As outlined in ACCP’s Strategic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Plan, ACCP’s Task Force on DEI was impaneled in the fall of 2021 and charged with providing input to the Board of Regents (BOR) on implementation of the DEI plan.

The task force held seven meetings between October 2021 and July 2022 and was organized into three subgroups, each with a distinct focus: (1) exploring collection of member demographic information, (2) updating Practice and Research Network (PRN) policies and procedures to enhance inclusion and representation, and (3) revising ACCP Nominations Committee policies and procedures to promote representation in nominations. Each subgroup then held several meetings and brought recommendations to the full task force for consideration. The task force used the findings from the ACCP Baseline DEI Assessment (accessible by members within their accp.com account under My Links) to inform the definitions of diversity and underrepresentation used for its work. Of importance, a broad definition of diversity was employed that considered several dimensions – including, but not limited to, race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and age – as well as less commonly considered dimensions such as practice area, setting (i.e., academic/nonacademic), and tenure in the organization.

Final task force recommendations to the BOR include the following:

• An update to the ACCP bylaws to better express the organization’s commitment to DEI. Proposed language was submitted to the BOR and subsequently forwarded to the Organizational Affairs Committee. After consideration by the committee, this update will come before the full membership and require a vote.
• Changes to the membership application and the annual membership renewal process that encourage all prospective and continuing members to provide additional, more detailed demographic information so that ACCP can establish baseline measures and evaluate progress over time as various initiatives to advance DEI are implemented. This recommendation was informed by research into best practices used by other professional associations in collecting, measuring, and reporting member demographics.
• Revisions to the PRN handbook to provide guidance on promoting inclusion and representation when planning programming and selecting speakers.
• Revisions to the PRN handbook to provide guidance on policies and procedures for nominations of officers to decrease barriers to inclusion and promote representation in leadership. These revisions include changes to the nominations process, candidate submission, and number and composition of individuals serving on the PRN Nominations Committee – requiring that at least one member of the committee complete ACCP DEI training.
• Proposed policies and procedures for the ACCP Nominations Committee to encourage promotion/nomination of individuals from underrepresented groups. This detailed procedure includes a requirement that at least one member of the committee complete ACCP DEI training, a requirement that each PRN nominate at least one member for one of the elected offices each year, a request that all candidate statements address how the individual would promote DEI within ACCP and/or promote health equity in practice, a provision for individuals to self-nominate through an easily accessible online portal, and committee member mentoring of nominees who are new to the process or request advising.

The task force closed its report with recommendations that future committees be charged to (1) focus on evaluating and proposing revisions to policies and procedures for ACCP awards and (2) consider creating a DEI toolkit for members.

Interest in serving on the task force was solicited as part of ACCP’s annual call for volunteers. In response to the many interested members, BOR President Leigh Ann Ross appointed 17 member volunteers, including student and resident representation, as follows:

• Mary Wun-Len Lee, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS (Chair)
• Cori B. Cooper, Pharm.D., MPH, BCACP (Vice Chair)
• Tomefa Asempa, Pharm.D.
• Marie A. Chisholm-Burns, Pharm.D., FCCP
• Brian Erstad, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS
• Corey Guidry, Pharm.D., BCPS
• Mary F. Hebert, Pharm.D., FCCP
• Caroline L. Ko, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCCCP
• Shirly Ly (student, 2023)
• Katie S. McClendon, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS
• Erin R. McMahan, Pharm.D. (PGY2)
• William J. Moore, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCIDP
• Pilar Z. Murphy, Pharm.D., MPH, BCACP
• Lee H. Nguyen, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCIDP
• Adwoa Nyame, Pharm.D. (PGY1)
• Radhika S. Polisetty, Pharm.D., BCIDP, BCPS
• Andrew Schmelz, Pharm.D., BCACP

A 2022–2023 Task Force on DEI will be impaneled to continue this important work and identify new priorities from within and outside the ACCP DEI plan. In parallel, ACCP staff will continue to implement operational components of the DEI plan and provide ongoing progress updates to membership.