Established the TAE Coordinating Center.
A diverse group of researchers and capacity builders supporting change efforts across the country.
TAE
Coordinating Center Established
Established the TAE Coordinating Center.
A diverse group of researchers and capacity builders supporting change efforts across the country.
Grantee Application & Selection
Developed grantee applications and selection process with RWJF
Grantees were interviewed and intentionally selected based on different starting points in their TAE journeys.
Visioning & Establishing Structures and Norms
Identified unique and shared historical context and structures across grantee institutions
Worked with grantees to examine the origins of their current systems, traditions, and policies and how they have evolved to influence disparities within their schools of public health.
Convened grantees and project partners to align expectations and priorities
Held the first “TAE Learns Together” meeting in 2022; created space for reflection, renewal, and imagination of next steps in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership across institutions.
“[The] facilitation was masterful and really got us to have an honest and healthy conversation that was “unsafe” in a good way. The collective wisdom of the group was astonishing and the similarity of the challenges we are facing was striking.” - TAE grantee
Developing & Maintaining Relationships
Developed a shared vision for equity
Grantees were supported to “develop and return to a shared vision for equity in schools and programs of public health and to develop an institutional path forward to achieving that vision.”
“Learning was primarily supported by [the Adaptive Change Specialists], who encouraged the GT to think beyond traditional grant deliverables and center the work on the vision for and values of this work. In addition, peer-to-peer connections with other grantees were useful in understanding how people in similar positions at other universities were experiencing and responding to similar challenges in academia.” - TAE grantee.
“We expanded our versions and visions of success to include success at a more local and controllable level (e.g., equity as part of vision of DPH, support for researchers at all levels including students to do health equity work, identifying partners across campus, identifying who was ready to do the work now). We also expanded our definitions of a leader from formal leadership positions to emergent leaders based on action and mentorship around equity.” - TAE grantee
Developed and maintained relationships
Provided students, staff, and faculty collaborative consultation and coaching support to lead TAE work within their institutions; grantees were encouraged to engage other key actors (i.e., university leaders, community members) to help build and expand their TAE efforts based on changing contexts.
Scenic Views
Broad vision allowed space for innovation
Interntionally selecting grantees that were at different starting points in transforming academia for equity
Roadblocks & Detours
Differing expectations with a grant process unfamiliar to individuals in academia
Time and work was required to build a shared vision to find a collective path forward and build a community of learners.
Established the TAE Coordinating Center.
A diverse group of researchers and capacity builders supporting change efforts across the country.
Establishing
Guiding Teams
Engaging Diverse Voices for Action (2023 – 2024).
Once the conditions for change are established, the second phase of the LTCF involves creating a sense of urgency around the need for change and building a guiding team (GT) that represents diverse perspectives and has the credibility to move the work forward. Guided by a shared vision, the GT works to clarify the desired future and aligns key actors around a common direction. To engage and enable change, GT leaders worked to hold space for catalytic conversations, elevate diverse voices, and distribute responsibility by sharing the work across teams and stakeholders. Once guiding teams were established and ACSs were assigned, ongoing touchpoints were created to provide ongoing support. ACSs joined guiding team meetings, convened participants through in-person gatherings, and conducted periodic site visits with each team. Because adaptive change can create uncertainty and tension, GT leaders also helped regulate distress, ensuring that individuals remained productively engaged without becoming overwhelmed. Recognizing progress and celebrating milestones reinforced momentum and helped sustain commitment to the shared vision.
In this phase of our TAE journey, we:
A diverse group of researchers and capacity builders supporting change efforts across the country.
“Our guiding team served as a learning community, in which we learned to navigate power and privilege, naming racism and intersecting systems of oppression, and holding space.” - TAE grantee
“We have successfully initiated the Climate Assessment... This assessment is a critical step in understanding the current state of equity, diversity, and inclusion within our organization.” - TAE grantee
“Through [the TAE initiative], we were reminded that this is a journey without an end point. Success is moving this work forward. It is engaging deeply with identifying the barriers and making a realistic and strategic plan to address them incrementally. This can be challenging when we want to quickly generate solutions, but we understand that for perspective shifts this will take time." - TAE grantee
“A key component of the TAE initiatives’ success [is] the freedom that grantees [are] extended to develop non-prescriptive activities for imaging and addressing their justice, equity, diversity and inclusion needs.” - TAE grantee
Catalytic Conversations
Developed grantee applications and selection process with RWJF
Grantees were interviewed and intentionally selected based on different starting points in their TAE journeys.
Ongoing Touchpoints Between Guiding Teams & Adaptive Change Specialists
Identified unique and shared historical context and structures across grantee institutions
Worked with grantees to examine the origins of their current systems, traditions, and policies and how they have evolved to influence disparities within their schools of public health.
Convened grantees and project partners to align expectations and priorities
Held the first “TAE Learns Together” meeting in 2022; created space for reflection, renewal, and imagination of next steps in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership across institutions.
“[The] facilitation was masterful and really got us to have an honest and healthy conversation that was “unsafe” in a good way. The collective wisdom of the group was astonishing and the similarity of the challenges we are facing was striking.” - TAE grantee
Scenic Views
Grantees form a community of practive to support aone another and inform croader academic equity efforts
On-site, in-person touchpoints built credibility and community, leading grantees to demonstreate ownership of the work
Roadblocks & Detours
Transition of members in the TAE CC team
Time and work were required to develop a shared vision, a collective path forward, and the conditions for a learning community to form
Established the TAE Coordinating Center.
A diverse group of researchers and capacity builders supporting change efforts across the country.
Implementing and Sustaining the Work (2024 - present)
The third phase of the LTCF focuses on translating momentum into lasting change. TAE leaders build on the progress made, encouraging experimentation and innovation as the organization moves into new ways of operating. This stage often requires stepping into the unknown, as GTs test new approaches – pilot, implement, learn, iterate, refine, take action – and adapt based on what they learn.
“As a result of the learning and experiences gained during the implementation of our initiatives, we became more fearless and bold in our approach to enacting transformative change in the field of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. - TAE grantee
Scenic Views
Cycle of learning established
Each grantee identified and piloted an action to create more inclusive environments at their institutions
Roadblocks & Detours
Socio-political climate and backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion created fear, legal concerns, and heightened security needs for grantees
Grantees paused or pivoted their work in response to the climate
Hesitation increased around sharing or disseminating work
Continuing the Journey
Determine:
- How to make progress despite the socio-political climate and backlash
- Opportunities to sustain progress
- Ways to continue transforming academia for equity
