At Children’s Minnesota, we want all who engage with us – patients, families, employees, vendors and community partners – to feel valued, respected and supported. That means having a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture that reflects the rich backgrounds of the communities we serve. Cultivating this space provides better communication, improves access to care, creates an opportunity for deeper patient satisfaction to reduce health disparities and creates an engaging place to work. Achieving these goals is what our equity and inclusion team strives for day in and day out!
As part of celebrating this amazing work, we are excited to introduce you to two members of our equity and inclusion team: Brianna Scott, equity and inclusion program specialist, and Keisha Powell, senior equity and inclusion consultant.
Get to know Brianna and Keisha!
Tell me about your role and how long you’ve worked at Children’s Minnesota.
Brianna: I am currently an equity and inclusion program specialist, and I’ve been here for four months.
Keisha: I currently work within the equity and inclusion department as a senior equity and inclusion consultant. I started my career here at Children’s Minnesota in January of 2020 within talent acquisition. I was promoted into my current role as a senior equity and inclusion consultant role in June of 2021.
A large part of my focus has been on workforce development and creating opportunities for underserved and/or underrepresented individuals to gain meaningful employment and professional development opportunities. This has ranged from working with program participants within community-based organizations, developing internship programs for individuals that may not otherwise have the opportunity for career exposure, as well as attracting talent from communities in which we serve to yield staff representation that mirror our patient populations.
What inspired you to want to work at Children’s Minnesota?
Keisha: I was inspired to want to work at Children’s Minnesota because I wanted to be a part of something remarkable. The mission, vision and values really resonated with my passion to engage with and inspire individuals. In addition, the equity and inclusion footprint is one that I wanted to influence as we look to embrace the communities in which we serve, and also create a more inclusive environment for our staff, patients and family members.
Brianna: I was really inspired to work at Children’s Minnesota for a couple of reasons. I truly love health care and I loved the idea of working at an organization that cares for our most vulnerable and resilient population – kids. Secondly, I’ve always heard about the good work being done at Children’s Minnesota around equity and inclusion, and it’s very important for an organization that I am a part of to value and put forth the effort in this space. I knew this is what Children’s Minnesota was striving for and I wanted to be a part of that change.
What do you want your colleagues, patients and families to know about the equity and inclusion work being done at Children’s Minnesota?
Brianna: I think it’s important for our patients, families and colleagues alike to know that they’re at the center of everything we do. We truly value their opinions and their feedback, and we constantly work to make sure that their voices are heard in everything we do.
Keisha: The equity and inclusion team is focused on creating an inclusive environment where everyone from staff to patients and families have an exceptional experience. This work is being demonstrated through initiatives such as our equity leadership trainings, equity summer internship program that focuses on exposing our future workforce to health care, and our community partnerships as we look to diversify our workforce talent.
Do you have a favorite Children’s Minnesota value?
Keisha: My favorite Children’s Minnesota value is listen, really listen! I think it is extremely important for all voices to be heard especially the patients and family members. Each person has a story to tell so we listen with compassion, ask meaningful questions and build trusting relationships with individuals and communities. We respect each person’s uniqueness. This allow individuals to show up as their authentic selves. They can share their perspectives that are unique to them and are embraced for being who they are! We also have the opportunity to learn and become better at the care we provide because we are listening to the needs of our staff but most importantly the children we serve.
Brianna: I don’t think I necessarily have a favorite Children’s Minnesota value. They all are important and work together in tandem. If I had to choose, then I would say own outcomes since I am really big on accountability, and this is a part of my own personal value system.
What do you think makes kids amazing?
Brianna: I think what makes kids so amazing is their imagination and intelligence. Kids have the special gift of thinking outside of the box and dreaming big. The sky is limit for them and I think this is something that we can learn to get back in ourselves – learning not to place limits on our abilities and dream big.
Keisha: Kids are amazing because they are innocent individuals who have the ability to inspire each of us every single day. They possess a curiosity that has the potential to influence and impact how we engage and deliver care daily.