The Upswing Edition The COTAD Courier - 2022 Quarter 3
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
The COTAD Courier
2022 Quarter 3
The Upswing Edition
Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity, 501(c)3
222 South Meremec Ave Ste. 202, Clayton, MO 63105
Website: https://www.cotad.org/
Email: cotad@cotad.org
Connect with us on Social Media!
In this edition of the COTAD
Courier...
Welcome Letter from COTAD
Chair and Vice Chair
COTAD Leadership Overview
Congratulations Graduates
Capstone Highlights
What's Happening COTAD?
Upcoming COTAD Events
COTAD Courier Welcome letter
Written by Arameh Anvarizadeh and Stephanie Lancaster,
COTAD Chair and Vice-Chair
The Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD)
is excited to announce three of the newest members of the leadership
team: Asha Rao, MS, OTR/L, Stephanie Buckholz, MS, OTR/L, and
Yaritza Croussett-Gonzalez, OTD, OTR/L. Asha and Stephanie have
been selected to serve as co-chairs of the COTAD Courier, the quarterly
newsletter for COTAD members and Yaritza has been selected to serve
as the co-chair of the Practitioner Committee.
As a follow-up to the restructuring of COTAD a year ago, the COTAD
Courier, under the direction of the new co-editors, seeks to create a
newsletter that emphasizes the voice of our membership by featuring
stories and reports written by COTAD leaders and members, including
students in COTAD Chapters across the country. Each quarterly edition
will spotlight the work of COTAD members and will share details about
past and upcoming COTAD-hosted events. The articles will supplement
the information posted on COTAD social media and on the COTAD
website.
As Chair and Vice-Chair of COTAD, we are excited about the new Courier
structure and welcome the new co-editors to the team. We look forward to
seeing their plans for the COTAD Courier emerge and come to fruition.
-Arameh & Stephanie
COTAD Leadership
Co-founder and Chair: Arameh Vice Chair: Stephanie Lancaster, Co-Founder, Treasurer: Stacy Wilson,
Anvarizadeh, OTD, OTR/L, EdD, OTR/L, ATP, CDP MS, OTR/L (he/him/his)- Mr. Wilson has
FAOTA (she/her/hers)- Dr. (she/her/hers)- Dr. Lancaster joined published multiple articles around the
Anvarizadeh is an accomplished the Coalition of Occupational topic of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, is
speaker who has lectured in Therapy Advocates for Diversity an active member of the Diversity council
numerous state and national (COTAD) in 2016. She currently at his current employer, has presented
conferences, as well as serves as the Vice Chair of COTAD. locally and nationally, and collaborated
internationally at the World She lives in Memphis, TN, and is the with students from Kunming University in
Federation of Occupational AOTA Representative Assembly rep Southwest China to create the country’s
Therapists’ (WFOT) congress. Dr. for the state of Tennessee. She first Student Occupational Therapy
Anvarizadeh is passionate about blogs on her website Association. Mr. Wilson’s work at the
building healthy, diverse (www.StephanieLancaster.com) and local, national, and international levels
communities through inclusion, hosts the podcast On The Air for demonstrates his passion for increasing
equity, empowerment, and individuals interested in OT-related awareness of occupational therapy and
advocacy. topics. recruiting and retaining more OT students
of diverse backgrounds.
Secretary: Jabari Hoyte, OTD, OTR/L Co- Founder, Business Development and Strategy Coordinator: Adam Cisroe
(he/him/his)- In his new role he has been Partners Officer: Nadine Kwebetchou, Pearson, OTD, OTR/L (he/him/his)-
instrumental in acting as a liaison MBA,MS, OTR/L (she/her/hers)- Ms. Dr. Pearson has held numerous
between COTAD leadership and the Kwebetchou has held clinical leadership clinical, administrative, teaching, and
various branches of COTAD National, as positions and has worked in diverse research roles, all with a focus on
well as those who are interested in healthcare settings: Intensive care, acute health, health equity, strategy
learning more about and spreading the care, sub-acute, polytrauma, oncology, development, and program
message of COTAD. Dr. Jabari Hoyte skilled nursing, maternity, emergency management. His long term goals
continues to strive to be a mentor to the department, ambulatory surgery, assisted involve working with multi-disciplinary,
next generation of diverse occupational living, outpatient, and home health. She has diverse teams to develop and
also presented in national and international implement dynamic programs to end
therapists, and be an agent of change
homelessness, and aid in the
within the evolving world of occupational conferences. She is passionate about the
development of policy that can ensure
therapy! field of occupational therapy catalyzing
that every single person gets access to
diversity AND inclusion from a PEO (person,
affordable housing.
environment, and occupation) perspective.
Current Committee Chair Persons
COTAD-ENGAGE
Dr. Khalilah R. Johnson Ph.D, OTR/L
Whitney Harris MSOT, OTR/L
COTADengage@cotad.org
COTAD-CHAPTERS
Dr. Emma Baldwin OTD, OTR/L
Dr. Alejandra ArroyoOTD, OTR/L
COTADchap@cotad.org
COTAD-PRACTITIONERS
Dr. Meegan Lambert OTD, OTR/L
Dr. Yaritza Croussett-Gonzalez,
OT/L
COTADprac@cotad.org
COTAD-ED
Dr. Lexi Rebne OTD, OTR/L
Dr. Scott McNeil OTD, OTR/L
COTADED@cotad.org
COTAD OPERATIONS
Find out
Dr. Ryan Lavalley Ph.D,
more about
each OTR/L
committee Ops@cotad.org
chair here:
https://www.cotad.org/leadership
Meet Your New COTAD Courier
Co-Editors
Hi all, it is Asha and Steph here and we are so excited to be your new
COTAD Courier Co-Editors! This first issue we have created for the third
quarter has a lot of background information regarding COTAD, its board,
committee, and what's up coming next. We want to provide you with
updates quarterly regarding COTAD, and the world of occupational
therapy. We are excited to highlight students, practitioners, educators, as
well as provide a newsletter that is revamped, and that will be informative
and interesting. We chose the term "upswing" since we want to further our
growth as an organization, community, and profession, and feel this
newsletter can assist with facilitating the "upswing".
With this newsletter, we will continue to work towards the goal of
empowering occupational therapy leaders to engage in practices that
increase justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI); anti-racism and
anti-oppression for a transformative occupational therapy profession, to
then create a future in which occupational therapy is accessible, inclusive,
and effective for all.
Meet Your New COTAD Courier
Co-Editors
Asha Rao (she/her/hers) is an
occupational therapist practicing in Early
Intervention in the suburbs of northern IL.
She graduated with her undergraduate
degree in Rehabilitation Sciences in Spring
2019 and entered the UIC MSOT program
directly after. While completing her
master's, Asha was responsible for
partnering with her co-chair and OT
Department Head to establish a COTAD
Chapter at UIC in 2020. She worked with
faculty and the UIC OT cohorts to evaluate
their needs which guided the goals
and aims of the UIC COTAD Chapter. After completing her master's, Asha was
awarded the 2021 UIC Emerging Leadership Award for her work on the COTAD
Chapter and previous work at UIC in creating resources related to mental health
and disability. Asha has extensive experience in research and teaching related
to disability, womens health, and DEI content. Asha is working on completing her
post-professional OTD focused on OT's role in supporting mothers in parenting
after loss. Throughout her educational and professional career, Asha has gained
experience in JEDI content, advocacy, research, and academia. She continues
to value mentorship, leadership and networking across her work. Asha also runs
her social media OT account (@themasalachaiOT) to create content related to
these topics while offering mentorship to pre-OT students, OT students, and new
grads
Meet Your New COTAD Courier
Co-Editors
Stephanie Buckholz (she/her/hers) is
a new clinician that graduated from
Grand Valley State University
(GVSU) in 2021. She earned her
bachelor's degree in Kinesiology with a
double minor in nutrition and
leadership from Central Michigan
University in 2019. During her time as a
student, her research included a
qualitative study regarding the occupational engagement of individuals
who identify within the LGBTQIA+ community to enhance client-
centered care. Additionally, Stephanie had the opportunity to present at
the GVSU Teach-In, which aims to provide mutual education to
students and staff on inequality and systems of oppression regarding
the topic of white saviorism. Stephanie was also the Student
Occupational Therapy Association Vice President for her cohort.
Outside of occupational therapy, Stephanie's passions include food
justice and increasing accessibility to individuals with disabilities for
outdoor activities. Stephanie is now located in Boulder, Colorado, and
joined COTAD in 2022.
Meet Your New COTAD Practitioner
Committee Co-Chair
Dr. Yaritza Croussett-Gonzalez is a
long time Occupational Therapist (OT)
with over fifteen years of experience.
She earned her masters degree in
occupational therapy from Loma Linda
university and doctorate degree in
occupational therapy from Boston
University. She specializes in staff and
program development with a long
standing history in mentorship and
leadership, serving as manager and
director of multiple departments in
school based and rehab settings.
She holds over 10 years of experience with humanitarian work in
underserved communities both nationally and internationally. As one of
the only 6% of doctoral level certified occupational therapist of LatinX
background, Dr. Yaritza understands the importance not only of
diversifying the field but also of being an advocate for our clinicians of
color. She says, “Being an Afro-Latina in the OT field is a rarity. We
need more representation, more support. We need to understand that
diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential for growth and
sustainability of all specialized service fields and their capacity to recruit
and retain highly effective and responsive professionals which
increases the satisfaction and engagement of clients, students and
families in therapy.”
CONGRATULATIONS
GRADUATES!
AS NEW GRAD PROFESSIONALS, WE UNDERSTAND HOW
ENTERING THE OT/OTA FIELD HAS BEEN DIFFERENT THIS YEAR
COMPARED TO OTHERS:
Completing an OT or OTA program is no small feat- given the impact
of COVID-19, we understand that new grads have likely faced a
whole new set of challenges and barriers related to becoming an OT
professional. We wanted to say congratulations to the graduating
class of 2022 and let you know that we stand with you!
Continue your occupational therapy career by staying
connected with COTAD and volunteering with us.
Multiple positions open for a variety of opportunity!
https://tinyurl.com/COTADvolunteerCAPSTONE HIGHLIGHTS
Dominique Peterson, OTD, OTR
Chatham University
“The purpose of this Capstone project was to contribute to the program
development of the COTAD Mentorship Program. The implementation of a
quality improvement project focused on (1) streamlining the COTAD
Mentorship Program’s application process, (2) consolidating the intake and
exit surveys, (3) creating an online resource to increase engagement
amongst mentors and mentees, and (4) developing educational materials
related to mentorship for underrepresented occupational therapists.
Results of the Capstone project showed that the COTAD Mentorship
Program staff was highly satisfied with the streamlining of the application
and surveys. Additionally, the Capstone project's deliverables will allow the
operations of the COTAD Mentorship Program to flow more efficiently and
have the opportunity to improve the program’s effectiveness over time.”
Carlton Smith Jr. OTD, OTR/L
Indiana University Purdue University/IUPUI Scholarworks
“The primary goal of this project is to provide an outlet for students and
educators to voice their opinions, specifically as it relates to JEDI practices
within OT education. This project seeks to describe similarities and
differences found through interviews with students and educators to
recognize current DEI practices with a specific OT program, make
informed recommendations centered on DEI best practices and provide
campus and community resources. Students expressed wanting increased
real-life scenario classroom assignments related to DEI. It was also found
that students and faculty did not feel comfortable discussing DEI practices
and would like informed recommendations to implement within the
curriculum and outside of the classroom.”WHAT'S HAPPENING?
Summer 2022 Events Update with the COTAD Chapter at UTMB:
AAPI Heritage Month and Pride Week
The UTMB COTAD Chapter collaborated
with local businesses in Galveston and
the greater Houston area to raise funds
by distributing community bags for
AAPI Heritage Month in May 2022. The
fundraiser’s goal was to increase
awareness of AAPI culture through
representation of different foods from
various regions in Asia and the Pacific
Islands. We distributed the bags along
with educational materials on the
different cultural implications of the
food to students, faculty, and staff of
UTMB and raised $812.33!
The COTAD UTMB Chapter also collaborated with other diversity organizations at their
school to host a week full of Pride events. COTAD hosted a lecture on bias in transgender
care called Banishing Bias: Care and Advocacy for Transgender Patients with Aidan
Jackson as well as a roller-skating fundraiser event to celebrate Pride month and raise
funds for a local charity, Access Care of Coastal Texas (ACCT). ACCT IS A 501(c)3 non-
profit organization that provides compassionate, community-based HIV/AIDS education and
services that empower people of all ages and social standards to live courageously with
HIV. Both COTAD Pride events were successful and $2,000 dollars were raised for the local
non-profit!CALENDAR EVENTS The COTAD Book+ Club will meet virtually on Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. CT to discuss the documentary film "Unrest." View the trailer and learn more about the film at www.unrest.film The event is open to all and is free. Registration is required and closes 24 hours before the start of the event. Visit the COTAD website to register at www.cotad.org/events
LOOKING FORWARD As we look forward to the next quarter release of the COTAD Courier, it will encapsulate the months September, October, November, and December. If you have anything you would like to contribute, please feel free to email comms@cotad.org. -Stephanie and Asha, COTAD Courier Co-Chairs Don't forget to check out the COTAD Job Board!
You can also read
