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Community Engagement Committee (CEC)

Community Engagement Committee (CEC) was established in 2022 to lead SoBP’s efforts to promote a culture of inclusivity and equity, to address systemic inequities in psychiatric research and practice, and to foster diversity in membership, leadership, and scientific contributions within the field of biological psychiatry. 

 

Our objectives: 

  • Develop programs and partnerships to engage underrepresented communities in biological psychiatry
  • Advise SoBP Council on policies and initiatives that advance justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI)
  • Evaluate diverse representation in SoBP membership, meeting attendance, mentorship, and travel awards
  • Organize Fireside Chats and other special sessions at SoBP Annual Meetings for meeting attendees
  • Foster mentorship and professional development opportunities for historically excluded groups
  • Promote inclusive practices in scientific publishing, conference programming, award nominations, and leadership selection
  • Support initiatives that address systemic barriers in research, training, and clinical care

 

Our charges:

  1. To track diverse representation of SOBP membership (i.e., current percentage of minoritized groups in the society) and present these to Council.
  2. Evaluate SOBP’s diversity across membership, travel awards, mentorship, and meeting attendance and present these to Council.

 

Our achievements:

  • In 2022, the Committee submitted a proposal for allotted time and space for Fireside Chat programming at the SOBP Annual Meeting.  The proposal was approved and Fireside Chat programming has continued on ever since.
    • Some past Fireside Chat themes have included; “Good Care is Comprehensive: The DSM 5 Cultural Formulations in Practice,” “Good Care is Not Color Blind: The Myth of Treating Everyone ‘The Same’,” “How to be an Ally When You Witness Online Abuse,” “Invisible Disabilities: Disclosure, Destigmatization, & Leveraging Lived Experiences,” “Systemic Disparities in Neuroscience and Psychiatry:Current Perspectives,” and more!
  • Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) identifiers were proposed to and approved by Council to highlight posters including CBPR.