As outlined in ACCP’s Strategic Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Plan, ACCP’s 2023 Task Force on DEIA was impaneled in the fall of 2022 and charged to provide input to the Board of Regents (BOR) on implementation of the DEIA plan.
The full task force met five times between October 2022 and July 2023 and was organized into three subgroups, each with a distinct focus: (1) mentoring and belonging, (2) developing a DEIA toolkit, and (3) ACCP awards. Each subgroup held several meetings and brought recommendations to the full task force for consideration. The task force used the findings from the ACCP Interim DEIA Assessment to inform their work.
Final Task Force recommendations to the BOR include more than 30 objectives to serve as Phase II DEIA Action Plans through 2025. Highlights from these recommendations include:
- Implementing travel scholarships for underrepresented students, trainees, and early-career practitioners to minimize barriers to attendance of the ACCP Annual Meeting
- Implementing a new ACCP award to recognize clinical pharmacist excellence in the advancement of diversity, health equity, inclusion, and accessibility
- Exploring implementation of affinity groups within ACCP
- Incorporating DEIA principles into ACCP Academy curricula
- Implementing a new web-based, dynamic, DEIA toolkit accessible to ACCP members and nonmembers
The task force closed their report with recommendations that future committees or task forces be charged to (1) maintain the content within the DEIA toolkit and (2) further evaluate the potential for bias within ACCP service and leadership opportunities. After BOR review and feedback in August, phase II action plans will be incorporated into the College’s DEIA plan, and the complete list of objectives will be shared with members.
Interest in serving on the 2022–2023 Task Force was solicited as part of ACCP’s annual call for volunteers. In response to the high volume of interested members, BOR President Elizabeth Farrington appointed 14 member volunteers:
- Jimmi Hatton Kolpek, Pharm.D., FCCP, FCCM (Chair)
- William J. Moore, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCIDP (Vice Chair)
- Sally Arif, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCCP
- Brittany D. Bissell, Pharm.D., Ph.D., BCCCP
- Deborah S. Bondi, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPPS
- Allison M. Chung, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPPS
- Jenna F. Cox, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCCCP
- Maryann Egbujor, Pharm.D. student
- Mary F. Hebert, Pharm.D., FCCP
- Rebecca Jayakumar, Pharm.D., BCIDP
- Kazuhiko Kido, Pharm.D., BCCP, BCPS
- Puja B. Patel, Pharm.D.
- Jordan Rowe, Pharm.D., BCACP, BC-ADM
- Andrew N. Schmelz, Pharm.D., BCACP
A 2023–2024 Task Force on DEIA will be impaneled to continue this important work and identify new priorities from within and outside the ACCP DEIA plan. In parallel, ACCP staff will continue to implement operational components of the DEIA plan and provide ongoing progress updates to members.