Mentoring to achieve diversity and inclusion in public health

Today’s talent pool is diverse, values different priorities, and faces new issues. In order to be inclusive to all, we must continually expand our thinking and definition of what an inclusive culture looks like.  As part of this transformation, our national public health workforce is changing rapidly. Best practices and lessons learned from broad public and private sector experiences regarding developing and adopting diversity and inclusion policies and practices are directly applicable to the future of public health. An engaged and effective workforce is essential in delivering high quality public health services, and especially in diverse regions and communities.  An inclusive culture can include gender, race, sexual orientation, disabilities, generations, cross-cultural factors, and other sectors.  Values of well-being and flexibility are core to developing an effective diversity and inclusion strategy.    The vision for such programs can include elements such as commitment and mutual accountability, with considerations for a sense of belonging, core values, advancement opportunities, and teamwork. This presentation will examine the role of leadership in diversity and inclusion, and draw from extensive insight from both the public sector and private sectors, and explain how diversity and inclusion is a critical factor to successful succession planning.  This presentation will pay particular attention to translating strategic directions into meaningful components that are readily able to be adopted by field-level public health agencies, organizations, and practitioners.