As part of Phase Six of NATA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access (DEIA) Response Plan, each NATA committee, commission and council was tasked with developing three to five actionable items that support one or more of the six NATA DEIA Commitments.
In this blog post, which is part of an ongoing series highlighting these efforts, NATA District Secretaries’/Treasurers’ Committee (DST) Chair Julie Alexander, MSEd, ATC, outlines DST’s actionable items, what the committee hopes to achieve and how members can get involved.
What are your committee’s three to five DEIA actionable items, and why were they selected?
1. Investigate a collaborative partnership between the districts and the NATA Research & Education Foundation to endow a scholarship to support minority athletic training students from various backgrounds and races.
2. Actively build DEIA mindsets, which enable DST members to serve and support the membership, through the incorporation of DEIA training into an expectation of board service.
3. Work to examine and better understand diversity in membership, through the review of membership data, and consider/propose initiatives to address identified deficiencies.
Tell us about the development process that led your committee to these actionable items.
These items were developed by past DST Chair Ron Walker, EdD, ATC, CSCS. They were reached in conjunction with DST leadership meetings and discussion revolving around DST's function and how our committee can best support NATA DEIA initiatives.
How will the actionable items you’ve outlined impact NATA’s members?
Development of a scholarship or award that supports diversity and inclusion will support students or certified members and will bring focus to the NATA DEIA initiatives. These ideas are in process and may change as they develop. DEIA training of our DST leadership will assist our committee in the recruitment of potential future leaders. As a committee of mostly elected members, this is ultimately important. The final initiative involves researching our current membership database and developing statistics that share DEIA status. We need to be intentional and transparent in sharing information in order to recognize and improve diversity within NATA.
How do you hope your committee’s actionable items will contribute to NATA’s overall efforts to improve DEIA?Our actionable items, though they may evolve and improve over time, are actionable in nature. These are items that are intended to call attention to the state of diversity in our current population, to recognize those that improve or work to improve our diversity and inclusion, and to educate our leadership in understanding our role in recruitment of leaders who will continue to improve diversity, equity and inclusion.
Where are you in completing your three to five actionable items?
Our committee leadership changed in June and we break from meeting during the summer months, so we are just getting started on bringing our actionable items to the committee.
How can members learn more about your committee’s DEIA efforts?
Members can communicate with me at any time. My email address is julie.glode.alexander@gmail.com.
