The ACS Regental Task Force on Racial Issues also recommended the creation of an Office of Inclusive Excellence with a full-time Director as well as a Medical Director, which was launched in August 2021.
The ACS Office of Inclusive Excellence's objectives are to:
- Develop an overall strategic plan for diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism efforts in the College and with its partners to maximize the benefits of our collective work
- Build a trauma-informed approach into all diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts without causing unintentional harm in addressing diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism
- Align DEI programmatic and curricular content to be consistent with common diversity, equity, and inclusion tenets according to subject matter expertise
- Meaningfully integrate the core values of the College into the work being developed or that which is proximate to the College
The influence of the office has been substantial. As of October 2022, 90 leaders in DEI from 14 ACS member groups engaged with the ACS DEI Educational and Alignment Collaboratives three-part series. More than 509 persons participated in the all-staff initiative now known as ACS Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI).
The ACS Regental Anti-Racism Committee established an innovative grant program to encourage surgical departments to increase DEI efforts and awarded $325K in grants in 2021, with each department pledging to match the grant amount awarded, meaning that $650,000 went toward DEI-related projects across the House of Surgery.
Eight ACS/REDI work groups were formed to address the following:
- The incorporation of DEI into ACS Values
- Opportunities for career advancement
- Cultural change
- Education, training, and resources
- Health equity
- Staff resource groups
- Safe space
- Supplier diversity
Nine major groups, engaging 158 Fellows and members, focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or antiracism strategies, including the Board of Governors Diversity Pillar; Board of Regents Anti-Racism Committee; Commission on Cancer Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Taskforce; Committee to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Healthcare Disparities Committee; Committee on Trauma DEI workgroup; Resident and Associate Society DEI group; Women in Surgery Committee, and Young Fellows Association DEI Workgroup. These efforts led to 19 DEI-related sessions led by 114 presenters at the ACS Clinical Congress 2022. In addition, 19% of the ACS portfolio ($96 million) was placed with diverse investment manager funds.
