ASHP Sustains Support for Women in Pharmacy Leadership
Challenge
ASHP to target and sustain support for leadership development for women in the pharmacy profession.
Actions
The ASHP Board of Directors created an ASHP Steering Committee on Women on Pharmacy Leadership in 2013 to support women to acquire and refine leadership skills and roles at every level and practice setting. Committee members represented a diverse group of pharmacy leaders from a variety of ages, genders, race/ethnicity, practice settings and positions, and represent a wide range of career stages. Examples of sustained actions include a women in leadership web page with resources, ongoing networking sessions at ASHP national meetings, live and recorded podcast series and CE sessions, a publication, Letters to Women Pharmacists, was created as well as specific Women in Leadership content was commissioned for the association’s journal to contribute to the body of knowledge on the topic.
Outcomes
The broad and in-depth engagement strategy to stimulate courageous conversations about gender diversity and leadership needs was highly successful for ASHP. Utilizing a variety of communication channels and facilitation methods yielded strong consensus around the needs of current and future leaders of the profession. New programs created during this initiative are established as ongoing services and uptake of these services are significant. The methods of this proven model of engagement will be utilized in future ASHP initiatives and may be transferrable to other associations.
Throughout its history, ASHP periodically has made several significant organizational adjustments in response to changes or anticipated changes in its environment and membership needs. The work by ASHP in these areas are in the tradition and spirit of self-assessment. ASHP affirms the overarching principle that fair and equitable leadership opportunities should be provided to all.
Contact
Michelle Jones, Chief Human Resources Officer and Vice President, Human Resources Division
Quote
ASHP is extremely committed to making the needed improvements to ensure that our members see themselves in ASHP and that ASHP is an organization where everyone feels included. We look forward to continuing to implement changes to ensure our profession and employees feel included and represented in all we do.