My Approach
Top Down. Bottom Up. Across.
I support leadership, early career scientists, and employees through the following:
Top Down
I support leadership, senior faculty, managers, and directors of research teams. We enact and develop action plans to implement culture change at your organization using research and analysis, best practices, and other evidence-based resources.
Bottom Up
I support early career scientists, students, trainees, and employees. I provide resources and structure to support them while their mentors are learning to become more effective. I assist in creating career development plans with milestones to achieve advancement goals, recognizing that silohing, isolation, and exclusion can occur that can negatively impact the growth and progress of early stage scientists and employees.
Across
I support leadership, mentees, and employees working together to create a community of best practice, a sense of belonging to share concerns when they arise, and a system of accountability with peers to support shared actions and sustainable changes.
If you are a leader at your organization, these are questions to ask yourself:
Are you a leader of a research team identifying the need for culture change? Are you in a position to implement change? Are you looking for an equity and inclusion specialist to provide training and resources to you and your team?
Are you ready to:
Validate others experience
Lead with vulnerability
Create a space/community for underrepresented individuals
Create a space where you are inviting the conversation and not compelling
When the answer is yes…
Program Goals
I have collaborated with researchers to study the impact on how to become more culturally responsive mentors in the science field. This research has been proven to make an impact on the growth of early career scientists. I work with senior scientists and leaders to create more holistic environments for early career scientists to thrive.
I work with the senior scientists and early career scientists to:
Increase Awareness - supports the gap in mentorship knowledge with resources that are available through publications and evidence-based work.
Accept Accountability - eliminates the blame game. Creates a holistic and accountable environment to view the humanity of others. Understanding scientists are not machines. Creates an environment where scientists can thrive as their authentic selves.
Understand their role as mentors - to engage in frequent conversations with mentees. Establish clear roles within the mentoring relationship, including expectations they would like to establish for an effective mentor relationship. This resolves misalignment of expectations, miscommunication, and projects.
Align immediate actions for change - engage in conversations to align expectations for mentoring relationships. Create a space to allow individuals to discuss their salient identities within their work space. Leverages resources that are freely and readily available to improve mentoring skill sets in culturally relevant matters.
Create long-term sustainable changes - direct recruitment and retention of individuals from underrepresented backgrounds. Intentional environmental scan to identify gaps and opportunities to create a more equitable and inclusive environment.
Understanding a leader's role is to:
Recognize we are all walking and navigating in systems where the status quo has changed
Acknowledge that systemic oppression is very present in the scientific community
Shed light on the challenges that one can encounter in this place of fear
Overcome this place of fear by adjusting and countering these dynamics, and be empowered to take accountability in our role to enact change.
Set goals for career scientists and employees in order to:
Advocate for themselves
Mentor up with mentors who are learning
Be equipped with research and evidence based resources.
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”