For more than 20 years, Action Dignity Society has been a driving force for racial equity and justice in Calgary — and under the leadership of Executive Director Francis Boakye, that work has never been more impactful. The organization collaborates with ethnocultural and equity-seeking communities to tackle systemic barriers faced by immigrants, refugees, and racialized groups across the city, with programs spanning mental health, workers’ rights, gender equity, public safety, and economic inclusion.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
ActionDignity’s mission is to work together with ethnocultural and equity-seeking groups to advance equity through transformational change in communities. For more than 20 years, ActionDignity has been at the forefront of the movement for racial equity and justice. In collaboration with grassroots groups, community organizations, and broad coalitions, our organization has benefitted thousands of immigrants, refugees, and racialized communities through approaches of community-based prevention, community engagement and action, and public policy research and advocacy.
What problem does it aim to solve?
Historically, racialized minorities have fared worse than non-racialized groups on a range of socio-economic indicators. A review of recent data supports these trends. ActionDignity has a long history of collaborative work and a strong record of community engagement on human rights and pro-equity issues in Calgary. Community-based problem-solving and influencing systems change have been central to ActionDignity’s programs.
Racialized communities continue to face systemic and institutional challenges, leading to inequities in access to resources and services. At ActionDignity, we work toward collective impact through a community-centric approach. Through this approach, ActionDignity aims to build civic infrastructure, empower grassroots social change agents, convene impactful collaborations, and catalyze collective impact.
Our programs are guided by an anti-racism framework and address key areas including Social Inclusion and Economic Empowerment, Workers’ Rights, Gender Equity, Mental Health, Public Safety and Youth Empowerment. Through community-based prevention, engagement and action, alongside public policy research and advocacy, we drive lasting and meaningful change at both the grassroots and institutional levels.
When did you start/join it?
I joined ActionDignity in November 2021.
What made you want to get involved?
For over 20 years, I’ve been working at the community, organization, and government levels on issues of equitable social and economic integration of racialized communities. ActionDignity’s unrelenting pursuit of equity motivated my career choice. ActionDignity’s practices are organized around the principle of caring with a dual focus on dignity in actions and dignity of actions. Through working at this inspiring organization, we can work together to advance equity and inclusion in our society.
What was the situation like when you started?
I joined ActionDignity right after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. During the pandemic, the inequities in society were highlighted, and the organization’s awareness, reach and influence escalated to unprecedented levels. The elevated attention is a well-deserved and welcomed outcome for the organization; however, it also means higher demand and volume of work, as well as higher expectations and scrutiny.
As a new leader of the organization, I realized the urgency of reaching an alignment of our mission with all the team members, rebuilding our strategic structure, and further amplifying our systemic change work. Our dedicated team recognizes that addressing deep-seated issues requires strategic clarity and alignment. While we have a solid foundation of initiatives and partnerships, we need to amplify our impact and expand our reach.
How has it changed since?
After I joined ActionDignity, my focus was on harnessing our collective energy and expertise to refine our strategic direction, strengthen partnerships, and enhance our policy advocacy work. A new Strategic Priorities Plan was developed, guiding the organization towards our mission more efficiently and intentionally. To effectively transform our society, we continue our efforts in shifting conditions that hold current problems affecting racialized communities in place and organizing our actions in shifting prevailing patterns in Mental Health, Workers’ Rights, Public Safety, Gender Equity, and Social and Economic Inclusion. ActionDignity is accomplishing this through strengthening its engagement and mobilization activities by directly connecting them to systems change efforts.
In the fiscal year 2024-2025, 28,378 racialized community members were engaged in programs to promote active citizenship. 988 community leaders, natural supports and brokers were engaged in capacity-building activities to deliver multiple community action plans. 187 partnerships were activated with community-based organizations, nonprofits, service providers and government institutions. 100,945 Calgarians were impacted by ActionDignity’s work.
In 2025, our Community Action Plans (CAPs) (the strategic plan that is designed to address a particular issue or need within a community, led by and collaborated with community leaders) launched 28 initiatives—completed or underway—with $210,122 in seed grants, sparking participation, meaningful connections, and community leadership. Through our charitable partnerships, we enabled five community organizations to receive funding totalling $401,000, amplifying their impact and extending their reach.
What more needs to be done?
ActionDignity will continue to focus its work on systems change by contributing to changing institutional practices, addressing systemic racism, and advocating for just policies through strengthened collaborations and well-grounded civic infrastructure, to ensure that Calgary is indeed a community that cares for all its citizens.
This year, our organization is launching a policy advocacy campaign to champion equitable employment opportunities for internationally trained professionals. Our efforts will focus on two key areas: recognizing foreign credentials and removing Canadian work experience as a mandatory hiring requirement. We are calling on supporters to join us in building collective power, unlocking the full potential of internationally trained professionals, and strengthening social inclusion and economic prosperity for our entire society.
How can our readers help?
There are multiple ways to get involved with our meaningful work.
- Donate: Support us with a donation.
- Volunteer: You can either apply for a General Volunteer, helping with our event organization or daily administrative work or apply for our Board Committee Volunteers, contributing your advisory capacities in our board committees.
- Join: Membership is open to all individuals and democratically constituted organizations that ascribe to the vision and objectives of ActionDignity. Together we can build collective impact!
Please check our website to learn more.
Do you have any events coming up?
Yes. ActionDignity is running various workshops, trainings, and events for members and the public. Please visit our website and follow our social media for details.
Where can we follow you?
Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity that you love?
Women’s Centre of Calgary
