Announcing the Awardees of the 2021 HFES Seed Grants Targeting the Intersections of HF/E and Anti-Racism/Anti-Bias

This Spring HFES posted a request for proposals for the first HFES Seed Grants Targeting the Intersections of HF/E and Anti-Racism/Anti-Bias, as part of the HFES action plan developed in the summer of 2020 for supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within and outside of HFES.  The Diversity and Inclusion Committee (DIC) managed the proposal solicitation and review process[1].  The DIC received seven proposals. 

To review the proposals, the DIC began by issuing a call for reviewers.  Fifteen people responded and eight of them were engaged to perform the initial round of reviews. None of the reviewers had a conflict of interest, they were not members of the DIC, and they had expertise in various areas relevant to the proposals.  Each proposal was assigned to either 3 or 4 reviewers.  Once the reviews were completed, leaders in the DIC reviewed the proposals and the reviews and then met for discussion and selection of awardees.

HFES is pleased to announce the recipients of the first HFES Seed Grants Targeting the Intersections of HF/E and Anti-Racism/Anti-Bias.  The awardees are:

Dr. Bernadette McCrory, Montana State University for her proposal entitled: HF/E Dismantling Bias: Reframing the Conversation to Identify Solutions.

• The goal of the project is to develop a novel graduate level course, Design for Quality of Life, for integration into the graduate program and evaluation next academic year at Montana State University. This course includes theoretical and applied HF/E for assessing and supporting the quality of life for diverse users with technology and service-based systems.
• The approach will be to integrate social justice within the revised curriculum. Material interventions will enable students to design and implement technological solutions that benefit marginalized or excluded groups that systematically experience social injustice.

Dr. Maju Brunette, The Ohio State University for her proposal entitled: Photovoice project to identify impact of systemic racism among African-American college-bound students.

The objectives and specific aims of the project are:

• To empower African American young minds by asking them to critically reflect on their systemic racism experiences via the Photovoice technique
• To broaden understanding of underlying causes and consequences of systemic racism affecting the African American youth living and studying in the Columbus community
• To reach out to policy makers and key community stakeholders with study results via strategic dissemination strategies

HFES members will be able to learn about these projects and their outcomes at an upcoming annual meeting.  As part of the requirements of the award, recipients are expected to present their results at the HFES Annual Meeting within 2 years of receiving the grant.

Sincere thanks to each of the proposal submitters.  Whether or not you received an award, the thought and effort that went into developing your proposal is appreciated and you are wished success as you continue pursuing your ideas to address racism and bias. 

Sincere thanks to those who volunteered to review proposals, and especially to those who were called on to review.  Thank you for your time and for the insights that you provided on each proposal.  Volunteers are the lifeblood of HFES. 

And, sincere congratulations to awardees Dr. Bernadette McCrory and Dr. Maju Brunette, awardees of the first HFES Seed Grants Targeting the Intersections of HF/E and Anti-Racism/Anti-Bias.  We hope both of these projects are successful and that the ripples from their positive impact spread widely.