DEI Highlight Series

As this summer vacation comes to an end, we are excited to continue our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Highlight Series, by introducing you all to the work of the National Association for Black Veterinarians (NABV). Driven by their mission to “ADVOCATE, provide SUPPORT, and cultivate an inclusive COMMUNITY for blacks in veterinary medicine…,” the NABV Conference held at The Ohio State University this past June was a physical manifestation of just that! 

Dr. Stara Robertson, DACLAM (NABV Executive Board, President, left), Darius Statham (NABV Executive Board, Student Representative and Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine ‘23, right), and Brittany Carter-Stewart (NABV Executive Board, Student Representative and The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine ‘23, center) walk us through what this Conference is and why it is so important. 

Motivation, and Impact: 

Lack of representation is still a persistent issue in the profession. Recent statistics revealed that the demographic makeup of black professionals within veterinary medicine has decreased to 1.5% and has constantly fluctuated between this 1-2% range for decades. One of our goals is to create a pipeline to help correct this. This conference allows for the black community, and allies, from all stages and areas of veterinary medicine to congregate under one roof to network and build more interpersonal connections with one another.  With the NABV conference, we wanted to create a safe space to network, socialize, and learn. We hoped to facilitate students having access to mentorship and summer jobs/internship opportunities.

Scope of the conference: 

There were about 100-150 attendees total. We had 40-45 speakers including 3 panel discussions and our two keynote speakers; Tim Wise and Dr. James Moore. We also hosted an outreach activity at a local shelter as our conference lab. Hotel lodging was probably the main unexpected challenge we faced with planning this conference. We underestimated the total number of attendees and essentially ran out of space. We had to do some research on neighboring hotels and were able to accommodate our participants. 

Adding in Action to Allyship:  

Challenges that have been historically prevalent within this profession and many others include microaggressions, prejudice, or blatant racism. There have already been so many discussions covering this over the years, so I promise to not get onto my soapbox about it. However, I do encourage people seeking information to educate themselves with the resources still available on several different platforms. I also have noticed more individuals seeking insight and/or education from their black colleagues. Even though this is greatly appreciated, one must also consider the amount of time and energy that is required to educate and facilitate change for those within the black community.

 Allyship becomes a key component by serving as a buffer for all of this whether that is speaking up, educating, or providing spaces for belonging. There are some instances where individuals outside of the black community truly cannot understand our perspectives due to the cultural disconnect. In these situations, an ally outside of the black community may have a more relatable take on the exact same point that is more palatable. True allyship also includes being able to identify and speak up against microaggressions and prejudices when they notice them; regardless of whether that person is present or not. Regarding creating a sense of belonging, this can be accomplished by setting a welcoming and inviting tone in a given space. This involves not asking assumptive, stereotypical questions or bombarding someone with conversations on race. Just take time to truly get to know someone for who they are as an individual, not their race. This shows that you’re intentional about creating a genuine bond with a person, and not just reaching out because of obligation or guilt.

My recommendation is always to be an active participant with events hosted by the NABV. The best way to keep up with current events is to join this organization as an ally. If you are a student enrolled in an institution with an established student NABV chapter, we encourage you to join those organizations as well. This is an all-inclusive organization for individuals that would like to support our mission and goals for the upliftment of the black community. Even if you simply want to learn and gain more understanding about what is happening and why organizations like these are crucial, becoming a member shows that you at least want to support and opens up that safe space for dialogue with your colleagues.

Looking to the Future: 

In the future we hope to create more student chapters at pre-veterinary and veterinary school level. We would like to expand our network of sponsors to provide more scholarships for our students. Currently, we are working to provide more mentorship opportunities for individuals interested in pursuing careers within the field. We also plan to have more events for our members throughout the year and more outreach activities for community engagement.

Resources: 

A few resources that we currently have available include NABV directory listed on our website https://nabv.bausper.com/, the BlackDVMNetwork, and the Tuskegee Alumni Association. We always encourage those within the black veterinarian community to reach out to one another for networking purposes and to build a genuine rapport with one another. For prospective students interested in more information, we recommend reaching out to animal science departments and other established veterinary organizations for more insight. Also, feel free to reach out to members of the executive board either individually or at info@NABVonline.org any time if you have any questions or concerns.

Special Thanks: 

We would like to thank the entire executive board for helping to organize this amazing conference. There was a lot of time and thought that went into planning every aspect of this event, so we want each of you to know how much you are appreciated for the hard work. We also want to send a special shoutout to each and every one of our sponsors for this event. None of this would have been possible without your contributions, and we lookforward to seeing you all again next year!