Associate Vice Chancellor Paula Davis announced this month that Bee Schindler, EdD, MSW will serve as the Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Office's inaugural Assistant Director. Most recently serving as the Diversity and Inclusion Training Manager and Social Justice Fellowship Program Coordinator within the same office, Dr. Schindler will assume their new responsibilities on August 1.
As a direct report to the Director of Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Dr. Schindler will manage and evaluate several programmatic areas flowing from the DEI Office’s strategic plan. This includes executing the overall diversity recruiting and development strategy by leaning deeply into the building and implementing of enrichment and education programs for the Health Sciences. For Dr. Schindler, humanizing all aspects of the health sciences is imperative. This work is critical in building relevant and sustained awareness and engagement of diversity, equity, implicit bias, positionality, and antiracism across the Health Sciences community.
Lisa Upsher, MSOL, Director of Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion shares accolades on the promotion:
“Well done on getting your new promotion. Bee, you’re such a valued member of this team. You’re also such an inspiration, and I’m so proud of what you’ve accomplished. I wish you great success in this new role and look forward to working more closely with you moving forward in your new role.”
Dr. Schindler will continue to support the Director, Social Justice, Racial Equity and Faculty Engagement in the Health Sciences in iterative development of the Health Sciences Social Justice Fellowship Program, which seeks to reflect Senior Vice Chancellor Anantha Shekhar’s vision of health sciences activism that conjoins a “culture of health” and “empowerment activism” through a cooperating collaborative integrative academic health sciences framework.
Noble A-W Maseru, Ph.D, MPH, Director, Social Justice, Racial Equity and Faculty Engagement, and Professor, Public Health Practice, reflects on the immense culture shift and changemaking in the Schools of the Health Sciences:
“Over the last 18 months the discourse on racism, xenophobia, health equity and social justice has increased exponentially in the Schools of Health Sciences. The dialogue has affected the School’s organizational culture and is bringing about noteworthy transformative change academically and practice wise through effective community engagement. The breadth of knowledge and expertise Dr. Schindler has brought to the Team in education and journalism with their preparation in social work – a social change profession – has been integral to our success.”
Before their appointment to Assistant Director, Dr. Schindler engaged in their doctoral work titled, "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training in Higher Education: How Enrichment Imbued with Reciprocity Could Sustain the Complex Work." This project was built on their decade worth of community-engaged work as a practitioner - utilizing skills gained to translate knowledge within internal campus spaces, and between campus-community relationships. Dr. Schindler seeks to build the capacity of those engaged with DEIA and Social Justice to examine the self, the self in community and the self in the system(s). The Assistant Director role scaffolds their Diversity & Inclusion Training Manager work with the HSDEI.
“I appreciate the HSDEI's attention to social justice and health equity, and the dedication to a range of cultivated values including retention, working against oppression, and community engagement. I am grateful to leverage my skills and interests related to disrupting health inequities, leaning into the lived experience, and building foundations for inclusive learning," Dr. Schindler said. "It is an honor to work with the exceptional HSDEI team, and I am excited to continue to engage with current and future programming, be intentional about evaluation, and deepen our understanding of value, successes and gaps in service."
Dr. Schindler earned an EdD in urban education at the University of Pittsburgh; an MSW in advanced generalist practice and programming at Columbia University; and a BA in print journalism at the University of Southern California.