Since launching in August 2019 as an official Johns Hopkins Medicine employee resource group, the Hopkins Diaspora Employee Resource Group (ERG) has promoted equity and support for African American/Black employees, patients and community members. An online open house and information session will take place on Sept. 9, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. For details, e-mail [email protected] 

Recent achievements by the Hopkins Diaspora include:

Recruitment

• The group has grown from 230 to 370 (a 61% increase) and includes new members from throughout the enterprise.

Milestones Across the Institution and Local Community

• The Hopkins Diaspora helped develop the F.R.O.M. Debt to Freedom Workshops so that patients — many from East Baltimore — can learn how to finance their medical expenses. A new document for patients gives a brief overview of the assistance available.
• It helped organize and staff a free legal clinic to provide criminal record expungement services to 118 people, including some Johns Hopkins employees.
• It sponsored “The New Jim Crow,” an online panel discussion on the topic of mass incarceration, and donated 100 copies of the book The Master Plan to incarcerated teens at Eager Street Academy and to incarcerated men at Jessup Correctional Institution enrolled in the University of Baltimore’s Second Chance Program.
• It created the “The Hidden History of Juneteenth,” an online presentation about the freeing of slaves in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
• It published the educational brochure: 400 years of African American History in Maryland on the website of the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity.
• The Hopkins Diaspora and The Johns Hopkins Hospital recently provided 100 personal hygiene care packages to residents in East Baltimore. (The community requested the donation because of job losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.)
• It sponsored a 2020 Census Social Media Challenge within the ERG to encourage completion of the 2020 Census.

A Commitment to the Hopkins Diaspora’s viability

• In July 2020 the Hopkins Diaspora created a first-of-its-kind opportunity for senior leaders to listen and learn about the experiences of many of the Black employees at The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine. In the live “Candid Conversation” webinar, Johns Hopkins University president Ron Daniels, Dean and CEO Paul Rothman and Johns Hopkins Health System President Kevin Sowers discussed results of the Diaspora’s internal survey about institutional issues of racial equity. Leadership agreed to implement many of the ERG’s recommendations.

For additional information about the Hopkins Diaspora, subscribe to this Email Listserv and/or join the closed Facebook page, The Hopkins Diaspora ERG.