In late summer 2019, a task force on PAA’s diversity and inclusion efforts was convened by then President John Casterline. The task force was created to develop and support opportunities for demographers of color to gather and interact with senior scholars; provide mentoring opportunities; ensure diversity in PAA’s governance and programming; and to incorporate issues of interest into the PAA Annual Meeting. The group has met regularly since that time and has finalized a charge, discussed and defined metrics on which to measure growth and improvement; and organized a social event for PAA 2020 (which was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19). At the most recent Board of Directors videoconference, the Board voted unanimously to convert the task force into a standing board committee. This change in status indicates the group’s permanence and priority in PAA’s organizational activities for the long term.
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee‘s charge is to ensure that PAA honors its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion with respect to a broad array of social positions. These include (but are not limited to) race, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, socioeconomic status, nationality, ability, and sexual orientation. Principles of DEI apply to all aspects of the organization such as membership, session topics, opportunities for presenting research, serving on committees, and leadership roles. We anticipate that our understanding of these issues will expand over time and we will seek to be inclusive of new relevant concepts as they become understood.
Committee members include: Hedwig Lee (Chair), Washington University in St. Louis; Lauren Brown, San Diego State University (SDSU) School of Public Health; Tyson Brown, Duke University; Juanita J. Chinn, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; René D Flores, University of Chicago; Lina P Guzman, National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families; Bradley L Hardy, American University; Mao-Mei Liu, University of California, Berkeley; Kyler James Sherman-Wilkins, Missouri State University