with that. We'll call you Mariat. And there wasn't anything like, Oh, could bring a document here, show me why you're Mariat and things like that. And I just felt so respected and I felt so good about that. So if that's for, we treat every individual with respect, no matter who you are, colleagues or customers. So we do that. If those terms and I do understand the anxiety and emotional distress that can be prevalent for transgender people and the reason that TD take that natural and best approach to treat everyone with respect.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:10:10] Well, I think it's a really good point that you make is that a lot of times when we talk about name changes or forms, we hyper focus on trans and non-binary individuals because typically us as a community were the ones advocating the most for that. But it's also extremely applicable to cis straight individuals, like people someone named Robert that prefers to go by Bob or exactly in your case. And I just want to give kind of a little story because I think this is interesting and also kind of a clap for Ted. But I remember going this is probably two or three years ago when I was looking for life insurance and I was filling out a gazillion different forms and such, going through every website humanly possible. And TD was the only insurance company that I that I went through that when the page came up to give your sex assigned at birth, TD had sex as assigned at birth. And then why exactly they needed that. And then the definition of what sex assigned at birth meant everything else just had gender. Because for myself as a trans individual, I would go through these process and I'd be like, okay, it's asking my gender like, does it want like, what's it asking? What's it really asking me? Which is tricky because I was talking to someone and they said, you know, there's there's a risk if the information that you put on these insurance documents, if something were to happen to you and they don't align like that can be a big issue. And if you're not around to advocate for yourself, you know that that puts other folks kind of at risk to having to deal with that. So I thought that was really fantastic and it's really easy to put on a page.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:11:46] Thank you for thank you for sharing that. Yes.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:11:49] Yeah, I love that because, you know, it's a really simple step for businesses to do. If they are asking for something, then there's your there's your leader's tip for the day. Right. You can always put a little line. Here's why we're asking this or why it's like in my digital signature. It's like wondering why I share my pronouns here, my signature click here. If you want to do a little bit of a deeper dive. And you know on that story too, Isaac I remember you telling me that story. And it's funny because with our with my youngest who is transgender, we weren't able to update their sin number yet because they were born in Ireland and in Ireland. To change your name, you have to you might know this maybe being from the UK, but yeah, you have to go to court and at the time you had to live as your gender for six years and, and you have to be at least 16. And so we were able to do other changes here in Canada when we moved here, we couldn't change the sin number. So that impacted us when we were doing the RRSPs at TD and we were doing the education funds and then their bank account in that and they didn't miss a beat. But as a parent, I'm always nervous when I have to go in and I have to disclose and I have to say, you know, this is their sex assigned at birth, but this is who they are, because I'm always just hypersensitive to see a shift in that person, whether they get uncomfortable, whether they just change the way their tone with me or anything, I get really impacted by that. And they are just they were so great. They didn't miss a beat. They were obviously really well trained and they just made the whole thing really comfortable and affirming, which is nice.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:13:25] I'm really sorry about that. You have to go through all of that and I'm happy that TD has been able to make a huge difference because I've heard so many stories and testimonials to just make me feel proud. And it also says that in my world it made me feel that I have to go out in the community and continue to do the work that needs to be done without fear. Because I could do so many, so many people that can do with a lot more support. And I'm pleased that TD As a as a bank, as an organization, support a lot of nonprofit organization across the province so they can continue to do this work within the communities and give support.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:14:11] We're pretty grateful because we're being supported in this particular season by by TD through building community, and that's also why we've been able to do some great elevations with the podcast and we're working this is our first show with I'll give a little shout-out to our producer Connor on the back end, who are really excited. And that's all through the support of the funding that we received for season three from TD. So which is, which is great. And we're going to have a TD moment, a community moment shortly coming up on the show.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:14:44] That's amazing. I feel proud. Yeah, as an ambassador and represent TD here. So that's really amazing to hear.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:15:06] We're talking about community a lot. And one of my favorite questions to ask people because I find everyone has such a unique answer to it, but what does community mean to you?

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:15:17] I think for me, naturally, community means family, right? And in the family, what you get, you get love, understanding, support, assurance and everything like that. So when you build in a community, you're building a huge family where we all come with our differences. But at the end of the day, we're just saying because we hold humans and we'll all be respected for our own different ways, like maybe it's a sexual orientation, maybe it's religion or whatsoever. So I probably say in a more professional definition, the community is a social unit, and within that community we have all of the norms and the religion and the values, customs and identities and having a sense of community unites us and an opportunity for us to connect and with people in which our goals or our aspirations. So if you bring that back into the community as a researcher, plus there should be love, there should be resources, there should be support, there should be understanding and all of that. And I think when we don't have all of those important elements of a community, then it's not really. So for me, I'm I use that word a lot because I always try to make people understand, especially people who are still, unfortunately in their own different world and understanding. And I try to always say, you live in a community and in a community. We all have our intersectionality, and our intersectionality should be respected and embraced.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:16:55] And when we look at life and look at our humans as we interact with the lens of intersectionality, it brings that all together because I might be queer and black and disabled, and I speak three different languages or whatever. I could relate with someone who isn't black, maybe who is white or Asian, that is disabled, that's queer, that's whatever. So there's all of that intersectionality there, right? So we can just be an island like we are one together and we have to come together respectfully and with love. And I think I always preach love because what's the word meant for love? And love brings all of the understanding. And I think I'm proud that when I see the work that TD does in the community and when when we use the word TD ready commitment to the word commitment is for us to go into the community and support the community and amplify different elements that will bring the community together. You know, there is culture, there is maybe a nonprofit organization that works with trans and giving them resources and all of this stuff. Whatever we're doing, we just kind of spread it around. We do all of the different community work to bring the community together because we think is really important when we can do that.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:18:18] Can I ask I'm just wondering with the with a unique role that you have in the work you're doing, and we're talking about the intersections of identity as being a black woman professional and then a member of the queer community as well. Do you come across or have you met and engage with a lot of people who are members of the queer community who are black as well, as far as know population goes? And I'm just wondering, I'd like to explore a little bit about the intersection and maybe highlight a little bit for people or listeners maybe who don't understand how different layers of intersections of our identity can impact marginalization we might experience.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:18:59] Yeah, of course. That's a really fantastic question you've just asked me, because it's one that people, when you look at our community, 2SLGBTQ+, oftentimes is is a gay world or a gay white man world. And people just think that's there. And then you look at that and that's why the acronym keeps changing, because it has to be a balanced, fair community. We've got trans women, we've got trans men, we've got we've got AI. We've got everything, Two Spirit. So it's a big, huge community. So. When I came into this role, I was stunned to find that there was a niche of black women, black women in the community. And I'm now currently the chair, the board chair for Black, Black Gay Collective. Black Gay Collective is a nonprofit organization. They cater for self-identifying, black, cisgender, transgender to a particular all different, diverse segment. I was really surprised because, like, sometimes you feel you're alone when you're really not. And and that just was so kind of refreshing for me to see and do so many programs and engage financial literacy, lots of impactful programs in the community. So, yes, to answer your questions, there is a community of black queer women here in B.C., not just Vancouver, and it's just kind of, like I said, refreshing to to see that. And I'm really playing a big part of that because it's something that I could identify with and I want to be there as not just representing TD, but as someone who could be a sort of like a resource and go to person to support the organization.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:21:01] Going back to your definition of community, you mentioned a lot about building resources and building systems in place to help support people in the community. And without people like yourself and the initiatives that you're helping and striving towards, we're able to support more individuals who are are black and maybe are trying to come out or are unsure how to come out and creating those safe spaces for those people to do. To do so is is vital.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:21:30] I know you can't speak for an entire community. And then within the black community there are so many different intersections of geography, like if you're born in Canada or you've come to Canada from a different region or have grown up in a in a region such as our our African Nova Scotian population, which is very large here in Nova Scotia. But would the intersections of color of being black make it more difficult for someone to come out because of the culture?

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:22:00] Definitely, that I have to even put a laugh on that because it could be very overwhelming at times. And then finding that balance within your own community, accepting you for who you are and not being judgmental or want to tell you how you should live your life. And this is really critical because I'm a big advocate when it comes to mental health within the black community. It's really very difficult because it's overly religious community where we pray over everything and we go over everything through prayers and we think like you have to be in a certain way. So I think a lot of education and creating awareness has to happen with industries and organizations like TD and that's why I'm supporting Black Gay Collective, because we can create that impact and see all that joy of cisgender strength and having fun together and everybody just happy doing what they want to do and just say that is making an impact because other blacks in the community are saying what's going on? And that way they can start coming out into understanding and we just kind of create educational programs that would just kind of make that awareness not in a forceful way, but in a more understanding way. What we do. We do it through mental health understanding. I have three kids. I have three children growing up. I can tell my child, I just I just really try to understand. I can't tell my child how to act, how to be and to be, because I think then what am I doing? I'm kind of like locking them up. And if I keep doing that, what's going to happen? They're going to go into stress, depression and all that kind of stuff. And then mental health is not going to increase. So we have to look around, certain words on what actions we're taking and how we're supporting each other in being our authentic self and just really and happily.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:24:02] Hey, Cis! is all about connecting communities and thanks to support from TD Bank Group, here is this episode's connected community moment.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:24:10] Across Canada, February is a time to celebrate Black history. And here at Hey, Cis! we're celebrating with a queer lens. Our friends at Pflag Canada are currently running a social media series for the month of February, highlighting black queer voices throughout history.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:24:23] And these individuals are great to know if you're an educator, a history buff, or simply interested in expanding your knowledge of game changers and advocates within the queer black community. One individual in particular that I looked up online was Ravyn Wngz. I hope I'm saying that correctly, but they were in 2021, recognized as a top 25 women of influence and they identify as Queer, Two Spirit Transcendent. She is the founder of Toronto based Nana Diversity Dance Company, which was created to create a safe space for black queer artists after facing a lot of racism and homophobia. As an artist herself, we can put some links in the show notes, but merit thinking along that lines. Do you have anyone that might jump out to you this month that you'd like to share?

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:25:10] Yes. Thank you so much for asking. I like to share. Dr. Shamila Ibrahim Rahim, she's a chiropractor and she's based here in Vancouver and she's just been an awesome part of the community and she is helping the community in terms of long term wellness prevention, in terms of sustainable health for everybody.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:25:33] Thank you for sharing that.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:25:35] This has been a Hey, Cis! and TD Bank Group Connected Communities moment because inclusion matters.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:25:41] I was reading an article recently, Isaac and Mariat, and it was a woman here who is quite busy advocating for black professional women in our community. Her name is Tia (Upshaw) and she did an interview. It was in a credit Union magazine and she was talking about within the black women culture growing up, nobody would talk about mental health. Nobody would talk about if we were if they were struggling and that in their households. I think the word was if we were if we did complain, we would be called extra. We're being 'so extra' as a negative. And so people would just kind of be quiet and kind of be strong and kind of like hide what they were going through. And I was wondering, have you ever heard that term before with is that.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:26:34] With that term before you have like growing up where you couldn't be who you are, You couldn't come out because of a fear of like, 'how am I going to tell my parents,' 'what they're going to do to me? I'm going to be disowned and I'm going to be,' the you know, what the what the consequences of your actions and your happiness going to be. And then you just pretend all your life to probably about maybe in your twenties or whatever, when you have the guts to say, you know what, I have to be free. I have to be who I want to be. And most times in the black community, when you start telling someone that you can be independent, be your own, because, you know, if you come out on that setting, you may be thrown out and disowned. And just that fear of being disowned also is a.. Is kind of like it causes a lot of mental health issues as well that we don't talk about. And yet in the black community, it's always feels like you've got to be strong, you got to not do this, you've got to not do that. You know, we were brought up to it even with the fact that when I'm speaking to you, I'm looking at your eyes.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:27:31] I shouldn't be I should take my eyes away. I shouldn't look straight in your eyes. And there's always that misunderstanding when we when people meet and say there's a black individual and relation with someone else and say, well, you I don't believe you because you're not staring at me. Right? So there's so many things that we're brought up with that isn't right. But when you look back and you go back to this to the beginning, how does this history started? It goes back into colonialism, right? So it goes back into slavery. It goes back to feeling inferior and feeling small, and then it goes back into fear and which has been part of the black history into intergenerational trauma. So when we talk about the black community and we look at it in the, you know, into the 2SLGBTQ+ community, I'm very sometimes very sensitive with them in regards to how I, I talk and help them out because I have a lot of youth who want to come out and talk to me within Vancouver. And they're just so excited and they come to me as their mentor and say, Hey, I haven't told my parents. I feel this, you know, or my mom is dead to me.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:28:38] My father is dead to me. They don't want me to be who I want. So I feel like I have so many children in Vancouver that I have to hope I'm like an emotional mother in terms of being sure they're mentally stable. And that's just my intention. Once I can get them mentally stable and I can get into the right organization nonprofit to support them, I feel job accomplished, right? Part of my role that I have to go into the community, create an awareness, you know, apart from my core business role, which is business development. There's so many other facet of it that is critical and important. So you're right about the black community. I've had that before. I believe that experience and I know how it feels, and I'm hoping that I can get anyone who is feeling or living that experience to understand you first, not in a selfish way, but for your mental health and for your freedom and for your happiness, because people will eventually understand. So you can't hate yourself, because of how people feel about you. You have to be who you are, and then people see you for your authentic self rather than being in a cage.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:29:45] Yeah. And that's vital. And I was just curious too, in particular with with the black community, do you find that a lot of the barriers that in particular have been enforced on you and many other individuals in the community, especially in terms of religion, Do you find that they're improving over time as we're becoming more aware of mental health and the role that religion and colonialism and topics such as that have played on on marginalization or what's what's kind of your perspective there?

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:30:14] Someone like me grew up with, I was born a muslim and my mom was a Christian. She was Catholic and my dad was a staunch Muslim. But my dad was one of those liberal men that I've ever met in my entire life. Sometimes one of my regrets is that I didn't tell him about me completely before he passed away because I wanted to see what his reaction would be, because my dad was very liberal and understanding. And I think it comes to his roots being a police officer. And then when the chief inspector of police and went into Secret Service. So my dad was really very understanding. But in the community, I'm seeing a lot of progress. You know, take back to my own country, Nigeria. I usually tell them when I'm talking about religion, to look at all the terrible things happening in the country. And our country has all of this natural resources and still struggling and feeling like a third world country. But we have all of these amazing resources, but we have more churches in Nigeria than do all world put together. And then I don't get it like why is it focused on the religious aspect? So but if you look at it now, I'm from Nigeria, but look at me. My own thinking is different and a lot of people I speak to in the community, either in Canada or in the US or in Nigeria, people are coming out of that. People are beginning to understand that the best religion I can have is love and kindness. It's not a religion that you want me to be.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:31:34] I've been in this faction and this is a country or African generally, they didn't know Christianity until it was brought in by the colonial masters. No one knew what Christianity was, but they practice it even more and they reach it and strict way than any other countries I would do. So it's kind of like a little bit echo in a way. The sad thing and that breaks my heart is when to a particular community I looked in a certain way and their life are in danger or even killed and that's really disheartening. So there's so much work to be done, but I've seen a lot of progress that people are understanding and supportive and people have an awareness. But I think the most the critical thing is the mindset of different people. Individuals are clouded with this religion aspect of God said, don't do this. God said, don't do that right rather than human rights in alone people. But I know I've read the Koran and the Bible myself. I know there's one thing that God said more in the Bible and in the Koran. And it's love, love, love, love, love, love. So my question is, why are you judging when in the Bible or in the Koran it has been mentioned, don't judge, just go love. And I think we can love and we can lead with love... You just like being a leader in any organization. You've got to have empathy. If you can't lead with empathy, then you can never be a leader.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:33:01] So true.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:33:01] So, yeah, absolutely. And it's fragile. I mean, all the progress that we are making and recognizing that it is fragile when you see what's happening south of the border and trans rights being pushed back there. And and I think that's why, you know, when you spoke as well about the importance of allyship, too, and standing up and and having all these conversations and keeping them going because because progress, you know, it is fragile, you know, to keep it moving, we have to all keep working.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:33:32] I like that phrase. Progress is fragile because if we stop working, then we go back to where we started, or even worse than where we started. So we have to keep moving forward and we need organizations to look like great organizations like TD and what we're doing and, you know, all hands on deck and do more. I mean, I'm proud to work for TD, and I hear people say I go to TD and I was treated with so much respect. I get clients come back to me and say, Oh my God, they're the first thing they asked me, Oh, how do you want me? What's your pronoun? Because they want to respect me. And that makes me feel so really happy that, you know, I give credit to my colleagues in the branch, like they're doing amazing and amazing job because, you know, the customer facing is a really important because your body language, your expression and you respect people. That's very important. And I and I see my colleagues just killing it and just doing an amazing job. And I'm just so proud of them.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:34:38] Do you have maybe two top tips for individuals currently working in financial institutions who are looking to create safer spaces for 2SLGBTQ+ clients?

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:34:48] I mean, I think the most important thing is that inclusion should be intentional, right? This means understanding and embracing the concept of inclusion and just giving that respect. Because like my role, like, say, people who work in a financial institution. I work in a different institution as a regional manager to be close and just the same as the financial planners. Your very first opportunity to speak to Cynthia or to speak to anybody, that is the most critical. I always believe that a first impression is the last, right? So I respect and how I ask those questions. You know, I can't place and be as I'm assuming. So my advice is that inclusion should always be intentional and it shouldn't be more about, I have to do this, let your conversation be organic and get to learn more about and allow people to speak and learn more about them. That way we can close the gap of all of those financial needs from the from the client. Because if you don't have an organic conversation and understand what the person in front of you want, you can really give them an answer or give them the service or product that they deserve. So but also be honest about our own vulnerability, because sometimes you go in front of people and they're vulnerable that you're in front of them.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:36:13] Be honest. So they have to also learn more about your own vulnerability and seek resources and be able to point out where members of the 2SLGBTQ+ can get resources from. And again, that's the unique side of my role, where I'm like a third party and the liaison between TD and the 2SLGBTQ+ community. I see myself as a product because I can always I do that all the time, you know, direct client into information resources that they need apart from their financial matters, that's critical within the community. I have a lot of trans clients to come to me and say, 'Oh, do you know who I can go to for this?' And I can help you because the Qmmunity is a BC Queer know trans resource and go there and they can. And I know the people who work there and they work there with passion and with all their good intent to make sure that they reach gaps in the community. And I also think is important that we debunk the misconception about the 2SLGBTQ+ community and continue to promote awareness.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:37:18] I think to to kind of very quickly summarize it all the amazing stuff you just said. It's really going in with intent and not making assumptions or jumping to conclusions, asking questions, coming in with an open mind, because I know there's been certainly certain situations for myself as a trans person. I walk into a room as soon as people know I'm trans, they assume what I struggle with. They assume how I'm going to react to certain situations. It's it can be frustrating because, you know, each individual trans person, each individual queer person has different experiences and different needs. So making sure you're meeting folks where they're at is is vital.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:37:55] And that's why the conversation should be about active listening, to make sure that a non-judgmental and not as you mean as you mentioned and treat everybody with respect and individuals every individual is different like you mentioned right. Just because someone is trans or by doesn't mean that your assumption of the community is the reason why they're in front of you. Or maybe, oh, there must be trans they don't have money or they don't have. Right. So I think and that's why I said we have to do both. I think the best tip there is to just debunk that misconception. Yeah. And go out there to promote awareness.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:38:39] Absolutely.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:38:41] So, Mariat, maybe you can you can explain a little bit to us why and why, in your opinion, is it so important for members of the queer community to have equitable access to financial institutions? And and what would you say is at stake?

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:38:57] Thank you, Cynthia, for that. So I like the word equitable because I'm I'm very passionate, as you know, advocate for diversity, inclusion and equity. And I think in that aspect, when you read my bio, you knew that I work with a lot of diverse segments and that includes the trans community passionately and with my knowledge of the financial products and services, especially after the tumultuous last three years of the pandemic, we know that the 2SLGBTQ+ community was. Really hit a lot. And we also know that, you know, we can't hide the fact that there's a lot of discrimination in the community and there's a lot of progress. But, you know, and that's why organizations like TD have my role where I, I help bridge those gaps in their financial aspect that is personal or is or is business so that we can come to a place of equity and everybody has the financial confidence and literacy that they deserve. And I think it's important in the society as a whole that everyone should have an an equitable access to financial services. If we don't have that equitable access, then we have a huge gap in the community where people don't have money, they don't have jobs, they can have daily bills or whatever paid. And I think that the 2SLGBTQ+ community is just as important as any community. I feel like I'm a big supporter when it comes to human rights, and I think human rights is part of our rights. Everyone should be able to afford their needs and needs.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:40:52] And I think it breaks my heart when I see that it's not in an equitable way. There's no equality there. There's always a huge margin, a huge gap. And I think the federal government understands that, the provisional government understands that. And we have all of these provisions and resources to allow people to meet your needs. And I think financial industries should step up like we're doing to create opportunities for people who are already accessing a loan to start a new business or to go to school or to have a surgery done. You know, people should be able to to be able to access those financial needs. And I think this is something that we do proudly. And I just want to shout it out to the community. Leslie, if there's any needs or ones that in terms of financial aspect to put up the services, we have so many programs and we're really happy to speak to them. And it's all about bridging that gap and creating that financial independence and exponential growth. It's important. I talk about mental health a lot and we need to understand that it is it becomes detrimental when people have no money. And that's that's a trigger to mental health, really, because I just can't imagine people living in any sort of situation where the struggle, the struggles are real. And we understand that. I have been through so much in my life that I can just imagine so with no money and how that could look like.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:42:24] We appreciate you you sharing that perspective, though. And it's definitely a a important one to to always think about and consider. Is that there. Yes, the 2SLGBTQ+ community, there's there's a lot of great very, very successful people within the community. But there also are individuals who who are struggling. But but making sure that we have the resources out there to to hopefully support these people and meet their needs. Where they're at is what's going to help us keep the community safe and thriving.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:42:56] Yeah, like, you know, we talk about the trans community a lot here today. And, you know, I want to head that out to whatever support you should come to TD. We're, we're very more than happy to listen because even within within TD within the coloured communities, we have access to all of this stuff that could help colleagues who want to go through different benefits needs to do because it cost a lot if you're in the trans world to go to different surgeries and stuff like that. Right? And all of those things financial needs is is important. And I think when it comes to financial, I think we should all be able to live happily, financially independent. And it's really critical to to to life as much as it is with health. Right. So you have a good health and sometimes you need the money to buy your meds and things like that, and you don't have the money to buy your meds. So then there is always just gaps in my job going out to the community. I don't go out as a sales person. I never like to do that. I go out in where is the gap where I can I help you and I can make that happen. And you know, to suit your needs and suit your financial strength at that time. And just to also have that, you know, we understand this on the TD front, and we're always very eager to actually employ people from the community. It's something that I've taken really very seriously this year as part of my strategy to create that talent acquisition for TD for the community. So if there's anyone looking for jobs or things that I don't feel like, you know, from the 2SLGBTQ+ community, maybe Department don't want to give me a job. No, we're just looking for a lot of people with talent to come. Always looking for great talents to come to TD. And it doesn't matter about your sexual orientation or your expression or anything else.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:44:45] Well, that's great to know. And we can share a link in in the show notes. So maybe if people want to connect with you on LinkedIn or I know you're all over socials and doing such a great job at visibility and representation, so we'll put a few of your socials in there in the show notes too, so people can also follow along.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:45:04] And that would be nice. I'm more than happy to help and this is what my apart from my everyday job, my job, I keep telling myself I'm a Chief Happy Officer, so I'm only there to bring sunshine to everyone and everywhere I can raise your financial literacy or if it is helping you to, you know, guide you to where you can get support and resources, or if it's just even token, if it's coming out there and just a big supporter of the community.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:45:31] Appreciate that immensely.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:45:33] Well, thank you so much.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:45:35] So much for for joining us today and having this fantastic conversation with us. We appreciate it immensely, especially to kind of have the the insider scoop on what's happening with TD. And also, I think your role in particular as you kind of kind of mentioned in the beginning is is very unique. And I think I personally am more am excited to kind of see more positions similar to yours kind of popping up in other organizations to to help bridge that gap that communities need. So so thank you.

Mariat Jibril (She/Her): [00:46:03] You're welcome. Thank you so much for having me.

Cyn Sweeney (She/Her): [00:46:05] That's all the time we have today, folks. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Hey, Cis!.

Isaac Cook (He/They): [00:46:11] The conversation doesn't have to stop here, though. If you would like to get in touch with us to ask us a question or share your story on a future episode, you can email us at Connect at Simply Good Form or visit us on our website at Hey, Cis!.