Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Special Interest Section (SIS) Upcoming 2023 Meetings

The co-coordinators (Sam Wallenberg and Lillian Chen-Byerley) of ILOTA's Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Special Interest Section (SIS) wanted to share with all members the information below about their upcoming free meetings through the end of 2023. Please send an email to [email protected] if you have questions.

2023 Meeting Dates for the JEDI SIS and COTAD Connections

JEDI SIS (meets 4th Tuesday of every other month at 5:30 PM):

  • April 25th
  • June 27th
  • August 22nd
  • October 24th
  • December 19th (we will be meeting one week earlier to accommodate for the holidays)

Meeting information: (To be announced)

COTAD Connections (meets 3rd Thursday of every other month at 7:00 PM):

  • March 16th (this is a working meeting and is scheduled from 6:00-8:00 PM)
  • May 18th 
  • July 20th 
  • September 21st
  • November 16th

Meeting information:
Link:  https://uic.zoom.us/j/88196162976?pwd=a1ZGR2dsWHRMWXpVZitXYXl5RTBTQT09

Meeting ID: 881 9616 2976

Passcode: Vk5frchf

Please see below for a description of the JEDI SIS Committee and COTAD Connections Subcommittee.

JEDI SIS Committee:

Mission:

To advance ILOTA’s commitment to acknowledging and addressing challenges within the field of OT surrounding JEDI by increasing awareness and engaging in actionable, evolving efforts.

Visions:

To be an all-encompassing resource that encourages respectful participation, open and transparent dialogue, and mutual understanding surrounding JEDI.

We envision ILOTA members to become empowered to advocate for JEDI, practice cultural humility, and implement the core values guiding the committee within their daily practice.

We believe the first step is to become self-aware of biases and values that influence daily interactions within patients, families, and the interdisciplinary team.

2022 Goals:

Create educational opportunities for ILOTA members to increase their awareness of topics related to JEDI within OT practice.

Provide opportunities to student members to engage in the JEDI SIS group by creating a support system for students through the COTAD Connections Subcommittee.

Encourage dialogue and conversations from people of all different experiences and backgrounds to engage in and learn from one another’s perspectives.

Examples of Past Events:

-       ILOTA 2021 Virtual Conference: Conversations That Matters: JEDI, the Force Within the Profession

Examples of Collaborative Creations:

-       Dear JEDI

-       Communique Article: The Importance of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) within Occupational Therapy

COTAD Connections Subcommittee:

COTAD Connections is a subcommittee of the JEDI SIS for students. The purpose is to support and encourage dialogue between COTAD Chapters of all the Illinois OT and OTA programs. Current active programs include Governors State University, Elmhurst University, Lewis University, Rush University, University of Illinois, Midwestern University, and North Central University. Here are two examples of what has been done thus far:

-       Learning from different Illinois OT school programs about their goals and initiatives related to JEDI and the development of their COTAD Chapter.

-       Engaged in discussions on common topics or activities. For example, discussed how to increase diversity in the OT profession by bringing awareness of the OT profession among minority students in high schools.