In pursuit of diversity, equity and inclusion in the public health laboratory

Lab Culture

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has been a major topic of discussion among APHL’s members, staff and partners as well as in the national discourse. Understanding the minority experience is important so that individual and systemic progress can be made. But what is it like for public health laboratory staff who identify as being in a minority group? The Emerging Leader Program’s (ELP) 13 Fall Cohort decided to tackle this topic as part of their final project. In this episode, four members of this cohort shared pieces of the conversations they had with their colleagues and their overall thoughts on DEI within the public health laboratory as a workplace.

The ELP 13-Fall Cohort is a larger group, but only four members participated in this episode. They are:

Chenelle Norman Association of Public Health Laboratories Newborn Screening and Genetics Manager, Newborn Screening Quality Improvement

Kim Smith Houston Health Department Quality and Compliance QA/QC Officer

Alyssa MacMillan New Jersey Department of Health Public Health & Environmental Laboratories Microbiology Program Manager

Jill Simonetti Minnesota Department of Health Public Health Laboratory Newborn Screening Operations Supervisor

Links:

How racism makes us sick | David R. Williams

“Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter” by David Rock and Heidi Grant

"Why The Phrase ‘Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps’ Is Nonsense"

Lab Culture Ep. 9: What is the APHL Emerging Leader Program?

Lab Culture Ep. 10: Public health labs do that?!

Lab Culture Ep. 11: What if there were no public health labs?

Lab Culture Ep. 12: Bitten by the public health bug — How I found my lab niche

APHL Emerging Leader Program

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