This week at ETSS was filled with a variety of different things, from fundraisers to new trainings. On Wednesday, we had the second happy hour fundraiser of our Summer Special Series at North High Brewing. Working mostly remote this summer, I haven’t gotten to meet too many staff members in-person, so it was great to meet more people and finally put names with faces.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, we had our Learning Session at the Columbus Foundation, where Dr. Tracy Najera, Executive Director at Children’s Defense Fund Ohio, and Nick Jones, Director of Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, shared their journeys with us. We focused on the role of advocacy in the nonprofit sector, both in general and within specific positions. Personally, I admire all of the work being done at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and hope to one day work there. I’m excited to talk more with Nick Jones about his position and his direct community engagement.

Today, we had our monthly staff meeting, where all full-time staff, site coordinators, and instructors/tutors were invited to join. In the beginning, we welcomed a few new resettlement case managers to the team. This meeting was different from previous staff meetings in the sense that we had our first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training session. ETSS board member and OSU professor Binaya Subedi lead this presentation, which was the first draft of our DEI Dialogues. At the end, the floor opened to become a place for conversation, and it was great to see of the involvement of all ETSS staff. I noticed how willing people were to not only share their ideas, but also receive comments and constructive criticism, all to make ETSS a better and more inclusive environment. One specific example comes to mind when we were discussing the LGBTQIA+ community. Within the draft training, the barriers to health care for transgender individuals was highlighted. At the end of the presentation, a staff member stated that, while transgender individuals often face more barriers in the health care field, it is important to include all members and individuals of the LGBTQIA+ community.