Pictured Top (L to R): Landon Wood, Valerie Winston, Samuel Boadu, MPH; Bottom (L to R): Claire Auriemma, MBA, MPH, Tatiana Torres Herman, Ph.D., and Carolyn Walsh, MA

The Heersink School of Medicine Staff Diversity Liaisons group was established to represent the shared interests of staff in creating a workplace that celebrates equity and inclusion. The group aims to create a community where people of all ages, genders, backgrounds, educational experience, and work responsibility are both recognized and valued.

The Department of Medicine has six staff liaisons serving as a part of the larger group: Claire Auriemma, MBA, MPH, Samuel Boadu, MPH, Tatiana Torres Herman, Ph.D., Carolyn Walsh, MA, Mischell Massey, and Landon Wood. These individuals are committed to making a school-wide difference, and advocating for the interests of the staff within the Department of Medicine.

One of UAB's shared values is "diversity and inclusiveness," and is described as "everybody counts every day. We actively seek varied perspectives in our decision-making." This core value is essential at every level of our academic medical center in order to achieve excellence in all of our mission areas: education, clinical care, and research. In the Department of Medicine, we not only acknowledge our differences, but proudly celebrate them.

Each DOM Staff Diversity Liaison was asked, why do you serve as the Staff Diversity Liaison and what do you hope will happen as you serve in this group? Here's what each had to say.

Claire Auriemma, MBA, MPH, Program Manager II, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine serves because she is "passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion" both personally and professionally. She wants "to see UAB flourish as a community where every person is truly valued and able to use their gifts for the advancement of our mission, as well as their own personal growth and career advancement." She concludes by saying "our community will thrive when its individual members can thrive."

Sam Boadu, MPH, Director of Administration and Fiscal Affairs, Division of Cardiovascular Disease serves because he believes "every culture, nationality, sexual orientation, and person sees the world in a different way" and "those persons have different knowledge, perspectives, and points of view," that when they come together, "innovation, creativity, and new solutions happen!" As Sam serves as his division's Staff Liaison, he hopes "that present colleagues and diverse candidates of the future find the Department of Medicine at UAB an inclusive environment where they'd like to develop and grow in their careers."

Tatiana Torres Herman, Ph.D. Clinical Researcher Administrator III, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology serves because she wants "to be the voice of all of us that want to see sustained change in diversity, inclusivity and staff diversity advancement, and to support UAB efforts to give value to diverse voices, create equity culture to its fullest potential so everyone has a sense of belonging and centering inclusivity and staff wellbeing as an essential facet to success." She hopes to create continuous change, "a better understanding of staff barriers and disadvantages," and an inclusive environment where everyone can go to work with "a feeling that they belong and not the feeling that something about them has to change in order to belong."

Carolyn Walsh, MA, Director of Communications, Department of Medicine serves because she wants to be the change she wants to see in the world, as cliché as that sounds. "We have such a wonderfully diverse institution, and we have so much opportunity to build an organization that sets the standard for inclusion. To do this, we have to honestly and boldly address the policies and attitudes that hinder our progress." She hopes that in the first year she can help "improve the visibility of staff as essential contributors to our mission and identify tangible ways to make sure each one has equitable access to resources to suceed (training, promotion, recognition). This will put us in a position to build programs and initiatives that make a lasting difference for all staff at UAB."

Mischell Massey, Program Director III, Division of Preventive Medicine serves "to help in advancing the diversity in the HSOM and working to ensure that our working environment is inclusive for all. I am able to work with a great team of individuals to generate ideas and future plans that will help the HSOM enhance diversity efforts." Mischell hopes as she serves as a Staff Liaison, she can "bring in new ideas and experiences that will be used by leadership in the HSOM. This information can help prevent and solve any potential problems by providing input and feedback to ODI."

Landon Wood, Clinical Research Regulatory Coordinator, DOM Research Unit serves so he can be a voice for his fellow staff members. "Everyone's uniqueness and differences is what makes UAB a great place to work. We have to work together to ensure that everyone can have a seat at the table." Landon hopes that as he serves as Staff Liaison, "UAB will get to see all of the concerns that the staff has so that we can improve our work environment, so that everyone can feel appreciated, safe, and not discriminated against when they come to do their job."

The Department of Medicine continues to work toward cultivating a work environment that celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion.