Meeting Logistics
Date: Thursday, February 22, 2024
Time: 6:00 p.m. Check-in/Social Hour
6:30 p.m. Dinner
7:00 p.m. Speaker Presentation
Location: ACS Headquarters – Marvel Hall, 1155 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC
Cost: $20 (half price for students)
Menu: Meal will be catered by VIPS Catering and will feature Peruvian chicken with green sauce on the side, black bean rice pilaf, garden salad, rolls, cookies, and brownies. The vegetarian option features oven-roasted quinoa stuffed peppers with a side of roasted potatoes (also suitable for vegan and gluten-free). Beverages will be provided.
RSVP by noon ET Tuesday, February 20th, to [email protected]. An RSVP is required for dinner so we can plan appropriate seating and meals. Please provide the names in your party, as well as your contact information and if you prefer the vegetarian option, when you RSVP. The public is invited to attend. You may attend the talk only at no charge, but reservations are appreciated. If you need any further information or would like to make a reservation, please contact the CSW office by email at [email protected].
This is a hybrid event and you may participate by Zoom call.
Parking: Parking is available in nearby commercial parking garages. Please be aware that garage closing times vary. Parking is also available on the street after 6:30 pm, but be aware that most parking meters are in effect until 10:00 pm and may be limited to 2 hours. You should check the individual meters for details and payment methods as some are no longer coin-operated.
Metro: Blue/Orange/Silver Line: McPherson Square or Farragut West. Red Line: Farragut North
Abstract
To promote a shared understanding of DEIJ values, it is important to understand why these terms should not be used interchangeably. When we value diverse perspectives and experiences, we deliberately seek out historically excluded groups so that our teams appropriately reflect varied patient populations. Diversity does not matter if inclusion is not a value. We must care about making everyone feel welcomed, safe, and validated when they get to our programs, our institutions, and our research. Valuing inclusion is not merely an appreciation of difference but a deliberate focus on sharing power and making space for otherwise excluded people and perspectives. Equity is about removing barriers for inclusion, which are often systemized as normal so get overlooked as issues of personal responsibility. Are DEI efforts enough? They are not. We must also reckon with the past trauma and harms of systemic oppression that still reverberate today. Working to restore hope and trust of historically marginalized groups through repaired policies and practices is what justice looks like. In this workshop, we will discuss examples of DEIJ values and what they look like in the field of chemistry in a historical moment where scientists and professionals aim to better align their social and civic roles alongside their professional ones in ending racism and other systemic forms of oppression.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Maranda C. Ward is an Assistant Professor and Director of Equity for the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. In this role, she designs, evaluates, and teaches health equity curriculum for student and faculty learners. Her teaching excellence was recognized with the highest teaching honor at GW–the 2021 Morton A. Bender Teaching award.
Dr. Ward is an expert in advancing anti-racism efforts within health professions education and in designing curricula to enable students and faculty to competently promote health and racial equity in practice. Her research focuses on diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and antiracism educational interventions as well as stakeholder-engaged community-focused studies on HIV, Black women’s health, and youth identity. As a member of the DC Center for AIDS Research (DC CFAR), she is the principal investigator on Two in One: HIV and COVID Screening & Testing Model that allows her to lead a national research-based educational intervention for primary care practitioners to routinize screenings for HIV, PrEP/PEP, and the COVID vaccine. This research will lead to a set of policy recommendations for overall practice-based changes for all patients and culturally responsive messaging for racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender minoritized patients. She is also skilled in the application of participatory action research methods.
As an affiliate faculty for the GW Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, she translated her participatory action research on youth identity into a youth-led canvas-based mural on preserving D.C. legacy. Dr. Ward’s research is further converted into practice as the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Promising Futures – a youth development pipeline for D.C. youth ages 11-24 that integrates a social justice approach to positive youth development using edu-tainment to invite youth to explore their civic and social identities, social inequities, and health-seeking behaviors. When she is not teaching or serving on-campus, she is engaged in DC in a range of capacities. For instance, she is on the board of trustees for the Washington School for Girls and founding board member of Girls Rock DC. She also serves on the Sibley Memorial Hospital & Johns Hopkins Medicine advisory board for wellness projects in wards 7 and 8. The DC Mayor, Muriel Bowser, appointed her to fill an advisory board seat on the Mayor’s Commission on Health Equity.
When asked, she describes herself as a community educator, curriculum developer, and youth builder. She has strong commitments to service-learning, equity, community legacy, youth development, and honoring youth voice. Maranda earned the 2023 GW Black Alumni Impact award, the 2022 Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement Award by Transform Mid-Atlantic, the 2020-2021 GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences Diversity and Inclusion Award, as well as the 2021 Stigma Warrior Award during the 12th Annual International Conference on Stigma at Howard University for going above and beyond in her field to fight discrimination among historically-marginalized populations. She has been consulted by Ebony.com, Rolling Out Magazine, DCist, the Washington Post for her research on HIV disparities and featured on a live segment of Good Morning Washington, NPR’s Morning Edition and the KevinMD podcast for her health equity expertise.
Maranda earned her Doctorate in Education from GW, her Master’s in Public Health from Tulane University, and her Bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Anthropology from Spelman College. She enjoys learning from youth, traveling, and brunch.
For more information, visit www.marandaward.com
