From the President’s Desk

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Journey toward diversity

Donald S. Karcher, MD

December 2023—About five years ago, when I was serving in my first term on the CAP Board of Governors, I attended a House of Delegates meeting where we had a candidate forum with several people on stage competing for just a few Board slots. Of the half-dozen or so people, only one or two were women and none was a minority. That’s when one delegate stood up and, with a single question, altered the course of our entire organization: “When will the CAP have candidates for higher office who look like the CAP membership?”

This clarion call triggered a lot of thought and effort and many initiatives across the CAP to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). That’s been true not only for our CAP members but also for CAP staff. I am so proud that we are walking the walk and not just talking the talk.

We began with a Board member task force, started by then-president Bruce Williams, MD, and led by Jennifer Hunt, MD, MEd. There was so much enthusiasm for the effort that many of us who tried to join could not because the task force filled up so quickly. What a great start!

That group came up with a long list of suggestions to improve the election process, succession planning, and committee appointments so that we would have more diverse talent in the CAP leadership pipeline, leading to more minorities and women running for office. Ultimately, the Board formed a DE&I committee chaired by Valerie Fitzhugh, MD.

Dr. Karcher

Many of the changes the task force recommended have been or are now being put into place. For example, we aim to choose locations for Board meetings that are easier for people to travel to—near major airports rather than far-flung resorts. We are also looking for a way to compress Board meetings, ensuring the same amount of interaction time but making it possible for people to travel home earlier so they can get back to their families and jobs. Ultimately, the goal is to make service on the Board achievable by more members.

We have also implemented changes to make the committee appointment process more transparent. This matters because committee service is the first step in leadership at the CAP. Our committees were once viewed as an old boys’ club, with the same people serving all the time. With our new commitment to transparency, every person has a chance to be considered. Anyone with an interest in joining a committee can fill out an application online; this demonstrates a member’s interest and gives each person a chance to highlight the unique skills and contributions he or she could bring to the committee.