I have just returned from a week of mapping strategy at the January Board Meeting with the IACP staff and board, and it leaves me full of energy, hope, and new ideas. One of the best parts was the day and a half spent as a full team in an Equity and Inclusion training with Shakil Choudhury, author of Deep Diversity: Overcoming Us vs. Them. Shakil led us through a series of exercises designed to help us do the internal work necessary to approach this effort, as well as strategize for concrete organizational steps that will help us build meaningful change in IACP and the Collaborative field. Our board is committed to diversity and knows that it will take both time and resources. As an out member of the LGBTQI community, and someone who has been involved in equity and inclusion advocacy my entire career, I am grateful to be part of an organization where this commitment comes from the top and is reflected throughout. We made our diversity efforts a high priority in the five-year strategic plan created last January, leading to the formation of our Equity and Inclusion Committee and their recommendation for Shakil’s training. This year, building on our work together, we are continuing to add goals to the strategic plan that challenge us to educate ourselves, reach out more broadly, increase accessibility, and work to support the leadership of underrepresented identities in the Collaborative community. We are aware that people of color, in particular, as well as many other historically marginalized groups, have not been well-represented among our members or our clients, and we want to make the tools of Collaborative Practice accessible to all. Below, you will find invitations to submit applications for the IACP board, as well as proposals for workshops or Pre-Forum Institutes at this year’s Forum in Toronto. We welcome all and are especially encouraging applications from people of color, LGBTQI people, people with disabilities, and others who have been underrepresented in the past. We also encourage applications from financial professionals, mental health professionals, and members outside of North America. This year’s Forum theme is "The Door is Open," and it certainly is! Finally, there are still a few spaces available in our joint training with Forrest “Woody” Mosten, Building a Successful Collaborative Practice, in San Diego, CA, on February 7-8. I am excited about Woody’s popular workshop featuring seasoned Collaborative practitioners and trainers Ron Ousky, and Gary Direnfeld because I know the immediate benefits it can have on your practice. For those who are interested in our May Training for Trainers with Woody, this class also fills the prerequisite. I look forward to seeing you in San Diego as I will also be participating and presenting! With best wishes for the New Year, Anne Tamar-Mattis Executive Director, IACP |
