Join the People of Color Affinity Group
Posted February 08, 2021
We are excited to share that the first HFES People of Color Affinity Group meeting was held during the 2020 Annual Meeting. Since then, a few HFES members have met to keep the momentum going, but we need YOU. Please consider joining us if you are an HFES member that either identifies as a person of color OR wants to contribute as an advocate for people of color in the following ways:
- Help elevate the society’s diversity and inclusion efforts
- Support recruitment and retention of people of color in the society
- Meet and share with ideas like-minded people
Please take a moment to read our mission and action plan outlined below. If you are interested, please complete this brief survey. We are looking for your ideas, input, and hopefully your involvement at some level.
Our Mission
The People of Color (POC) Affinity Group is committed to creating a community within the Society to connect thought leaders, senior managers, mid-career/young professionals, and students that identify as POC–including Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latinos and Hispanics across the globe–to enhance the recruitment, retention, and professional growth of POC in the HF/E field. We welcome non-POC committed to use their position to serve as advocates for improving diversity equity and inclusion for POC.
HFES People of Color Action Plan
The long-term goal of the POC Affinity Group is to serve as a haven of belonging, offering a space for POC within the Society & HF/E field to find one another, stave off a sense of isolation, and experience a reprieve from the daily aggressions they’ve endured inside and outside of work. We aim to create inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative knowledge exchange. through informal and formal forums.
The POC Affinity Group will serve to foster inclusiveness through mentorships, career leadership and development, collaboration while educating and modeling about anti-racism and bias. To this end, the POC Group plans to:
- Facilitate peer-to-peer networking and mentorship relationships within the society and HF/E field to build a POC community in support of career development and professional development of its members.
- Lead seminars/webinars highlighting POC within the Society and HF/E field to boost visibility and recognition such that POC are truly represented in a way that they weren’t previously.
- Provide advice/feedback and recommendation to HFES Diversity & Inclusion Committee and other appropriate HFES committees to ensure diversity & inclusivity within the Society.
- Create synergies & collaboration opportunities and events with other diversity associations to increase the alignment of POC communities in the society and the field of HF/E.
The POC Affinity Group will convene once per month to come together and recenter themselves. Sub-teams meet as required to move initiatives forward.