The Office for Diversity and Community Partnership at Harvard Medical School was created to promote increased recruitment, retention and advancement of diverse faculty, particularly underrepresented minority faculty, at Harvard Medical School and to oversee all diversity activities involving Harvard Medical School faculty, trainees, students and staff. This is achieved through efforts that:

• support the career development of junior faculty and fellows;
• train leaders in academic medicine and health policy;
• provide programs that address crucial pipeline issues, and;
• sponsor awards and recognitions that reinforce behaviors and practices that are supportive of diversity and faculty development.

In addition, the Office for Diversity and Community Partnership’s work includes research and technical assistance that lead to national, regional and local strategies that support workforce diversity and inclusion in the biomedical sciences. The Office also acts as a central resource for monitoring diversity efforts and outcomes the Harvard Catalyst/Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center and its Program for Faculty Development and Diversity. The Office’s work also addresses Harvard Medical School’s relationship with the community through the provision of programs that link Harvard Medical School faculty, trainees and students with local, regional and national community-related activities. For the most part, community activities are complementary to the overall diversity agenda.

Established in 1990, the Office’s Minority Faculty Development Program seeks to: increase the number of minority faculty at HMS; increase the number of minority physicians and scientists who undertake their post-graduate medical education at one of the 18 Harvard Medical School-affiliated institutions; establish model programs for the development of minority faculty with an emphasis on mentoring and leadership; and create programs designed to reach out to the pre-college and college populations with the goal of bringing outstanding, underrepresented minority students into the pipeline.