I am actually an adult, child and adolescent psychiatrist. I am also chair of the department of psychiatry at UNMC.

I think it starts with humility and a willingness to learn. We need to learn from the gender equity movement and to read the equity literature which has largely been published by trailblazing female physicians. I have been sponsored by Dr. Julie Silver, Dr. Shikha Jain, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt, Dr. Luanne Thorndyke, Dr. Nancy Spector, Dr. Linda Love, and so many other amazing national leaders in my journey as an ally. Once men know the literature, then we need to look at our own teams and our own institutions to identify barriers and create solutions to achieve gender equity. Being an ally is not an achievement, but a mindset. We cannot rest on past achievements, but we need to speak up consistently and address systems level solutions to current inequities.

When I used to lead faculty development for UNMC, I learned about the importance of succession planning. In each of my prior leadership roles as a state workforce director, as a faculty development assistant vice chancellor, as a clerkship director, etc. I have been succeeded by a strong woman leader. As a chair, I invest in coaching and leadership development opportunities for team members and reflect upon how they can grow. Recently, I nominated our UNMC Director of Inclusion, Dr. Sheritta Strong, for an executive MBA program which I had completed in 2019. We have to lift others up!

Coffee - iced or hot.