Dear SPH Community,

I am writing today with an important update on our work regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. As you all know, I am deeply engaged in the work underway at the School of Public Health (SPH) and the university to honestly question our culture and define concrete steps needed to overcome centuries of racism and inequity. There are things we’ve done really well but there are also opportunities for improvement, especially as we look forward to significant growth and becoming a more diverse workforce and student body.

The Dean’s office engaged Advancing Health Equity (AHE), a diversity consultancy group led by Dr. Uche Blackstock, in the fall of 2021, to help advance this work. Dr. Blackstock and her colleagues were invited to SPH to assess our culture and practices related to inclusion, diversity, equity, and anti-racism. They conducted focus groups, surveys, and 1:1 interviews with SPH faculty, staff, and students.

This work concluded in February when the AHE team presented initial findings to SPH leadership and led us through two days of conversation where strategic objectives and potential next steps were discussed. It was tremendously helpful and inspiring to hear and learn from so many of you who participated in AHE’s assessment; I am deeply grateful for your engagement in this important process.

While we prepare a summary of AHE’s findings and next steps to share with our community, there is one immediate outcome that I want to share today: We are expanding our Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Based on our existing DEI priorities and those outlined in the university’s Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP), we are building out our DEI Office and work. We took into consideration what we learned from AHE, discussions with the SPH Executive Committee and other faculty, and insights from our partners at Brown’s Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED). With new roles and several full-time staff, this office will drive forward the School's ongoing work on improving our culture and fostering a climate of inclusivity.

The expanded SPH Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will begin with three full-time staff roles:

• Reporting directly to me, an Assistant Dean of DEI, responsible for refining and implementing the overall strategy of the DEI office and helping to build a diverse and inclusive environment;
• A Program Manager, responsible for managing the daily operations of the DEI office and ensuring alignment with DIAP priorities, designing and executing events, and participating in recruitment and retention activities; and,
• An Education and Training Manager, responsible for supporting faculty and staff with curricula and teaching resources and for leading training and workshops for the SPH community.

In order to support the needs of our students, staff, and faculty, we will continue to assess the organization of the office and, with community input, make ongoing adjustments.

I want to move quickly to expand this office and to enhance our investment in its essential work. I have therefore named Jai-Me Potter-Rutledge as Interim Assistant Dean for DEI, effective June 1. Jai-Me is well known at SPH, having joined Brown in 2018, first as the Manager of the D&I Office, currently as the Director of the Health Equity Scholars program. Jai-Me’s commitment to health equity and institutional diversity is evident through her support of MPH students, her experience as a Teaching Associate at the Warren Alpert Medical School, her service on a number of University-wide DEI committees, and in her own research as a doctoral candidate at Salve Regina University.

Having Jai-Me in this interim role provides both momentum and continuity; she will shape and further staff the DEI office based on her deep knowledge of the existing DIAP priorities and her strong connections to OIED and other internal partners. She will also lead the SPH community in developing a School-wide strategy to address some of the growth areas identified by the DEI assessment. We have begun a search to find a new director for the Health Equity Scholars program; that role and the two new DEI manager roles have been posted internally.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Caroline Kuo, with whom I’ve worked closely for the past several years. Dr. Kuo was the School’s inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion. Her commitment to these issues gave our SPH community a shared understanding of DEI priorities and a strong foundation on which to continue to build. I’m grateful for her leadership and dedication.

I hope you all share my enthusiasm about the new DEI Office and its potential to shape and support the culture of the School. Please join me in welcoming Jai-Me into the Interim Assistant Dean role. These are exciting developments that will help SPH achieve our shared goal of fostering a diverse and inclusive working and learning community.

Sincerely,

Ronald Aubert, Ph.D.
Interim Dean, Brown University School of Public Health