The purpose of this activity is to allow each of us to openly share with our colleagues and friends when we are grieving or mourning the loss of someone special to us. The feeling of grief on any given day may be due to a recent loss, an anniversary of a death, a special holiday, birthday, or any other period throughout the year that invokes grief or mourning for you. Did you know for every death, five people will feel the impact of grief? Your participation in this activity will increase the knowledge and understanding of the impact that grief has in the workplace. Creating awareness with your colleagues that you are grieving helps them to be more mindful and compassionate when seeing any potential changes in your mood or behaviour. The more colleagues who participate in this activity, the less alone grieving employees will feel. This will lead to an increased understanding of the impacts of grief and a reduction in stigma.

1. 1. When you are experiencing grief, post the black ribbon image provided below as your work profile picture.
   2. When ready, scroll down to the black ribbon image below.
   3. In the text box beside the image, type in the name of someone you grieve.
   4. Then select preview to see the name displayed on the image. The character maximum is 11.

   5. Select the “save ribbon” button below the text box when you are satisfied with how the name is displayed on the image, select the “save ribbon” button below the text box.

   6. When the new window opens, you can either select “Save File” where it will save to your computer or select “Open File” where it will open in the appropriate program, and you can save the image where you want.

   7. Change your work profile image to the black ribbon when you are ready to share with others that you are grieving or mourning. To do this, open the program your workplace uses to connect internally—for example, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet.

   8. Click on your profile image and follow the steps to change the image. Please note it may take up to 24 hours to show the change and this profile image may be visible to organizations outside your workplace.

   9. Take note of your colleagues who are displaying the black ribbon and recognize that they may be having a hard time or feeling sad. Showing them empathy and kindness during this time is always helpful.