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American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc

AOTA-“Be Heard—We’re Listening” Session on Issues Related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion-(Zoom)

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June 18, 2020, 8pm

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(Captioner standing by)

(Captioner standing by)

>> Good evening. I'm the Vice President of practice engagement and capacity building at the association. We want to thank you all for taking your time to participate in this listening session. At OTA, we certainly value that your voice, and we want you to be heard. We had hundreds of participants sign up for tonight's session. We want to hear from as many as possible. So we do ask you to keep your statement to one comment or question. And if you hear

Someone -- (indiscernible) -- (no audio)

>> I think we lost you.

>> Hello?

>> Felicia: What happened?

>> We can't hear Varleisha.

>> Felicia: Hello, I'm here, I think. What happened?

>> Felicia, that's you, what happened to Varleisha.

>> Varleisha: I'm here. I got music somehow. I don't know how that happened. But we'll start over. Can everyone hear me?

>> Yes.

>> Varleisha: Okay. And I'll share my screen as well. So, I'm Varleisha Gibbs if you didn't hear me the first time, I'm the Vice President of engagement and capacity building. So, we want to make sure that tonight during our listening session that everyone has a chance to be involved as well as to be heard. So we do ask that if you have a question, you actually raise your hand.

There's an actual -- if you go down to participants and find your name, you are then able to raise your hand to ask a question. If you do hear your question being asked, something that is similar or common, we do ask you to raise your hand so you can try to hear from as many of our participants this evening. For those of you participating through our youtube live, we do invite you to also share your comments and questions and you can use the chat box on that platform so

That they can be incorporated into the conversation.

This listening session is being recorded and we'll share it following the session. With if you're a member of AOTA, you're inunited to continue this conversation. Other housekeeping items, we have -- with those housekeeping items, I'm sorry, we have now the pleasure of introducing you to our national AOTA President, Lindsey Hildebrand and she'll give you some more information about tonight and introduce her co-host. So thank you all for joining and I will pass it along to Wendy.

>> Wendy: Thank you so much, Varleisha. This is exciting. I don't know about all of you. But it makes my heart beat fast to know that there are so many people there this evening that want to be heard. And, you know, the title of this session that we have in place, this is the first time we're coming together is to be heard. We're listening. We think that that's our first step.

And, so, we are really excited for you to be here this evening. I am Wendy holdenbrand and I'm the President of the American occupational therapy association. Tonight I am honored to be joined by Dr. Duana Russell Thomas. I don't know if you can

see her just yet. But she'll be -- she's here. She'll be speaking with us shortly. She is the President of the national black occupational therapy caucus. And I am just thrilled that we were able to come together this evening to co-facilitate and co-host this listening session.

Let's just start by acknowledging that this is a very important time in our country, in our profession, and in all of our personal lives. The death of George Floyd has sparked a necessary movement to recognize and demonstrate that black lives matter, that they matter to society, that black lives matter to our communities, our personal circles, and to our profession.

Each of us is called upon, both personally and professionally to have a renewed focus on how to challenge systemic racism and how to look at, evaluate, take action, change, for some of our own challenges with racism and bias. The AOT Board of Directors is solidly committed to greater diversity, equity, and inclusion related to work board comprehension and governance processes as well as association practices.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are woven throughout our profession's values of ethics and vision for good future. Yet, we are overdue for putting our words and our principles into action. Those of us on the Board are not the experts. We know this. We know this on the surface. We do not have a diverse board or volunteer leadership overall. And our professional representation by persons of color. That's why we need to hear from you, the expert, with real emotion related to societal injustices and systemic racism that we're being called to look at

To consider and to change. A critical part of this process is to listen to your stories, experiences, and concerns. So that we can come forward with recommendations and collaborative actions that support occupational therapists and occupational therapists as clinicians, as educators, present and future students, and our patients or clients of color.

Tonight's listening session is part of a series that's not one, but it's part of a series. We welcome you to join future events, on practice, on education, and other areas. Which will include additional guests and experts. As occupational therapy professionals, we are innate problem solvers. We do that every day. And we do it well. But sometimes we don't do it as well as we could and should.

We can address these issues together. We also come with blind spots, learning holds, that affect our ability to do better. This is where some of our own individual work needs to come in to play. We must do and be better as professionals. And also, as human beings. On that -- on that note, I do want to -- I want to let you know that I am here from the Board of Directors. We also have other members of our Board of Directors here. And I want to just say their names out loud if they're here and look like for you to turn on your camera for a moment

If they would like to turn on their camera for a moment unless they're not here. Obviously, you're not going to have that same instruction. So, our Vice President, Debra

Young, is joining us this evening. Karen Saines, our treasurer, is joining us this evening, Melissa Tilton is joining us this evening. Keep in mind some of them are on this youtube Flow so we can have a couple of people on can up zoom, I know a couple of those people are there. Lisa Maja on the Board of Directors, Paul Arthur on the Board of Directors, David Mur low on the Board of Directors, Alison Stover on the board of directors, and also sherry Montgomery.

And we do have our public advisor who's Daryl Reisinger and Susan Emerson the consumer advisor. All of these people are on the board. We're looking forward to adding to that Board. And the incoming treasurer and then with Katie Jordan and with Christina Reyes Smith as our incoming directors.

So, I share their names with you. Because they are in this with me as the board of directors. And as the Board of Directors, we are in this with you. So I wanted to make sure that you knew that we were present so you could be heard by us. Because we are listening.

I now want to turn to my partner and formally introduce Dr. Duana Russell Thomas, the President of the national black occupational therapy caucus. So, Duana.

>> Duana: Greetings and salutations. That is the usual way that I say hello. Thank you for the opportunity to join tonight. I am Duana Russell-Thomas. I have been serving as the President of the black OT caucus for about a year now. So, there's a lot to learn. There's a lot to learn. I'm thankful at this time that we do have some of our board members that are joining us also, and so I will make just a few of them -- just in case they are here.

(Indiscernible) our Vice President, we have Akia account kitchens who serves as the secretary. I call her Smith, she's back now. I have to give her that. Niki Morgan and sherry Bentley. And she happens to be one of our founders of the organization. So, very happy to have them join us tonight.

I wanted to tell you about the national black occupational therapy because some may not be familiar with us. We were founded in 1974. I will dare say many of our founders are still living. And we're fortunate in that regard. When -- we we look back at the history of the organization, from around 1940 according to -- records -- Americans joint -- the -- the profession. And historically, the events that have happened around the nation shaped who we are. Periods of segregation, integration, apartheid in South Africa. And lots of world events that sparked this organization. The thing is that we are part of the network that -- the multicultural diversity and inclusion network

And we all work together, it gives us a space where different people that are a part of marginalized groups have the opportunity to not only hear each other's stories and support each other, but we also have the opportunity to lift. And to raise issues of inequities, whether it's by our -- (indiscernible) whether it's with -- (indiscernible) build capacity within that organization. Whether it's in other spaces, maybe for the sake of the

people, our people, that we start -- (indiscernible) a little bit about who we are and glad to be a part of -- (indiscernible)

Especially with the circumstances that bring us to the table tonight.

Before turning the mic over, I'm going to ask you during this particular time to as you think about your stories, also keep in mind -- you know, we're not necessarily focusing on solutions tonight, we know we have a lot of things to share, right? But even as you listen to the story, think about -- huh, what -- what opportunities are there? What resources already exist that we are not thinking about that we need to think about

And bring up in order to move us further in the conversation and in -- (indiscernible) but we do want you to be thinking about that, what has triggered your -- so that then we can continue to move forward. So, thank you. Thank you for that time. I will pass it on so that we will continue the conversation.

>> Wendy: Thank you, Duana. And, again, we have been looking forward to this all week. So, it's good to be -- be in the same session together on this important evening.

We're going to take some next steps here. And just kind of a -- you know, frame our -- our conversation tonight a little bit more. You know, Duana and I ask you to picture, which do you want? The occupational therapy profession and AOTA to be in the future? Through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to identify what has kept us from getting there. What is your story? That's what Duana was saying to you? We want to hear your stories and think about ways that we can move forward. But we've got to get to the stories and the feelings. And we've got to be able to hear, what is the reality of this -- this life for a lot of people. What is your story that it shows.

And what do you want to see? We don't have that information. So we're here to take that in.

To get us started, we have to get the -- (indiscernible) and we've got to be able to hear what is the reality of this -- this life for a lot of people? What is your story -- it shows our --

>> Wendy: I'm not sure what's happened here with our -- is somebody else hearing that coming back?

>> Put yourself on mute!

Thank you.

>> Wendy: Good to see you, Barbara. Okay, thank you. And, so, anyway, to, to get us started, I want to share with you three gaps that we're aware of and are addressing in order to create a different future. We are obviously we know this is not -- not all to the story. But we do want you to know, we are aware that AOTA must have official positions and policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The recently updated the document on occupational therapies commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The commission

on practice reviewed, the prior position paper, determining it should be expanded and with education, on a new document that affirms the right of every individual to access and fully participate in society.

An important piece that was included in the latest revision and this is a document that was adopted at the RA in May was the inclusion of policy and needing to make sure that we do have our eye on policy and how that can either limit or support inclusion and equity and ultimately diverse representation in all of our places.

That's an opportunity for us as a profession and an association to be looking at some of our own systemic issues in the policies, procedures, things like that.

May 31, AOTA's board issued a statement committing racism and committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the association, profession, and society. And just this past week, during our June board meeting. The guiding principle of our decisions is to further the commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, part of our lens of our work for two days.

Item number two, so we have official positions in policies that we know we need to have. We know we have room there, obviously. And we're calling on you all to help us with that. Number two, we must take action to ensure that our association are diversive and inclusive. Many of you are aware we developed the task force recently. This came to fruition after obviously years of conversation about this. But we have like the spirited conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion at our October Board of Directors meeting. At the February meeting, we invited experts, you know

Lived experiences, individuals and consultant -- consultants regarding inclusion, to be a part of a degenerative discussion at the board table which resulted in the motion to formulate the diversity equity and inclusion task force.

The recruitment began after that and shortly after that meeting, members were announced and they'll begin meeting later on this month. But this group will develop a plan and initial actions to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion with an AOTA and a profession. We thanked them for their interest and confirming the commitment to the work of the task force. So, very exciting opportunity for us to grow and learn and do better.

And also AOTA's governance enhancement initiative where we define the process to ensure that it is a diverse, inclusive, responsive, and effective process and government structure for the future. We know we have work to do there. We're hearing from many of you about questions related to the governance, and how can I fit? How can I see what's going on? It's an exciting time for us to do better in that regard as well.

The AOT governance enhancement initiative is different from the diversity and inclusion task force. They're two separate entities and they are happening at the same time. They inform one another. So that's good. That's good. We have to be having cross conversations and taking actions.

While we have that, we have additional listening sessions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion specifically and carrying on this thread are focused on specific concerns right now. We also have governance enhancement town hallses that are scheduled for next week, Monday, June 22, and June 23 on Tuesday.

We have nearly 500 people registered for that as well. We're excited that people want to be a part of the conversation, a part of the process, and a part of solutions.

The third thing, we know -- we need to increase the diversity of those entering the occupational therapy profession. AOTA has, you know, kind of taken this down through the policy world by being a big champion of the allied work health force diversity act. If passed, it would create a program to help racial and ethnic minorities enter into the field of occupational therapy as well as partners in rehabilitation. The bill was introduced in both the house and the Senate last year and part of the house in October. It was not considered by the Senate at that time. Our advocacy continues to support that initiative. That being said, we know we have so much work and so much opportunity in this area. And this is going to be a huge benefit of being able to hear from folks in our profession that we can solidify the access efforts to diversify the

Workforce for people coming in and people staying with occupational therapy.

So, all that said, we've got a lot more to hear from you. We want to open up the lines and we want to listen to you. What is your story. That shows our gaps, and what do you want to see? This is the time. And, so, we're going to kind of, you know, take some steps to open this if you will. I know that Varleisha provided some instruction at the front end. I will echo Duana's comments.

We are not coming in to this with answers to how we're fixing everything tonight. We're coming in to this with information in the places where where we have information, but more than that, coming in to this with ears to hear and to be able to take in those things that are important to you all tonight.

So, just again, thank you so much for -- for coming to this space and being willing to share with us this evening.

>> Varleisha: Thank you to both Duana and Wendy for introducing us to our topics tonight. I do want to reiterate some of the roles, we had some technical difficulty in the beginning, let me share again if you would like to be called on and you're on the Zoom, we ask you to raise your hand if you go to your name, you can then raise your hand. If you're not speaking, please mute. And mute yourself so we are ensuring that we have our speaker on camera.

And, if you're not able to be called on tonight, and you put your question in the chat box as well as on youtube live's chat box, we will be sharing those comments and taking that information to use for future sessions as well as on our community OT for those of you who are members.

And, again, join OTA if you're not so you can continue to dialogue.

So, I'm going to ask if you want to take part in the chat, if you want to pose a question or a comment to please raise your hand. We'll call on you once we see your name. And if you are on youtube live, I will reiterate to type your question in the chat. We have a person over there that will then send over those questions so that Sabrina can then read them from that platform. I Cecil via Anderson. If you want to unmute yourself, you can ask your -- make your first comment?

>> Sylvia: Yes, thank you. Good evening to everyone. My colleagues, so happy to be here. Thank you, President Hildenbrand for this opportunity. Thank you, Dr. Thomas as well for your comments. My concern is that I'm faculty at our university. And we like to take our students to the conference.

So, of the many times that we've taken a great representative of students to the conference, they hardly ever see anyone that looks like this on the stage. There are no speakers that look like them. So, it's very disheartening to them. And so we have conversations about the inequity that they see and experience.

I want to raise that. And I really applaud -- I applaud the initiatives. I -- I feel very strongly that action is needed in addition to the initiatives. I'm hoping that the conversations continue but that we will actually see some change. So, again, thank you for the opportunity.

>> Sylvia, I love that. So, thank you for being here tonight. First of all. And thank you for speaking up. And I want to acknowledge that your faculty must be doing something wonderfully right. I actually saw that you had a great representation from Howard at Hill Day in September. Is that right?

>> Yes, that's correct.

>> Wendy: Because they were there, they were there in force. And I -- I spoke with them. Saying how much it was appreciated, valued, and they were just spot on in their presence there. They're ready to be leaders.

>> Sylvia: Yes.

>> Wendy: They're ready to be leaders. They're seeing that modelled by their faculty. And I think there's all kinds of people on this call that want to help open doors and you know bring people along. Your point is true. There's no skirting that if people look at our picture of a Board of Directors right now, on the surface, there's not much diversity. There's none. There's males and females. You know there's -- you know there's people of different religions, there's people of different backgrounds. There's people of different viewpoint

But you're not seeing a representation of people of color. I, too, hope that many of our initiatives, some ideas that we might get from you all, might create additional space and opportunities that we all say, this is your time. Tapping that leader on the shoulder that's

in your classroom right now and saying, you know, don't head Tate, don't be afraid to put yourself forward. Because I -- I just truly hope that we will be creating that opportunity for empowered leaders of color within our profession.

And so, I'm just -- I'm all ears to how we will continue to work on that together.

>> Sylvia: Thank you. I want to give a shout out to our program chair, Dr. Banks, so we're very grateful for her.

>> Wendy: She's good stuff. Thank you, Sylvia.

>> Sylvia: You're quite welcome. Thank you.

>> Varleisha: Thank you. Next we have -- I'm going to take a few more questions and we'll have you hop in if we have questions from youtube or comments. Anita Putnam, if you want to unmute yourself, you're up next.

>> Anita: I want to say thank you, thank you so much AOTA for doing this. I'm a seasonal occupational therapist. And it's very disheartening to see some of the changes that have been occurring in practice over 31 years. And I am so glad that AOT has taken a stance on this. The way I look at it, leadership can do better. Thank you. I'm so proud to be an occupational therapist right now, especially since physical therapists are trying to do things that

I don't know if you know about macrame and kite making and aprons back in the day, it's how we did OT. But physical therapists are trying to take our profession. And by AOTA standing up for diversity and equity, we can do this. And we need to be strong in what we're doing as OTs, not PTs, not therapists, stand up for occupational therapy. So, AOT, I commend you for being the starting point of this. Thank you.

>> Wendy: Thank you, Anita. Thank you. Varleisha, you're muted.

>> Varleish a: I see that. Double muted over here. We have Sarah somerville if you want to join us, unmute yourself.

>> Sharon: Hi, I just wanted to make a couple of observations. First of all, I've been in OT since 1980. I went to the University of Alabama Birmingham. And in my class, there were three African-Americans out of 25 students. And I've just been kind of disheartened as I meet other therapists, it seems like there's still that three out of 25. I mean, except for programs that are more diverse such as Howard University, I'm sure. But, you know, someone mentioned about students not seeing people that look like them. Obviously, after

After being in OT all these years, I'm used to the fact that I'm in a white female profession, mainly. It's interesting as I get toward the end of my career, about 15 years ago, 12 years ago, I had my first, I repeat, my first opportunity to work in a clinic -- I'm in a school system, actually, where I actually have an African-American OTR as a colleague.

That is major. Can you imagine having worked for 25 years without working with a colleague that looks like you? I've seen people. I was in a situation where I was hiring therapists, not saying I've never seen another African-American OTR. But, again, there's something wrong there. And I certainly encourage people to go into the profession. And I to know of some other, you know, young African-Americans that have. Anyway, what I guess I would like to leave with you is that you consider, not you, but all OT consider the biases that you bring in every day to the profession. I'm not hearing people say

I think we finally got past that point of saying I don't see color. And I think as most of you know, that's really offensive, or I'll speak for me. It is. Because you see I'm a black OT. One thing I noticed, when I go to workshops, the presenters have slides. I go to pediatric workshops now. And very seldom do I see an African-American child. I see a blue eyed baby. I see another blond kid in the clinic.

If you guys could be more mindful of that. And I know if you're not a minority, you just don't think. A lot of things you just don't think. Just like the fact that what happened to George Floyd woke up a lot of people, we've been awake for years. We felt it and we've seen it all of our lives, so anyway, I want to make a point that we don't have to do all we do through being on committees, having diversity programs and that kind of thing but but you can do a lot by being aware and sort of confronting your own biases. Thank you.

>> Wendy: I love what you just said. There are so many things we can do that are not about committees or commissions. It's about our day-to-day. It's our actions, our day-to-day work with each other and our day-to-day work on ourselves to be able to do better to recognize those biases and not let them, to the best we can, as we continue to develop and grow, not let that create additional hardships and barriers and disregard. So, I really appreciate you recognizing that and putting it out there for all of us.

>> Sharon: Thank you.

>> Varleisha: Before I go to the next session, Duana, did you want to add anything to that?

>> Duana: I did. I missed saying something at the beginning, and that was I encourage people as you share your story, there are things that you -- that you're comfortable enough sharing in this space. The goal is not to retraumatize anyone, not by any stretch of the imagination. So, two things, two things that I ask, if someone chooses to share something that you really, really, really want us to hear, do so. Make sure that you care for yourself in the process.

So, make sure somebody is around, that you have your go-to when ever you need to do to care for yourself in the process as we are in this space. That's what I would like to share as we continue to move forward. Thank you, Varleisha.

>> Varleisha: Thank you. Sabrina had some questions from youtube. I'm going to pass it to her.

>> Sabrina: I'm the Vice President of educational and development at AOTA. I have a few questions. One was somewhat created to the comment that was just made. So this person wants to know if or how AOTA facilitates or initiates recruitment of students of color to the field of occupational therapy.

>> Wendy: If and how?

>> Is a --

>> Sabrina: We have an if and a how we are recruiting persons of color.

>> Sabrina: Exactly. To the field of occupational therapy.

>> Wendy: I don't have a good answer for you. Hey, you know, this is -- we're talking about this over the last couple of days thinking about this over the last couple of days and I think that that is definitely an area where we are counting on our academic programs, our academic institutions that are doing the outreach as they're trying to, you know, promote their programs and draw people into the profession that they've obviously gotten an inkling about somewhere, somehow, but making sure that they find a welcome space in the academic programs where they come. But the recruitment part, I don't have an answer for that. So I'm not sure if.

If Duana has a better response. But I know that we have people that want an answer. And want that to be a place where we do better as an association. And as a profession. And how we can come up with ways to perhaps better support our academic programs. Our faculty or our program directors, admissions coordinators, you know, people that are trying to think about how do we do this differently.

What can we do better. So, I'm going to hand this to Duana as well. Because she may have a different piece of information or insight, than I certainly have. This is one of the places where I'm really counting on our students, you know, hopeful applicants, new applicants, and really wanting -- wanting us to do better at that. We're not going to get better if we don't draw people to this profession that are more representative of the bigger picture society.

Barbara: Sorry to interrupt. But this might be a good time for AOTA to talk to HRSA. Because HRSA runs it program, the health careers opportunity program. And I know when I was a dean, they focused a lot on nursing and future doctors. And maybe we need to talk to them about doing, you know, recruiting more people from underserved communities for occupational therapy. Maybe we need to push that with them?

>> Wendy: Okay. Thank you, Barbara.

>> Penny: This is penny. I worked at HRSA and what happened at my tenure there is that OTs did not pick up the grant programs that were offered to them. So they were dropped as a valid and responsible partner. And PT nursing, social work took the funds. And I put a message in about Bryan and Shirley and what they did as a multicultural affairs program managers regarding recruitment. So you can see it.

>> Wendy: Thank you, penny.

>> Barbara: If we lobby them, is there a way to get that back?

>> Penny: Um -- in this environment, I'm not sure.

>> Hazel: This is Hazel Breland: We just received a five-year grant from HRSA for students with disadvantaged backgrounds. We're an occupational therapy. So South Carolina was awarded a grant for this very thing.

>> Penny: Congratulations, I remember posting that and you responding saying you replied, excellent.

>> Duana: I'm going to throw something in. It's not something definitive, something I want us to keep in mind. And if someone else has a story that kind of fits in with this, please share. What has always been a challenge that we have heard from the body and shared with the national caucus, it is we want to have people to move up in the ranks. We want to have faculty. We want to have people to be admitted into our programs. But we can't find the talent.

So, as I listen and I hear the discussion and I'm hearing people say, yes, there's talent out there, talent there. I'm asking to push. There are ways we'll get to the solutions down the line. But to acknowledge to yourselves that that can't be the scapegoat moving into the next century of our existence. That there's more there.

So I put that out there. And then I also open it up so that people have stories that resonate so people hear that, oh, no it's not just Duana making this up, that that's really a real thing. By all means, do that.

>> Sabrina: Along that same vein since we're having this discussion. Another person participating from youtube, Donald Howard, wants to know about the limited black males in the profession. He wanted to know what opportunities exist and can be created to increase black male leadership representation. Maybe as you guys are having this discussion, maybe you can include that as part of the discussion?

>> Wendy: Duana, you're shaking your head.

>> Dr. Banks: This is Dr. Banks from Howard University, I think that's one of our former students. So we've been very -- hi, Donald. We've always been very sensitive to trying to -- trying to advance black men in the profession because we know it's like an anomaly. So, we often seek out to provide that additional support. And I think it goes -- it speaks to the larger issue, though, is that it's not just about funding, it -- AOTA needs to

really look at a model. We do have models out there. When we talk about this wholistic approach.

We need for academic institutions to be more sensitive to culturally sensitive to getting access to people of color, particularly African-Americans.

These -- the criteria are not wholistic. And, so, the barriers up front. So up front, you can't produce the supply -- we say it's in demand in terms of the diversity in the workforce, when you can't even get access to enter into the institution. So, it's not just about funding. You can get all of the grants you want. But, you have to get access as well. And you have to have in place good retention programs. Because you let them in, you have to learn how to retain them as well.

And, so, we were -- we've come off of a four-year HRSA grant as well. And we did tremendous, you know, things, in terms of funding. But we also know that's only one piece of the picture and a lot of times people think HBCUs, oh, we're -- our mission is specific so we have a direct pipeline and it's just not true. We work just as hard to keep our -- our student body looking like it should in terms of diversity.

And when we go to OT cast and we see 2% African-Americans, we have to -- that's the pool of students we get as well. So, they're not out there, they don't -- they -- we need to give -- we need to nurture them. It starts in elementary school. We also need to get them access. So, please don't think it's just funding.

So, I -- what I would plea to AOTA is to look at these models and adopt a recruitment and retention model that can serve the purpose for wholistic admissions that when people can kind of use, cross all domains, and tailor it. So that you can get that greater access.

So and it would address issues of all types of minorities, people of color, including black men who are a dying species at this point.

And just the last thing I have to say, you probably don't need to hear from me after this, is I am real concerned about HBCUs, and that's one of the -- that's one of the things that -- I kind of watch very carefully. And we're the largest supply of African-Americans in the nation for occupational therapy. And Howard and Tuskegee in particular. When you talk about the people who are out there in the workforce on a regular basis, we produce the largest number of African-American

Practitioners. And those universities need to be seen as model programs. We're doing something that's right but we work extra hard to do what we do. And I -- I want people to know that it's not -- it's not an easy task. And the other HCBUs who are working hard need support too. So, I would also like to put out there that there needs to be some type of program to support universities who are -- who continue to do this. And kept continue to do this for decades. That this is our job. We live and breathe this task. And we do a good job at it. So -- so we're not taking it for grant

We live and die this. We're not taking it for granted. We work really hard. We need that support as well. So when you talk about moving forward, I just want to make sure that those things are known too. And HCBU's struggle quite a bit. We do a good job.

>> Barbara: I want to add Fam-U to that list.

>> Dr. Banks: We've got six HCBUs.

>> Fam-U in the room.

>> Dr. Banks: The two that produced the most, Winston-Salem, Alabama state, Tennessee state, our six HCBUs.

>> Barbara: Just don't want to be forgotten. It sounds like HCBUs even though we're not there yet,e when you talk about lifting up the experts in the room, the wisdom in the room, that HCBUs, for instance, are maybe untapped resource. And it's not that we want to push everything. Let me be clear. We don't want to push everything in the burden necessary if you will. On to the people who are marginalized in the first place. But there's wisdom in the room, I don't want to miss that either. So, I wanted to lift that up and thank you all for sharing those stories and bringing that to our remembrance.

So I want to thank you for sharing those stories and bringing it back to our remembrance.

>> Varleisha: Very healthy conversation. Just to note that I'm seeing wonderful comments in the chat. And this group will definitely utilize this information. Thank you all for sharing. So, I did have our next participant on Zoom, which is Samara St. Helaire (phonetic) hopefully I'm saying your name right if you're joining us. Please unmute yourself?

>> Samarra: I graduated at 2002, I was an adult at the time, guest speaker after guest speaker, no one looked like me. So, there's so much in representation. So, a lot of times in all of the guest speakers were presenting, I would think does anyone look like me? Are they contributing to the profession? So, it wasn't something that we saw even though there were a few of us in the program. So, there's power in representation. Because when you have representation, you know your goals or your dream, your aspirations, are actually tangible. So, I just wanted to point that out.

So I just wanted to point that out.

>> Wendy: Thank you, Samarra.

>> Varleisha: Next we have Dr. Jackson.

>> Dr. Jackson: Nice to see you on the call, Samarra. I wanted to say diversity, equity, and inclusion are all important aspects, I was glad to see it added in the pillar after it wasn't in the draft of vision 2025. Opportunities to develop a pipeline of black students and leaders matters. This starts within academia at the student and faculty level. It continues with the intentionality within our professional associations.

And it's paramount if we're ever to change the trajectory of our profession to represent the general population. Often we see the same faces being tapped for leadership opportunity, we see the same names in various documents and presentations put forth by the association. And as the President of the Florida OT association, I made a concerted effort to reach out to mentor others, showing them that they can be presenters at conferences. That they can be active within their associations.

My ask is that AOTA recognize the need to be intentional in their efforts, paving the way for black OT practitioners and tapping the expertise in the black OT community beyond those associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion. We need to look for students of minority backgrounds moving beyond the notion that they're only from no income and disadvantaged backgrounds.

From initiatives at the middle and high school level, mentorship, recognition, and the development of new leaders and scholars, I believe this is the priority initiative to create a diverse OT workforce. So, thank you for this platform and the work that I believe shall be done going forward.

>> Wendy: Thank you, Douglene. Got all of those points. And those are all important points. And I love the part about intentional. We definitely, we have to recognize all of that.

You know, I was saying, you know, it does -- it just -- it just made me really happy when -- when map by on one hand, not so happy on the other hand, when I was reaching out to folks for the diversity, equity, and inclusion task force, and there were so many people there that were not the names coming around, you know, for the third time. And I really welcomed that, and was humbled by that as a way to be intentional in that pipeline toward, you know, helping people feel they had that space, recognizing that space for their voice, for their ideas, and growth. I truly believe those are the things that

That help also fuel confident and like they're contributing and want to contribute more. So, I think that's one small step in us making progress. So Douglene, you said it all the time, thank you for being here tonight.

>> Varleisha: Thank you, we appreciate your comment and your passion, Douglene. I will ask as an occupational therapist, I'm here in the association as the Vice President, we hope to expand other activities. We're hoping you'll hear from us with different initiatives coming out that will feed into it and support the task force that we're talking about. So we're going to continue to grow. So thank you for your feedback.

I do want to invite one more question from Zoom and then I'm going to cast it back to Sabrina. So, John B. Pa'tell, if you're there, please unmute yourself.

>> Janvi: I wanted to provide a little bit of a personal story. I'm a newer practitioner, so I graduated with my Master's in 2017 and I completed my doctorate postprofessionally in

2019. And I can remark the differences between the two. In my master's, I was a fulltime student and could count on my hand the people of color in my program. Probably, more on my one hand probably. But the diversity I was able to see in my postprofessional program that accepted people globally was very eye opening and gave me a context to the profession

Opening and I didn't get that context from my master's program. And ways to think about how are we taking that international perspective or international lens when we're thinking about OT. And another thing to mention is I'm kind of echoing off of what other people have mentioned. I don't know very many south Asian OTs growing up. I'm a first generation American, so there wasn't any place for me to look into. I found this career all through the internet.

Thank God for the internet. But, I can say that now that I tell people that I'm an OT within south Asian communities, it has opened up the visibility of that field to the group of people that I work with. So, I think that's the beauty of getting more minorities and people of color into our field, because now groups of people who don't know what OT is are being exposed to it. I have best friends for south Asian who completed programs. And I just don't want to take credit for their journey, but I think part of it is when you -- when you see something like you in the field or you hear about it, it becomes demystified in some ways, and I think that's really important. And I agree with the comments that it doesn't have to be in disadvantaged

Communities, there can be in all communities, there are -- just anyone can benefit from learning about this career who may not have the resources otherwise. I don't have generations of OTs or people that work in like fields that would do that. My parents are very blue collar workers. So getting that exposure is key to getting people.

>> Duana: Have you work at MDI's page at all? If you have not, I do encourage you to do that. To find spaces in OTA, find the network to see all of the beauty that's there. Thank you for sharing.

>> Wendy: It was our Asian Pacific MDI network group celebrated 25 years this year. Doesn't mean they're easy years, but it means they celebrated, 25 years as a network of -- of people, you know, and the salvation and community, I believe, that would be, you know, there would be people there that you would go. I think we have something to talk about here. And how can we continue to connect and bring other people this message of occupational therapy in our communities. So, I really -- I appreciate you sharing your story, Janvi. Thank you.

>> Sabrina: I'm going to cluster these questions from youtube to see if you can have a rich discussion about them in unison. Two individuals, Gabriela Vasquez and Daniel C, they're asking for ways to merge anti-racism with diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within the association. The question is, how can we also include anti-racism in AOTA's statements and task force initiatives?

Similarly, Danielle C wants to know how can we integrate more education regarding occupational justice, anti-racism, and culture in program curriculums and also educate black communities about OT?

>> Wendy: Oh, my, this is the beauty of the listening session part of this. It's what's on your mind and what you're wanting to see take place and take place in where we're going to need to push or do differently in some ways.

Am I frozen, I just want to make sure, because I do not -- thanks, Douglene. Appreciate that. But, anti-racism in our initiatives, I truly don't know how we can do the work of the diversity, equity, and inclusion task force without considering that, without that being a part of our conversation.

Without that being something that, you know, we recognized as a place where we do need to support education in that way. We do need to encourage people and help people responsible for their own growth and their own evaluation doing some work to be able to figure out how -- how can I enter that anti-racism space? What's keeping me from going there, if that's a person's experience? What's making this challenging for me? Whether my biases are -- I think we have

A lot of work to do. All of us, and like I say all of us. I guess this one, I'll speak for me, you know, individually. But we collectively have work to do in this way. And I don't -- I would struggle to have a conversation about us having an exclusive association or way we're working or something without trying to think about what's getting in the way. And, so, it's -- if racism is getting in the way, we need to be able to have the uncomfortable conversations about that. We need to be able

To have realistic conversations about the hard work that needs to take place for us to be able to do the better. So, if that's about having very intentional, to use a word that's come up a few times this evening, intentional focus. And the racism is a contributor to some of our work, we need to to that. We need to be saying that.

And considering that in our -- in our task force work, in our committee work, in our one-to-one work that we're doing with one another. So, I appreciate you bringing -- bringing that up in a very clear and direct way. Because we're going to have to be pretty clear and direct about it as we continue our work.

I just -- I wonder, you might have some thoughts on this as well. But even that -- on that part, I was looking also at the next part, the occupational justice and other things and how can we do better with that in the academic institution. These are two separate things, I didn't want to jump if you wanted to add to the other?

>> Duana: Actually, I'm going to ask, if it's okay, Wendy, if you go ahead -- (indiscernible) because I think what I have to -- (indiscernible) I probably broke up a little -- (indiscernible)

>> Wendy: It was breaking up on me a little bit. But I think what you said was go ahead.

>> Duana: Okay. Yes, go ahead. I do have something to say but I think it's connected to both.

>> Wendy: Okay, okay. Well, you know? It's such a -- it's such a hard -- it's a hard thing, I think, when we talk about how can we -- how can we do better in our academic programs? Teaching about occupational justice, you know? Teaching about all of these -- all of the things that we are grappling with right now. So, we kind of get real about some things, academic programs, just like I was saying individuals need to do some work to figure out what are the challenging places, I think academic

Programs also need to do some work. About curriculum. What are you valuing in your curriculum? How much time are you committing to this conversation? Are you thinking about your fall semester coming forward? Are you creating space for a conversation about this? Are you creating safe space for students to be able to bring forward their observations or their experiences? To folks that are at your institutions? I can say, this is the person that works in an academic program. We're going to have work to do. We have work to do. How can we be doing a better job in that?

But, I also think we have a commission on education. That -- that it will be -- it will be good for us to be tapping the expertise in that commission about education. About how can we perhaps advance or support, you know, emphasis that helps us to really identify, you know, those places, those spaces where occupational justice can be the center of a conversation.

You know, I mean AOC is -- they've got their own scope of work, you know? They're a part of our profession. So, you know, they might be having conversations. I can't commit to what AOCO can do. I can't commit to what the commission on education might be able to contribute. But I can say that I think we collectively need to be doing some evaluation and some work of how -- about how we are making this even possible. And our uncomfort in bringing this forward to our students.

>> Duana: I won't -- let me know if you can still hear me.

>> Wendy: Yes.

>> Duana: I won't -- I'm trying to frame this from a standpoint of even the stories that I've heard. That have opinion brought to our attention. So, I encourage AOTA, I encourage the programs. I encourage everyone given that some of this discussion came up because of Ahmaud Arbury, right? Because of George Floyd, because of the people that are all of a sudden hanging themselves all over the country.

Because of all of these things that were held inside and now they're coming up. They're coming up in our students, they're coming up in our clients. And I say this to say that part of the challenge is that we start talking race, it is very difficult for people to boil all of the way down to -- to the history in the profession, to the history in the country, to the history in the world around black people.

So, I put that in the room because if -- if the programs, for instance, in their threads, can't get all of the way down to be comfortable with that, we -- we're going to be in the same space. So, I have to say that because I have to.

And I -- I appreciate -- I appreciate it all. And I say this from the standpoint of we're talking about stories, right? This is what I have lived and this is what the students and the faculty of so many have lived over and over again. So, I have to say that.

And I thank you for that time to be able to hear that. Just be prepared to dig all the way down in order for this to really lift everybody up, not just black people but everybody. Thanks. That's what I wanted to kind of -- I knew it came along with occupational justice and everything we're talking about. So I figured I would leave it there.

>> Wendy: You know. Yes, indeed.

>> Sabrina: So, I wanted to add one thing in terms of a way to empower oneself for the individuals who ask that question. We're talking about entry-level education. So it's just kind of piggybacking on what Wendy already said. You have AOCO in terms of entry level education. They convene what we call the standards review committee every five years or every three years to review the current set of standards and that pretty much is what governs every accredited academic institution in the United States. The new ones are about to be fully implemented July 31 of this year of 2020. But they are going to be reviewed by this committee in and another three years. That's the opportunity to send in comments, recommendations, positions, there are a myriad of opportunities for people to go and give comment, suggestions to the council basically saying what things

They need to be included in all curriculum in every single accredited program. So that's an opportunity to have your voice heard. Because right now, there is one standard. It is in the preamble. There's one standard that addresses this. That's valuable for the constituents, that's a place for you to be heard. With respects to commission on education, what people can do now is they can basically appeal to them

To take this on and to generate education-related policy recommendations to the AOTA representative and assembly. That's something that can be done now.

>> Wendy: And I think that's even -- I think I saw in the comments that even wondered, was there a way to do work around wholistic admissions and that be perhaps the conversation that might take place with the note commission on education. So, I think that's a lot of room for people to -- to share their ideas with the group that's within our governance structure. That is focused on education.

The coming in and going out of it all. Thank you for clarifying that. Thank you so much.

>> Sabrina: Do I have to send it back to you or can I ask one more question?

>> Varleisha: You're fine, go ahead.

>> Sabrina: So -- so someone is asking here, will there be scholarship opportunity for minority students to receive? She's one black of 32 who loves everything about OT, but it can be challenging when you're the only one and you question its worth. So, this is in respects to financial burden and hopes to be accept in the future.

So, there are a couple of questions related to scholarship opportunities. In the same vein, I like to combine things, there's a question here relating to terminal degrees and having the OTD for the OT and the baccalaureate for the OTA as terminal degrees, single points of entry for each. That could also put -- be -- be perceived as creating a -- creating a barrier to increasing diversity. So maybe you can speak about both of them at the same time.

>> Wendy: I think those are two different questions, I guess. So I'll go at this the best I can. I know Duana is thinking over there. I can see the smoke. So, it's a -- the thoughts are happening. And when you want to jump in, you go right ahead. By wanted to talk first of all about the terminal degrees. And I want to make sure that everyone on this call is very clear about the points of entry for the profession. We have duel points of entry for the occupational therapy assistant and the occupational therapist. We have the opportunity for OTAs to receive an associate degree or bachelor's degree and enter the profession as an occupational therapy assistant, and we have opportunities for occupational therapists who entered in with a master's degree

Or a clinical doctorate degree. So I want to make sure there's no confusion about the part where we do have two points of entry to the profession.

I think that we have to really be -- I think we need to really be clear about what evidence is out there, what data is out there to help support our conversations about diversity, about whether things we are doing in our -- in our planning or -- you know, movement here or conversations there about about entry into the profession and the degrees. We need to -- we need to be really clear to the extent that we can with the evidence that we have

About diversity. And if that -- if that is an impact or not. And there's a comment made that when we went to the master's degree, I heard this -- you know, we went to the master's degree, that did not necessarily, you know change the diversity composition. And there are questions about would that change if we went to an entry-level doctorate degree. That remains to be seen. We're not going to a single point of entry at this moment in time.

That was decided by the representative assembly last April. That's where we stand in this point in time. And, so, you know, as we continue, though, to try to think about diversity, equity, inclusion, I mean, those things do need to be weighed and how we also talk about access to programs. And admission to processes, preparation opportunities, all those kinds of things for entry level practice.

So, I think it's something that we have to be very thoughtful about. I think it's something that we also need to make sure that 14 kind of to points made that it's not something where -- where the cost -- the cost is cost the barrier? Is access the barrier? What are the barriers to any higher education experience for people of color, for anyone out there wanting to enter our workforce. We need to be really careful in our thinking so that we don't

Continue or in some ways introduce institutional or systemic barriers that make those opportunities not available for all people interested in our occupational therapy profession.

So, I think that's my -- that's my two sents on that. So, Duana? Anything to add?

>> Duana: Yes, just -- just checking in. So, just thinking about terminal degrees. I will share another story. This time from -- from St. Louis University. Where there is particular work going on that's headed up by a black faculty member that's there. But that it's open and professionally. Make sure that OTs are represented. And part of the work we have to do is we have to sit down with students, with potential students in high school, with -- with students that are

Even younger and say, and really talk about how much we make, what kind of help is out there in order to manage money, all of these things. These are things that some people have not had to do with, no matter where you are. Low income, middle, high, they're young. They think that if you don't make $100,000 a year, you're going to be broke. So part of the work sometimes and people coming to work to higher education is to process what are the options?

Because I came to the profession not having a clue whether or not this was going to be helpful or not, or that balance between -- there are conversations that people can inform AOTA ant. So there's better work that comes about whether or not people want terminal degrees.

But, I will tell you, there are people that are afraid of Master's degrees. Because of costs. And for real reason, right?

So, I just -- I just shared that when you start talking recruitment and retention and those kinds of things, there are opportunities there that we start thinking like OTs, and what occupations that people have engaged and what they haven't engaged. It's going to look different for every group, we tailor so that we encourage.

But, yeah, OT lens is used all the time. Not only that point. I'll lead this into -- I don't want to keep talking, into scholarships just so that people know even with the black OT caucus, we do have scholarship. It goes out annually and it's more and more people that are applying for that. Heaven knows we want to do more. We were talking, you know, what can we do to endow -- that's been a conversation. And that's building.

Maybe there are opportunities in other spaces within the OTA and other spaces where economically, that that money is set aside for different scholarship opportunities, in addition to whatever else that the world decides that they want to offer. So, I share that just to know of the opportunities there, but things that we can all -- I think we can all work together to build upon. Because money is real. Money is a real topic. Investing is a real topic.

>> Wendy: I would add also that we -- we would love to be able to do -- do more. But I -- I would also point out, you know, as part of our conversation at our board meeting at the end of last week, the EKY scholarship is also a scholarship that can be accessed or applied for through AOTA. It's not -- it's not in the foundation. It's in the association. But it is -- it is available for -- for students of need.

And, so, if that -- whether that is reflected in communities of color, whether that's reflected in -- in any community, it is available. And, so, you know this, is not to walk back from Douglene's comment which is a very important point for us to recognize, this is not about you know thinking that we're recruiting people of color from disadvantaged backgrounds solely. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that is a resource that is available to -- to people to -- to apply for -- through AOTA. So, it's -- it's still there. It's ready for you. Okay? Thank you.

For it, it's ready for you.

>> Varleisha: I want to make sure we're aware of time, getting close to our end for this session. So I'm going to invite Viara West, if she would like to unmute herself and join us.

>> Diarra: Hi, everyone. I'm a currently first year MSOT student at FAM-U. I wanted to speak to my experience in applying to OT school, because I think there are a lot of barriers in place. I'm a first-generation college student, neither one of my parents have degrees. I also support myself. And, so, in applying, it was kind of very discouraging because not only do I have to pay for these prerequisite courses, I have to take the time out of working my 40-hour work week to shadow as well.

I have to pay these application fees. You know, so that -- in and of itself can create barriers for individuals. And Dr. Banks brought up a really good point earlier. About HBCUs kind of producing a lot of OTs in the field. And in applying, I applied to a lot of PWIs, and I applied to FAMU was the only HCBU I applied to. And it was one of the only schools that actually gave me a chance, realistically speaking. I was turned away from a lot of PWIs that was really discouraging.

And if it wasn't for FAMU I don't know if I would be a student right now. I planned on reapplying, but low and behold, the way it works is FAMU was one of the only schools that gave me a chance. I would like to preface by saying I wanted to be a part of this field because I was interested in the fact that this is a field that is rooted in

looking at an individual as a whole. Really taking the time to examine their environment and understanding that there are a myriad of factors that contribute

To what makes this person an individual. That's the reason I applied. And that's the reason I was interested. And, so, I encourage a lot of you schools to practice what you preach. You preach this whole notion of -- a person is more than a number. And here I feel like when I was applying to these PWIs, I was just a statistic. And, again, it was only FAMU, like I said, that gave me my voice and gave me this chance to actually fulfill and participate in this career.

So, again, I think I really just think that people need to intrinsically really practice what you preach. Fundamentally, this is a field that is about being wholistic, this is about advocacy, not asking for handouts, but I'm asking you, when you're looking at applicants, understand that a lot of minorities in particular are working 40 hours a week, are supporting themselves, do not have generational wealth to fall back on. When they're applying.

That doesn't mean that they're not just as capable of the -- as their white counterparts. So, I would just think that I wanted to share my personal experience. It has been really difficult in terms of getting funds, being able to be consistent at school. But FAMU has created an awesome community for me and people that look like me. And I just encourage PWIs to do the same. You know, you want to know what the solutions are? You really have to start with it. Look at all of the models and assessments and evaluations that we have at the field and start applying that when you are recruiting students.

>> Wendy: I'm so glad we are recording. Because that was awesome.

>> Diarra: Thank you.

>> Wendy: It wasn't awesome that you had a story that you had that much challenge that much difficulty and that many barriers, that's not the awesome part. I hope you know that's not what I'm saying. Thank you for sharing that story and for giving us a charge as a profession. And as academic programs.

>> Diarra: Thank you.

>> Duana: Thank you, Diarra.

>> I would encourage you to come to some of the future listening sessions that we're having. I think your voice needs to be heard. We'll have a student one, an educator one, and a practitioner one. So bring your story would be very rich.

>> Diarra: Absolutely.

>> Wendy: Thank you. Agreed.

>> Varleisha: We're getting close to our time. I'm going to ask Salina to speak on behalf of the justice-based occupational therapy. And then at that point we'll be closing out. Put

your questions in the chat if you want to. We'll try to address them later. At this point, this will be the last question of the night. Last comment, I should say.

>> Selena: Good evening. I'm Selena Washington from St. Louis University. And so I just wanted to just speak to what has been said. But I also want to give just a quick shoutout to all of the students that are on the call. You all have really called us to task. You have specifically asked your academic programs what are you going to do to address these injustices? And I think that is so brave and so powerful the way that you all have different programs to

Really put things into action. So, thank you for doing that. The justice based occupational therapy collaborative. We put together a statement. I know we're short on time. So I'm going to put the link in the chat. But basically, we have come up with some action steps on how to move forward with changing the way we practice, how our professional organization looks, what we can do with academia.

And also what we can do within community health and criminal justice reform, which is not talked about as much within the OT field. So, I would just encourage you all to look at that. And to look at that -- look at the action steps that we propose to take. We have shared this with the AOTA leadership, but basically, we want to see change. And it does not create -- it does not mean re-creating the will, but it means that utilizing what we have built to create a more just academic program, how we practice

And again how we diversified what our body, as a profession, looks like. -- so I'm going to add that right now.

>> Wendy: Thank you for doing so, Selena. I think that's -- that's going to be a great resource to have there right available for people to be able to access. And I know -- I know this group of people have been together for sometime. And felt very strongly that they needed to help us in thinking through, what are actions that can be meaningful. What are actions that can make it different and can indeed advance our approach to changing our profession.

Not the change today, sustainable institutional change and just opportunities for us to come to a better place together. So, I -- it's not for the first time yesterday. And then that actually saw it twice yesterday. Came to my mailbox twice yesterday. Each time in reading that, always grateful for that kind of input.

I do want to, as we close here, you know, I'm recognizing that time as well, Varleisha, I do want to say that because we don't have all of the answers, this is the place we have to start. When I say we, I'm talking about the Board of Directors, I'm talking about AOTA as an organization. We had to start by listening. And, for, I want to acknowledge, I know there are some of you that are -- you know, that might wonder if these would be words rather than action. And that's a fair question.

And Diarra is holding our feet to the fire, what do you do tomorrow? How can you think about this so we can make advances that really elevate opportunities for black and

brown and people in our community. I mean, how can we do that? Are we doing the work? And are we making a habit?

I know there are more people who would have liked to have seen the Board make a stronger statements, stronger as in what are the action steps? We would not have been able to come to you with action without conversation with you, without hearing from you. Being informed by wonderful conversations and listening sections by tonight. We would have missed the mark all over the place. And this is too important for us to miss the mark.

So, I just want to -- I just want to say thank you so much to everybody who took time out of your evening tonight to help us, to be part of the conversation. And -- and I just really look forward to additional conversations and opportunities for people to contribute in so many ways. As we -- as we come together on this.

So, so thank you for that. Duana, do you want the last word before Varleisha gets the last word?

>> Duana: It's going to be quickly, Varleisha I know, I know. Diarra, wherever you are, thank you so much. That's what I was looking for. You got the mic, tell them. Tell them. Okay, all right. What I do -- I'm encouraging all of you, all of you have access to people. Get people, encourage them to come to the solutions and if they have more stories to make this stuff real and palpable, do it. It's all I'm saying. And go there and -- use us as a resource also. So, we have information out there. Make sure you get that. Thank you all for the opportunity to tell the story, take the statistic out, tell the story. And then let's make.

Tell the story and let's make the work happen. Thank you.

>> Wendy: Thanks.

>> Varleisha: Thank you. It's been a wonderful evening. I know I'm assisting and facilitating, but I'm also attending, it's been wonderful. Thank you, Wendy and Duana. And I know just prepping for this, Wendy wanted to make sure that we were listening, that that was the primary focus and hopefully you all felt that this evening. This is not the last time. Our next session we're planning for will be next Thursday, June 25 at 7:30.

And we have Hazel Breeland, who's on tonight. Give us a wave. Who actually volunteered to join us for the student session. But even though this session next week will be focused on our students, we do encourage you just like this evening, they have very passionate and wonderful ideas and stories to share. So please join us to listen to the students' perspective so we can delve into that a little further.

I also want to add as we're talking about really trying to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion, that our election for 2021AOTA, and Wendy, I don't know if you want to add anything will be September 2 to October 14 for a nomination. So, this is our chance, right? We're all trying to look to expand. So, the -- or blend. And, so, if you're interested

or you know someone that you think should go up for these positions, nominate them. As well as the on-line vote willing be January 6 through the 27 of January.

6 through the 27 of January.

>> When dip: If anybody on this call that aspires to be -- Diarra: We might have to plug you in for another time. Anyone on this Zoom room interested in running for President-elect, Vice President, putting your name in the hat to be considered as a director on the Board of Directors, we have two positions there. Two opportunities for you to enter into that space.

World federation of occupational therapy delegate, commission on practice chairperson, commission on education chairperson elect. We also have our occupational therapy academic leadership council chairperson, and also the academic field coordinator for AOC chairperson, vice speaker of the representative assembly, if that's your bag, there's that position there. You know, and other positions within the RA and the credentials reviewing and accountability committee

OTA, representative elect, RA representatives in specific states as well as special intersections chairpersons. Our special intersections are needing leadership. If practice is the part that calls your heart and you want to make a difference in that and you want to lead, whatever is going on in your special interest session, it's time for you to raise your hand to be considered in leadership in those ways.

So, and then for our students out there, have we got work for you. Are you thinking about ASD chairperson, the assembly of student delegates chairperson or secretary for being a student representative for your university working with communication and advocacy? The opportunities are there. Our state association presidency, our group, the chairperson seat is open.

So, those are some places where I would love to see a list of new names. I'm good seeing familiar names. I love people that I know too. But I love meeting new people. And I know that there is committed energy in this Zoom room and there is new energy in this Zoom room. And, so, I really just want to as you're doing your self-evaluation, also be thinking about what that means for you as far as ways that you want to contribute to this initiative.

And addressing this issue, but also to the profession as a whole. So, thank you for considering that in advance.

>> Varleisha: There are comments about registration for the next session. We'll be posting that soon. Also, Wendy, in case you missed it, some how tos in order to take -- pick some of these opportunities for leadership. So, perhaps a how-to session is being asked for.

>> Wendy: Okay.

>> Varleisha: Take note of that. Sabrina, you have any final words before we close out?

>> Sabrina: No, I wanted to give the youtube people a shout out to say thanks for your patience. Just in general, there were tons of questions. Varleisha will figure out a way to format it so we can basically answer all of your questions, they will be answered. So thanks for your patience, thank you for participating, and I'm sure we will speak to you or hear from you very, very shortly.

>> Wendy: Thank you so much.

[ Applause ]