Good evening. Thank you and welcome to our AAPNR's Diversity and Inclusion Journey. We'll be starting in about a minute or two. Good evening and welcome to our AAPMNR Diversity and Inclusion Journey session. We'll be starting in about one minute. Thank you and welcome to AAPMNR's Diversity and Inclusion Journey. We're just going to go over a few housekeeping notes before we kick off and get started. So first thing to note is this webinar is being recorded. All phone lines and computer microphones have been muted. We ask that you submit your questions to the organizer through the chat feature. You'll see a box on the right-hand side where you can click on an arrow and enter your chat, enter your questions or comments in the chat. This session is planned for an hour but we're prepared to go up to 75 minutes to answer questions and if we don't have time for all of them we always invite you to share with us by emailing diversity at AAPMNR.org. Your input will be shared with our Board of Governors. With that I'll hand it over to Dr. Vennessy. Thanks Tracy. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us this evening. Recognizing the hour and knowing that we have people from all over the country joining us tonight. I suspect that some of you might be in your car listening to us, having dinner, making dinner, or starting to disconnect from work for the evening. So wherever you are connecting with us tonight, thank you. Okay, it's me. We can move on. Thank you. Yeah so you know you guys don't need to see me there. Here I am. But my name is Deborah Vennessy and I'm Vice President for the Academy and we, as I said, we are so excited to share what the Academy has been working on for the past few years. Certainly the racial injustice and inequity protest, global pandemic, has certainly sharpened and elevated our awareness and our Academy has really been working on this issue for a number of years. So this evening I'm here as really your moderator and to give you a little bit of a framework. I was the chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. As I said, I'll be a moderator. As you can see, we're going to have the pleasure of hearing from a couple other people on the call. I think you can see there's two, we have two folks from the Inclusion and Engagement Strategic Committee, Chair DJ Kennedy and Mosie Jones. Mosie is one of the members of the Strategic Coordinating Committee, as well as Carla Watson, who's our D&I Chair. We also have many national staff members on the line that are helping us out tonight and hopefully this will work really smoothly, as well as many of our, I'm sure all of our board members are listening. So this slide really just is to show you that D&I has been a priority for us and we recognize the importance of D&I over the years. We made some enhancements to some different areas. Now this slide, let me go back to my slide, this shows just a couple of things that we've been doing prior to our strategic plan. One, we really have been working on our nominating process for a while. We've enhanced some of the volunteer position postings, you'll see the little hand up, so that we're trying to get people to be much more involved. And then about in 2012 is when we started the Future Leadership Fellows Program, it was called something else. So that was an attempt to have younger, maybe more early career physicians get involved in the academy, help them with some leadership skills, and kind of develop some. So that was one of our attempts too. Shawn, you can have the next slide, thanks. So as I said, let me frame the conversation for tonight. Over two years ago, after we adopted the new Academy Vision Statement, everybody has heard about BOLD, and that's what it was, the board really looked at our strengths, our gaps in the organization. And we as a board and academy staff said, we really needed to embrace D&I efforts and develop a transparent and comprehensive approach. I think it's the next slide, Shawn. Thanks. Thanks. So that's, that's one we began this comprehensive approach, we use input from experts, and we took into consideration member feedback that we've received. We tried to take a topic whose definitions were sometimes misunderstood, confusing, and created definitions so we could all talk in the common point of reference. And that's when we created the task force. And as I said, I was chair of the task force, and we worked with D&I experts, and they helped, those experts helped the board volunteers, our academy staff, and the leadership fellows back in 2018. And we came up with over 100 ideas and themes. Thank you. It's hard not to have, I have a control issue. No, no, no comments there. But so thank you, Shawn, for helping me with that. But basically, the point of the task force was that we had to come up with some recommendations. And the main three things that we did was we defined the D&I priorities for board development for us. We also created the division, oh my goodness, diversity and inclusion commitment statement that was that we wrote in 2018. And we created a broad, comprehensive diversity and inclusion strategic plan. And you'll hear about more of those details from Carla about their D&I plan. Next slide. Do you have the slide, I'm sorry, with all of the definitions? Did I gloss over that? Maybe we check it out. Okay, never mind. Well, anyway, we have a list of definitions and shared language. But anyway, back to the last slide. So really, D&I is super important to us, the board, the staff. And it was so important that we made a number of changes to the academy structure. We created new structures to help guide the work that we're doing, and to achieve the goals of the plan that Carla is going to talk a little bit about. And one of the things that we did, as I said, because D&I is such an important priority for us, it's one of our core values, is that we created an inclusion and engagement strategic coordinating committee. That's a little bit of a mouthful for me to say, but it's chaired by board member Dr. D.J. Kennedy. And he has a number of other committees that he is responsible for, but one of them is our new diversity and inclusion committee that's chaired by Dr. Watson. So obviously, there are lots of steps that we are continuing to make on this journey. You'll hear us talk about journey a lot. We keep saying that we're trusting the process. We've been working on this for a few years, and we really hope that we're able to share some of the things that we're doing with you. We want you to stay connected with us. We want, as we continue to learn, we might need to make continued enhancements, but we really want to grow together as a membership community. So we're really excited that you guys have joined us this evening. And I want to introduce you to the chair of our inclusion and engagement strategic coordinating committee, Dr. D.J. Kennedy. I'm so sorry, D.J. Thank you, Deb. I must appreciate the introduction. And I'm truly honored, humbled to be here and represent some of the work that the committees have been doing and really share the journey as we're going along. So we'll go to the next slide. We have a great inclusion and engagement committee, one that I am humbled every day to call friends and colleagues. We have Mosie Jones, who's on the call with us tonight, Monica Verdusco Gutierrez, Rosa Pasculli, Carla Watson, who is also on the phone with us tonight, Carol Vandekenecker, and Michael Yockelson. This group has first formed in late last year, and then we've been meeting and working ever since. All through COVID, many changes to things, but we have been working and coming through. So next slide. Our initial goal task was quite simple. Simple in wording, not so simple in reality, but create and foster a welcoming, inclusive, and engaging environment for all Academy members. We truly want the Academy to be home. To really work towards this vision, the inclusion and engagement committee works with a variety of committees. The member FIT committee, the diversity and inclusion committee, the physiatrists in training or the FIT council, those are our residents and fellows, and the newly formed member communities. Go to the next slide. The member communities were announced in October 2018 with resources to support them, including phys forum discussions. The goal was to really be self-identified, organically established communities offering opportunities for members of all different background experiences to connect with each other, share experiences, and advance the future of the specialty together. This is how you become truly inclusive by allowing anyone to form their groups and also engaging through their groups. And we're really proud of the work that's happened thus far on it. And a lot of that is actually some of the people on the call that are calling in. Go to the next slide. You'll see some of the inclusivity focus. We have member communities that are clinically focused, such as stroke and sports medicine, practice focused, inpatient, and even identity focused, where you have African-American physiatrists, different locations of physiatrists, and they're highly collaborative and grassroots. They, so far, have started taking off and a large number of our members are engaged. If you'll advance to the next slide, you'll see there are 42 communities that are formed with over 4,000 members. And I think it's awesome that we have diversity in the member numbers from 15 to over 2,000. The different communities are going to have different needs and coming through. And if we look at the breakdown of them, these are just simply organized from the most members to the least, but not any other reason. We have a wide variety of member communities, and I implore everyone to go and join whatever member communities they find attractive to them. And if they don't, I think the process for forming one is very easy and satisfying to all those involved and encourage you to do that. So the next slide. The principles of inclusion and engagement were one of the key foundations for what we've been working on. And inclusion at the Academy does not really live in one area or one committee, and that's something the board has made very clear. It's really the responsibility of each leader to ensure that inclusion happens throughout the Academy. So our goal was to develop a way to assure that diversity and inclusion is at the forefront of all that we do in the Academy. Members of the Inclusion Engagement Committee and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee created new principles of inclusion and engagement to really help foster that sense and put guiding principles up for us. So we'll go to the next slide. And to give you those principles, I want to hand you over to Dr. Mosey-Jones, who was on the committee working with that, you know, developing those and put a lot of effort into it. And I'm very proud of the work we've done. And, Dr. Jones, take it away. Great. Thank you, Dr. Kinney, for the introduction, and I appreciate everyone being here tonight. So for my part of this discussion, why do we create the principles of inclusion and engagement? So the committee is charged with ensuring the Academy's strategic focus on diversity and inclusion crosses every area of the organization. So it's important that every member, every time you decide to make a speaker panel for the APM&R, if you decide to develop a member group, if you decide to put a task force together, that you really keep in mind, keep at the forefront, making sure that group, that committee, that panel is diverse, and you include people from different walks of life and different viewpoints. So these principles allow everyone, volunteer leaders and members alike, to keep diversity and inclusion in the forefront as you build and grow together as a community. So it's not enough to say be diverse, be inclusive. These principles will help give a framework, some guidelines to help people keep that at the forefront. Next slide. Next slide. So there are six positions and other members in the APM&R who we spent quite a bit of time really putting this together, really, you know, thinking about how we were going to word this, what would be the principles of inclusion engagements, and we came up with four big points and some sub points within these major areas. The first one being valuing diverse group composition. So recognizing that a diverse group that is more representative of our overall member composition can result in enhanced group outcomes. You know, our Academy is getting more diverse. We have people from different backgrounds. It's really important we include all those backgrounds in there so we can really, you know, develop our Academy and grow and expand. Volunteers can be selected as a member of a particular community to enhance diversity of thoughts and experiences, but they should not view their role as being a member for that community. Instead, they represent the entirety of APM&R. And that's super important, too. You want to make sure that although you're including people from different walks of life, different backgrounds, different ethnicities, you're not doing it just to tick a box, if you will. You're doing it because you value their input, their insights, and you really want their voice to be heard when you're developing, say, your speaker panel. Mutual respect is extremely important. When you have mutual respect, you're demonstrating respect for differing opinions and viewpoints. No two people are going to think alike, but everyone brings something to the table. Cultivating a receptive space for differing opinions and viewpoints. That's really, really important, too. We want people to be heard. One really important thing, too, is having a talent and skill-based selection for leadership opportunities, ensuring that broad criteria of diversity of experience, talent, and knowledge are incorporated, moving barriers to involvement to further support an equitable environment to assure that all future leaders have the opportunity to contribute where needed. So, you know, with the pandemic, especially, things have been a lot easier because a lot of things are web-based, but previously, it might have been difficult for someone who lives in a very rural area, wants to be involved with APMNR, but can't always travel to Chicago for the meetings. You know, you want to make sure we can remove these barriers so people who, you know, might have, you know, extensive family commitments, but still want to be involved in the Academy, can do so. So, it's very, very important. Lastly, comprehensive collaboration, and this is where you don't want people in silos. You want people to kind of cross-pollinate, if you will, and bring their various viewpoints and interests in PMNR together to see if we can build something further, and that's building community between various member constituents, which is really essential as a Physiatric Member Association. Once again, different perspectives together will enhance innovative thinking and achievement. So, really, that cross-collaboration, sorry, cross-collaboration helps out quite a bit with making sure that you have a lot of innovation, and you also are very engaged, and you also have that connection with your fellow Academy member. Next slide, please. Okay. So, what are we going to be doing in the future? So, how are we going to implement these principles? As our next step, we're going to orient all Academy volunteer leaders during the first quarter of 2021 in guiding them to incorporate the principles in their dialogues and recommendations for the Academy. Right now, the principles are currently on the Academy's website, and you're going to see them more as they are shared in strategic communications. So, that's what we're doing. It's really, really exciting, and, you know, I'm very passionate about it, and I'd really like to thank DJ, and Carla, and Deb, and everyone just for having me on board, because this has been a very great experience, and I'd like to hand it off next to Dr. Watson. Dr. Watson, I think you're muted. Hello, everyone. Thank you, Dr. Jones. I truly appreciate this opportunity to be able to share all of our hard work with everyone, so we appreciate everyone who is lending their ear to hear us. As chair of the Diversity Inclusion Committee, I'd like to first introduce our members. We have a very robust, talented, diverse group of physiatrists that I enjoy working with. Muhammad Agha, Julio Martinez-Selestrini, Molly Fuentes, Danielle Powell, Charlene Su, and I can hear Lisa telling me to not say Elizabeth. Lisa Varghese-Kroll are all our esteemed members that have been working hard. Next slide. So I think one of the key things to recognize is that given that we are a new committee formed as a vision of our Board of Governors, our very first meeting was just this past fall in 2019, which actually was a little surreal because it seemed like more time has passed since then, but the reality of it is it was around this time last year that we all met for the first time face-to-face. So, you know, anytime you start something new within an organization, there has to be a lot of background teaching. So a lot of our first meeting involved us getting caught up to speed in terms of how we reached this point as an organization, as well as being able to understand what were the goals and the vision of the board to be able to implement this across the organization. And as all of us recognize truly during this time period is that as human beings, we all have blind spots. And so one of the initial things that even though we as committee members came together with our own view of what D&I and equity meant, we had to come together and recognize what it meant to our organization. So one of the first things we did on top of getting to know each other was we underwent implicit bias training, which allowed us to be able to identify our own blind spots, which as Dr. Jones mentioned, you know, being in the position of creating a lens of diversity and inclusion, you want to not just represent yourself and your personal experiences. You want to be able to be the voice of someone who it might not be your personal experience. It might not be your identity, but you want to still be in the room to be a voice for that person. So part of that training was really valuable to help us get on one accord as a committee. One of the next things we did during our weekend was get educated on how we as a committee needed to implement the goals and prioritize in terms of what was presented to us as the top goals that the board had come up with. Next slide. So our initial thing was to really grab hold and digest the meaning of what our AAPM and our diversity and inclusion statement is. And it reads, as AAPM&R leads the advancement of physiatry's impact throughout health care, we will model inclusion and embrace diverse backgrounds and perspectives of those with whom we work and serve. The academy is especially committed to creating space for the difficult conversations, hearing the voices least heard, and promoting policy and initiatives that support diversity and inclusion. And that statement really, you know, you really have to digest it. Like I said, everyone has a personal meaning when they read the statement, but then as a committee member, we also have to then say what it means to our academy. Okay, now we can go to the next slide. So there were three goals that we were charged with addressing and coming up with filling in the blanks of the strategic plan. Number one, top level commitment and accountability. We wanted to develop physiatric leaders within our organization, and we wanted to create an equitable environment so that everyone, as Dr. Kennedy stated, feels welcome and open to be able to lend their voice to the strategic plan of the association. So in terms of the top level commitment and accountability, our board of governors commitment to D&I wanted to really start with transparency and let the academy know what we were working on and why we were working on it. The board of governors engaged its members to work together to demonstrate leadership in D&I. So that was something that as a committee we discussed a lot about is really finding out, you know, having the board be transparent with how they got to this point. And that helped us to be able to then take the torch and come up with a strategic plan. Next slide. A second goal of developing physiatric leaders, you know, our academy really encourages a culture of empowerment that helps members and staff shift from D&I problem identifiers to owners and enablers of change. Engaging all sectors and perspectives in the PM&R community to lead and advance the PM&R bold vision for the future success of the specialty, which is truly important for the survival of our specialty as we all hold near and dear. Next slide. And the next goal, creating an equitable environment that AAPM&R would draw upon existing diversity in the specialty to narrow closed demographic and skill gaps in our volunteer leaders and staff applicant pools. AAPM&R's D&I commitment helps to promote the visibility and voices of least heard and create space for difficult conversations that cultivate both a welcoming and equitable environment for all. So those are big goals to tackle, although I do value the work that was put into coming up with them and it really clarified and gave us light on the path that we were starting on. Next slide. So what have been our efforts? Since the beginning of the year, we've gotten through quite a bit of work considering the time. As Dr. Jones mentioned, the new academy policy of the principles of inclusion and engagement was really a cross committee effort with work groups that included members from our committee as well as members from the inclusion and engagement committee. We also had the opportunity to participate in a welcoming environment survey, which we'll talk a little bit more about later. We were able to provide input to support of the member communities in the annual assembly engagement efforts, including making suggestions on what the topics of discussions would be. And we were able to enhance our collection of member demographic data, which is probably one of our most lofty tasks, which we finally have narrowed down and submitted to our board. And then we supported the critical conversations that we've been having on equity, access, inclusion, PM&R, healthcare, and the various virtual events. Next slide. So in terms of this benchmark study, the welcoming environment survey participation, if many of you did not get to participate in it, just to give you a little background, it came across as an opportunity for our academy to participate in it. One of the caveats was that it was a narrow window of time, so to speak, that we were able to participate, but it really, as a committee, we felt like it was necessary that we put it out there because it was information, valuable information that we as an academy want to know as we move forward with trying to implement the strategic plan of D&I. So the survey really allowed us to gain understanding of where we were starting from as an academy. It was important for us to hear directly from our members. We chose to participate. It is a third-party study that benchmarked the beginning of our inclusion journey. This multi-associated industry survey provided key insights on the issues and challenges facing associations that work to advance diversity. So we really felt like a survey such as that, which is what we wanted to initiate, helps us to get to know our members and get to know you so that we can truly be committed to creating a welcoming environment by getting to know who it is that we're trying to welcome. Next slide. And I'm losing my light. One moment. Let me get it. All right. As summer is leaving us, the light leaves us sooner. All right. Next slide. Okay. So in terms of our enhancing the demographic data collection, this was one of our major tasks that we as a committee took a look at the information that the academy was already asking our membership, whether it was personal demographics, the practice demographics, professional demographics, community preferences, your volunteer preferences, and areas of expertise. So we went through all that information that's typically gathered when you first join the academy. And we made recommendations and revisions based on the fact that recognizing that most people don't fill out that information and update it as it changes throughout your career. And realizing that we really need to probably relaunch or re-gather information so that everyone's could be up to date in terms of what they were providing the academy with. Next slide. So one of our big questions to tackle was race and ethnicity. In the past, typically you only could check one box. And given the way our world has changed, we really felt like that boxed people into things that didn't necessarily identify them correctly. So one of the main things we wanted to do was open it up so people could check whatever box and as many boxes that identified them. We then also updated the ethnicity categories based upon the U.S. census. We had the benefit of recognizing that it was a census year, so we were able to use the way that the government was asking the questions. And then as a committee, we fine-tuned it to try and make it more engaging and inclusive of everyone. Next question. We also added to our gender question, instead of it being totally binary, we offer a non-binary option for people who don't identify solely as male or female. Next question. And the new question that we wanted to include was a disability, recognizing that some of our providers also have a disability and whether or not they want to disclose that, we wanted them to give the opportunity to do so, so that we added this option by the definition of the American Disabilities Act. Next slide. Another new question that we added, we added the sexual orientation, which we wordsmithed this so that we did not carefully commit anything or commit anyone to any identity that they felt uncomfortable disclosing, but allowed them to identify themselves as being a part of a group that may feel as if they're a minority. And we'll talk a little bit later as to why we felt this question was important. You know, our committee tackles really tough conversations and sensitive conversations, and so this was one of the topics that we probably met a very long time on and wordsmithed so that we felt like, given that we were asking it of our members, that we wanted it to come across as sincere and transparent. Next slide. So there's some other new questions that we asked, mostly based on populations that us as providers are serving, and then different practice styles, because as we know, some podiatrists at this stage aren't practicing clinically, but non-clinical practices have certainly changed during this day and age, and we want to be inclusive of those members, and so that they feel like they have a home here at the Academy as well. So we encourage you to log on next time this question is asked of you, or if you care to update your information, we truly would appreciate it because it really will give us insight into who our members are and how we can best engage you. So what's on the horizon? Given this pandemic, it has given us the opportunity to host more virtual events, so we will be having more critical conversations. Friday, November 13th, we have the multicultural leadership within PM&R, which is going to be dissolving barriers and cultivating diversity from both sides of the fence. Saturday, November 14th, we will discuss health disparities within PM&R and beyond, and then our assembly of delegates with our inclusive member engagement training for member community chairs. We haven't come up with a date for that, but that's where we will roll out our tools, inclusion principles that Dr. Jones referenced that our committees have worked hard on. The other thing we want to be able to do is share insights of the results of our welcoming environment survey, so that even if you weren't able to participate, you'd be able to get the information that we did obtain from that. And then an ongoing project that we're working on is creating a dashboard to help us better understand member inclusion, so that it is across the academy. Carla? Yes. Do you mind explaining what the assembly of delegates is? Sure. So, the assembly of delegates will take place during our academy meeting in November. It's virtual this time. Last year, we were able to meet in person, but essentially the member communities that Dr. Kennedy mentioned, a chair or representative from that community comes together, and we have typically a topic of conversation, usually two topics or one topic, depending upon how moving one topic is. And each community has the opportunity to discuss with key board members whatever the topic of discussion is. So, for this year, we've decided that since we've been able to pull together our principles of inclusion and engagement, we would like for each chair to be given that tool, so that they can then take it to their communities and utilize it as well. So, last, yes. Okay. So, lastly, one of the key things that has been on our committee's plate is understanding the mentorship needs of our members, which, as you can see, we have tried to build a foundation of creating tools, which we then would like to eventually roll out to be able to use across the academy, but we also would like to address the need for mentorship within our organization as well. So, that is on the horizon. Next slide. All right. So, we wanted to leave time. We do have great time for questions and comments, feedback. We certainly welcome it. And, again, we truly appreciate everyone who has joined us. So, please feel free to add your questions to the chat, and we will field them and answer them to the best of our abilities. We might not have the answer to everything, but we certainly will take note of your questions. Thank you so much, DJ, Carla, and Mosi. I can't believe how much you guys have done since December, and then everything. So, all those pictures that we see are from that one day, so thank goodness, but really, you guys have worked so hard. It's amazing. I have a quick question. Well, as Carla mentioned and Tracy put in the chat box, I've got my phone here in case I don't see anything there, but please feel free to write something in the chat box. Don't do the raise hand function, but just write something down, and we'll really do our best, and I'll try not to take too much time, but when people, when we're filling out some of the data, is that going to be available like when we renew membership that we can update all of those items? I should know this, but. Yes, it will. It also, I don't know if you noticed, but when you register for this year's assembly, it will take you through a few questions if you care to update and answer that, so we kind of slip that in there, too. So, I said, well, the phones are open. No, the chat box is open for any questions for anybody. You guys did a great job. Hard work. Okay, I don't see it. Thanks, T.J. Can you read that? Okay, great job. Thank you, T.J., and I'm going to go ahead and turn it back over to you, T.J., and I'm going to turn it back over to you, T.J., and I'm going to turn it back over to you, T.J., and I'm going to over to you, T.J., and I'm going to turn it back over to you, T.J., and I'm going to turn it back assembly meeting to be transparent, there was a marketing issue that came up that someone found offensive and it was brought to our attention. And through that, our committee was able to then change the way marketing materials are presented and it gets a second look by our community for that lens alone. And I think that's a success. You know, anytime you're presented with an opportunity to improve and you do make an effort to do so consciously, you know, you have to measure that as success. You know, my thing is that I started out always when we start our committee meetings is that this is a journey. So, you know, there isn't an end point, you know, we continually grow and as we continue to examine ourselves and look at our ways that we've done things in the past and continue to move forward, I measure that as success. I'm gonna double down on the intentionality. I think Carla nailed it. You know, one of the things that I'm really proud of are the principles of inclusion and engagement that Dr. Jones went over. So Mosey reviewed those four principles and those are principles that are designed to really be reinforced at the beginning of anything we're doing. And when those become our background culture, that is what I'm looking for, right? And I think we have to be intentional about it to get us there. And when we get to the point where that is the culture we're doing well, so I'm really, again, excited about that work and think we're on that journey and it will be a journey, but it's an exciting one to be a part of. The Academy has been on for a while, but it takes some time. And I think that changes will continue to occur at visible levels. Yeah, I would agree. Yeah, go ahead, Josie. I definitely agree with what DJ is saying. I think, you know, the principles of inclusion engagement, they're very new, we just rolled them out. It is gonna be a shift to make sure people really, you know, kind of observe them and really, you know, take them to heart. It's gonna take time, but I think, you know, when we really see that implemented and almost become subconscious, we don't even have to use it, we just become part of the culture. I think that'll be a really great indicator that we've really made great strides with all of the work that we've been doing. Yeah, I'd agree. I'm really excited about the principles. It just reminds me of Stephen Covey, you know, your guiding principles and things that we're gonna do and everything, every meeting that we start and everything. So it'd be wonderful. There's a couple other questions. There's, I think one of the physicians had to step away due to a sick family member, but he wanted to know, and I'm gonna give this to Carla. He wants to know if we addressed what are the categories of diversity you want to address and how do members know who wants to be identified vis-a-vis their diversity when one does not know the people? For example, functional diversity has been a goal of human groups in the past. I guess pretty much, you know, what kind of categories of diversity are we gonna address? Well, you know, honestly, that is the reason why we prioritize gathering member data because we really need to know who our members are. You know, we don't want to create categories, for lack of a better word, for, you know, members that don't exist within our organization. So truly, you know, the first step is understanding who we are and how we can meet our needs and not necessarily try to create diversity that goes beyond our association, recognizing that the goal is really for our association to have a diverse and inclusive and equitable environment. That's really why we really want to know who we are so that we can start from there. Okay, thanks so much. Jen has another question. Will diversity, equity, and inclusion resources be a focus on the new AAPMNR education platform? And that we're gonna use our principles and it'll guide the creation of some of those resources moving forward. So we're gonna use what everyone's been talking about, those principles that Mosey talked about, and that's gonna help us guide what we create. So I hope that answers things for you, Jen. All right, we have a couple more here. Is the process for the Board of Governors been examined for bias? Yes, we are looking at that for sure. Another question, how will you address issues of intersectionality at workplace? I think what we're, I would, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what we're gonna work on first right now is diversity and inclusion and engagement in our membership. So with the organization first, so we're trying to look at that. And then I'm sure that will go like workplace too, because we're all in some form of workplace. Is that how you guys see things? I think as Dr. Watson mentioned this earlier when she was answering Dr. Gittler's question about our biggest concerns, there's a lot of work to be done in this space. I mean, this is not an isolated issue to the AAPMNR. This is a societal issue, which the AAPMNR is representative of. And I think that we are an academy of our members for our members and starting with the academy, but eventually going to the needs that affect our members, I think will happen. Again, all of this work is done on the backs of volunteers and people that are dedicated to this when we all have other things going on and it is an effort going forward, but we're super proud of it and keep working at it, but just bear with us. Yeah, I would agree. And everybody keeps talking about a journey and there's a journey and we are trusting it. So let's see. Another question, is D&I training required for the Board of Governors? In a sense, yes. The retreat that we went through was part of it. Part of it, Jen, is that we're gonna continue to, that's one of the other goals is for us to continue working on our own board development. And if yes, what's the focus and scope and how often? I think that we're not, I don't know how often, but I know at least every couple of years, it's we're looking at this all of the time. So it is a major priority. It is one of our, as I said, our core values. And as I said, it's so important that we could have this whole new strategic committee formed for that. So good questions. Thank you for writing them down so that we can keep them forefront in our mind while we're keep working on things. Okay, here we go. A couple more questions. Are you looking to other organizations and workplaces for best practices? Should members share that with the committee? I would say yes. Carla, yeah? Yes, yes, no, definitely. We welcome, this is the type of information that we welcome. And it's always tough to solicit information from our members because we don't wanna bombard everybody with surveys and questions. So if there's something specific that you feel is very useful for an organization and you wanna get it to us, that's great. We don't have to come to you for it. We appreciate you bringing it to us. Yeah, can we read the email again? Is it diversity? Diversity at aapmenar.org. Yeah, a great question. And feel free to share any questions or anything that you think would help us. It'd be great. Part of the reason we actually launched our culture survey was to get normative data and be part of a larger groups and other organizations that are doing this as well. So both professional staff and volunteers are in contact with other groups, looking for best practices and ways to do it. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. Unfortunately, we haven't found the panacea with any one organization of they're doing it perfectly. But we have to figure out what works for us and what works for our members. So we are going in that direction. All right. All righty. Right, Tracy, I saw that one. We're gonna, there's one more before. We'll take them slightly out of order. Jen had another good question. Jen Zumstik, will we hear about the committee's excellent work and efforts in an annual report to members and how can we help celebrate the work? So I can just say that this is the second part of our three part kind of sharing information in regards to what we're doing to advancing diversity and inclusion. And then we're gonna do, we have all of those great activities during the annual assembly that Carla mentioned that maybe we can put back on the side. I'm sure that we will do it in an annual report. I don't know if you guys, the three of you have talked about how else we're gonna celebrate it, but I think that we should because I mean, this is a lot of work and you guys have been doing a fantastic job. We have talked about different ways of updating everybody on what we're doing. So it probably will be through a variety of media, whether it's through our FIS forum, through our other publications, but there definitely will be updates on. And I think after the annual assembly, which is gonna be a fantastic, so everybody has to join, but we're hoping that there's gonna be a lot more energy too during the annual assembly, during like the assembly of delegates and all the other things that might not be, everybody can participate, but because it's a virtual forum, we're really hoping that there's so many people that we can include in it and get excited about and it'll just continue that momentum forward. We have another question from Jeff Hatch. Should we be diversity neutral or perhaps we should encourage a high percentage of physiatrists with physical disability to take leadership roles? Honestly, we really encourage participations from all areas, all diverse areas. So we want it to be very welcoming. We want everybody to feel comfortable and be able to participate. Is that? I agree completely. I mean, diversity is diverse and that involves all aspects, both seen and unseen. And we're trying to create a truly welcoming environment where every member of the academy, again, can feel this is home and feel very, and thus can get engaged. I lost my box here. Uh-oh. That must be the end. I guess I've lost my question box. Can you see it? What a way to end. I don't see any more questions, but they, you know, I think that is it, but we still have a few minutes if other people want to type one. Tracy, thank you. No new questions so far, so thank you. I think my wishlist is I need a bigger computer so I can put everything on. All right. Well, listen, it is such a pleasure and such an honor to work with all four of these. Hi, everybody's fantastic here. Oh, I lied. We have two new questions. So before I say my thank you, let me go find them here. Uh, let's see. DJ, can you help me with this? You're the coach. First of all, you know, you asked a question. What are some ways for members who are on a committee to help out? I think there's a lot of ways to help out. And, you know, I'm not going to dominate this one. Everyone's going to come up with better ideas than me, but I think honestly, one of the best things you can do is truly get engaged and you don't have to be appointed to a committee, a board, anything else to be engaged. Member communities are highly engaging and, you know, Fizz Forum is meant to do that. And the welcoming environment we create when we create and foster new groups or join and continue discussions, I think is something we all need, especially in a time of social isolation where we're talking to each other via computer. I mean, I really, so I think getting that way. And then, you know, we do things for the member communities in terms of our, you know, assembly of delegates, where we're bringing people together, both either physically or virtually. And this year our focus, as Dr. Watson said, was launching the principles of inclusion, but it's really engagement training. And in addition to that, it's how do we get people, you know, again, coming to the academy and feeling welcome and engaged. And part of that, it can't be a four-person effort or even a board effort or a committee effort. It has to be through everybody. So that's my big push, would be that way. If anyone else has anything else, I'm happy to listen and then we've got another question. Yeah, I would say. Yeah, go ahead, Carolyn. I was just gonna say, you know, participating in the virtual events, you know, the silver lining in this pandemic has been that, you know, you could really jump into a various amount of discussions, you know, whether it's your passion or not, having these virtual events available to you and participating in them can sometimes spark your interest in a topic that maybe you know nothing about, but it keeps you engaged with the academy. And as we have them on a regular basis, then you have a regular engagement that, you know, keeps you tapped in. And I think that's a great way, even if you're not on a committee, to stay a part of what's going on in the academy. Yeah. And to put a pitch for the annual assembly, I think that the academy's put a lot of effort into making it a little different than some of the other ones I've been a part of thus far. I'm really excited to see how that does. And we're not coming together in person, but hopefully it'll still be a really spectacular event. Yeah, Moshe, go ahead. I would also say too, you know, a lot of members may feel that, you know, don't be afraid to volunteer. Don't be afraid to share your ideas. If you have an idea for something for the academy, don't be afraid to share it. Don't be afraid of rejection, because we are looking for newer ideas, newer thoughts, newer people coming in, people volunteering. So, you know, this is a great opportunity to really be involved. And if you want to, you know, work on professional development, these volunteering opportunities are fantastic for professional development. So I just really encourage people, don't be afraid, you know, dive in, you know, just, you know, we're really welcoming here. So just, you know, be free to share your ideas with us. Thanks, Moshe. I totally agree. And I've always encouraged my friends in college. It doesn't, you don't have to, it doesn't need to be that much time. And it's always interesting to me when I'm seeing my inpatients or doing my virtual visits, how strangely I can connect with somebody on the computer. And there's somebody that I met today who I've only seen virtually, and then some in person. And I was like, you know, anyway, so there are really, as Carla mentioned, lots of great, so there are some wonderful things, or we're trying to make some great things happen during a really unparalleled times, very trying. I know we have a couple more questions. Yeah, we have a couple more. I see, how is mentorship of members being addressed? And that's by Debra Bernal. Yeah, she's, so thank you, Debra. You've been asking, like your name, and you've been asking lots of great questions. So on the horizon for D&I's committee is this month's Grand Rounds session, and it's focused on mentorship. Cool, do we know when that is? Sometime in October, some evening. That's great, picked up by Michelle. And I think, you know, this is, as we mentioned, this is, this particular meeting is actually part two of our journey. And the first one, you know, was a listening session. And I think one of the things that the board who was listening came away with was a clear need and desire for more robust mentorship. So that was heard loud and clear. So part of the reason we're launching some of the Grand Rounds on mentorship, but that will not be all, more to come. Another question. Yeah, there's another one. How can trainees engage and promote these efforts, and how are students and residents being engaged in the effort? So those are kind of the same things. That's kind of under your area, DJ, with membership. You know, fortunately, we have resident and fellow members on the Inclusion and Engagement Committee, and the FIT Council, the Beside Interest in Training Council, is part of the Inclusion and Engagement Milu, right? So we have leadership through that that is helping and firmly engaged. But I would actually say the exact same thing to our in-trainee members, that to be involved, to get engaged, right? You know, to get out and be involved in a lot of ways, and I think that's the way trainees can get involved. Trainees also, every place I've ever been, trainees have had the benefit of making the institution they are at better, and they do that by helping push and guide the institution locally. And, you know, all of these efforts need to be done both locally and nationally, and residents are a powerful voice when they start to do that. So I strongly encourage residents to get involved in any way they see fit locally or nationally. All right, so Carla, I have another question for you. What barriers have been identified to multicultural leadership? I think one of the biggest barriers is understanding the process of how you obtain leadership, how you become a chair of a committee, or how you get to, if you so desire, to be a member of the Board of Governors. And so that has been the biggest barrier, is just understanding how it's done. I don't think enough people know how you get to those end rows, and that's what we're working on, trying to make it so that people will know. Right, and, you know, Tracy just mentioned, too, that we have the Benchmarking the Welcoming Environment Study that you guys were working on, and that'll help give us a baseline, too. So I know you guys are still reviewing that. So is it still — it's not open. You guys are all — you closed it, correct, with the — Correct. It was a short window because we did it as a part of a different association. So, yes, it's closed. Cool. I have a private comment that's come to me that I'd like to address. So it says, not everyone agrees, yet, in parentheses, that diversity is a strength. Can you invite people to respectfully dissent, discuss, and learn dynamic conversations in future events? You know, I think that I really — when we think of diversity, you know, we really want diversity, and diversity, as we said, it's not just what you see. It's diversity of thought, diversity of backgrounds, diversity of locations. And I think by having this discussion, we become stronger. So, you know, I think there's a time and place for discussions like this because it is an evolution in people's understanding, and sometimes that's not best done by a debate stage, but it is done in a respectful manner. So I think we're open. We're open to questions, comments, anything you come through, your opinions, as our principles of inclusion and engagement is respecting diversity of thought, right? I mean, and coming through. So, yes, I think that is something we will do, you know, as we are going forward, if people are willing and comfortable with doing that. Absolutely. All right, I have another question. Have you engaged diverse medical organizations for input on the data that they may have to share? I will say just through our committee alone, everyone comes from a background where they are a part of different organizations, where Dee and I are a part of their daily work. And so by that alone, you know, we've engaged the ideas of different ways of doing things based on the expertise that my committee members bring to the committee. So in short, yes. Great. All right. I think we're going to call it a night. If anybody has additional questions, please feel free to email either the Board of Governors or the diversity at aapmnr.org. Again, my most sincere thanks to DJ, Carla, Mosey, Sean, Tracy, Tom, everybody behind the scenes that's helping us. We really, and mostly, thank you for taking the time and said, I like to listen to things in the car. I'm clearly not in the car, but really taking the time to spend some of your evening with us. And I really appreciate everything. So really kudos to all of you guys. You guys are doing, like, amazing. Amazing. So thank you. Have a great evening. And I guess I should go Browns. I'm from Cleveland, so they're playing sometimes. So my Indians, where's the zoo? Thank you all. Have a wonderful and safe night. And a great weekend. Thank you. Yes. Thank you for joining. Good night.

AAPM&R

Diversity and Inclusion Journey

webinar recording

Inclusion and Engagement Strategic Coordinating Committee

Diversity and Inclusion Committee

principles of inclusion

member communities

demographic data collection

mentorship

progress