About Workplace Centre
Mandate
The Centre’s mission is to serve the business community by advancing spirituality and ethics in the workplace, drawing on the shared values and multicultural and ethnic diversity of Greater Vancouver.
The Centre promotes the benefits of individual spiritual well-being; supports the study and practice of business ethics; organizes programs and events which advance the understanding of spiritual values and ethical standards at work; and forms alliances with other organizations concerned with spirituality and ethics.
The Centre values spiritual wholeness, cultural diversity, ethical business practices, collective wisdom of communities of faith, inclusiveness, respect for individual dignity and environmental sensitivity.
Meetings
Ethics for Breakfast is an opportunity for business people to discuss ethical dilemmas in the workplace. The group meets from 7:15-8:30 a.m. on the second Wednesday of each month. Most meetings are at the BC Hydro Building, 333 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver, in the second floor auditorium. Please watch our notices or check in advance for that month’s location.
The Spirit at Work Luncheon series takes place on the third Thursday of the month from 12:00-1:30 p.m. at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, Suite 700 – 1090 West Georgia Street, at Thurlow, in Vancouver.
Both events are open to members and non-members.
Who Can Join
Membership is open to anyone interested in spiritual and ethical development in the workplace.
Click Here to join Workplace Centre
History
Harlene Walker, a United Church minister, started the Centre twenty years ago as the Workplace Ministry Society. It was designed to be an “oasis” in the downtown business community, where people could discuss ethics or spirituality in the workplace. The Centre also organized seminars, retreats and counseling. Harlene Walker has since retired, but a team of volunteers has expanded the vision through the Ethics for Breakfast and Spirit at Work Luncheon programs, which attract speakers from the business community.
In 1994, the Ethics in Action Awards were created in Vancouver through a partnership between the Centre and VanCity Savings Credit Union. Held annually or bi-annually through 2006, the Awards recognized leadership in corporate social responsiblity and highlighted the innovative steps taken by individuals and businesses to do business in a better way.