Thoughts on Building an Inclusive Community in a Challenging Environment

Bad experiences — both individual large events and repeated small events — can have an outsized impact on whether members of a minoritized group experience a scientific community as welcoming and inclusive. However, structural barriers often pose challenges for effective community responses to events that have negative impacts on members of underrepresented groups. In my experience, many of us find ourselves at a loss when we hear about harmful events that seem outside of our professional purview. Except in the most egregious cases, institutional resources to help are often unavailable. I will discuss my personal thoughts about how we can build on the DDA’s excellent collaborative environment to develop a more inclusive, equitable, and diverse DDA community in this challenging environment. I will focus on identifying situations when speaking up is powerful, the value of bystander intervention, and the power of frank conversations grounded in mutual respect.