ACCP is dedicated to creating and sustaining a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This commitment to embrace diversity and inclusion is an ACCP core value. Strategic direction 1.5 of the 2020 ACCP Strategic Plan states that the College will employ practices that embrace DEI to fully achieve its mission.

Beginning in 2020, the ACCP Board of Regents (BOR) has had ongoing complex and in-depth conversations about equity, respect, diversity, and inclusion. In January 2021, the BOR engaged a consulting firm, Ameli Global Partnerships (AGP), and began participating with ACCP staff to establish professional development activities focused on DEI principles, including content focused on DEI terminology and basics, microaggressions, and unconscious bias and a four-part series on inclusive leadership. Collaborative work with AGP culminated in the ACCP Strategic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan.

ACCP’s baseline DEI member assessment, administered in June 2021, represents an early component of the DEI plan. Completed by 1000 ACCP members, the results serve as a representative sample of demographic and inclusion experiences within the organization. A formal, recorded presentation of assessment results is available to all ACCP members within their respective accp.com account under “My Links.”

Additional components of the DEI plan currently under way include:

• Forming a Task Force on DEI charged to provide input to the ACCP BOR on implementation of the DEI plan. The task force is currently working to increase the diversity of nominations for elected office, awards, and FCCP fellowship and guidance for PRNs on incorporating DEI principles into focus session programming, speaker selection, and nominations.
• Charging the 2022 Member Relations Committee to develop a report for the BOR on how ACCP might address barriers to under-represented individuals wishing to pursue careers in clinical pharmacy, emphasizing ways to reach, mentor, and engage students, trainees, and practitioners who may not yet be familiar or actively involved with ACCP.
• Implementing the ACCP Code of Conduct with a requirement for members and nonmembers engaged in College activities to complete an attestation statement at least annually.

To ensure responsiveness and sustainability, ACCP will employ ongoing monitoring and revision of the DEI plan. A formal reassessment is scheduled for late 2022, with additional action plans to follow. Throughout, plan implementation and monitoring will be driven by BOR, ACCP staff, and member engagement (e.g., through the Task Force on DEI, 2022 Member Relations Committee, and PRN leadership). Ongoing DEI efforts and results of informal and formal plan assessments will be routinely communicated to ACCP members.

Access the ACCP Strategic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan here.