February 21, 2024 – At the second annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Career Summit at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, students had the opportunity to meet with potential employers and discuss the importance of DEI in the public health workforce.
The February 15 event, organized by the Office of Career and Professional Development and Office of Diversity and Inclusion, included an opening keynote, panel discussion, and networking session.
The keynote was delivered by Alexis Stokes, associate chief diversity and belonging officer at Harvard University. Speaking from her experience at Harvard, she emphasized the importance of building an inclusive culture in the workplace through collaboration.
“Inclusive cultures are more than the numbers and demographics,” she said. “It’s taking a collaborative and shared responsibility approach with administrators, with faculty, with students, with staff and researchers—from the recruitment stage to the retention stage and upward mobility.”
Stokes gave examples of inclusive hiring practices at Harvard, such as proactively reaching out to potential candidates when a position is open. Additionally, Harvard interview rubrics are standardized, so that people serving on hiring committees are on the same page for how to assess candidates.
During the panel discussion, students brought up a range of DEI topics, such as how employees can advocate for an organization’s leadership to prioritize inclusion. Panelists included Manuel Cuevas-Trisán, vice president for human resources at Harvard University; Stephanie Kang, deputy assistant commissioner for health equity at the Massachusetts Department of Health; and Ramona Nichols, vice president of employee relations and labor strategy at Mass General Brigham.
– Jay Lau
Photo: Kent Dayton