Tag Archive for: inclusion

NDPA President’s Pen – Oct 2022

As folks began to gather at the inaugural NDPA Research Summit in September there was an air of excitement knowing that collaboration to address research needs around the layers of protection will undoubtedly begin to reveal the most effective strategies for water safety and drowning prevention. While there were many familiar faces in the room, there were several I did not know. In particular was a mother who had suffered great loss and whose child’s story was critical to the conversation that day. As I introduced myself to this brave woman, she expressed concern that she did not have the right credentials to be in the room. Her humility touched me as there was no one more deserving of inclusion that day than this mother. She, more than anyone, knows that there is more work to be done.

We live in a world of immense beauty and deep pain, and sometimes it can be a challenge to be hopeful, but we must.  In order to achieve our highest possibilities as a community, and as people who love one another we should take a moment to examine ourselves and truly continue the important work that we do every day.  Our work is that light that shines in the darkness.  Our work is what brings comfort to so many.  We can be the example of what is possible; people who do not shy away from the hard conversations, or the hard work.   
 
Read the NDPA DEI Statement here.

There is More Work to be Done

NDPA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement

Like many of you, we at NDPA are keenly aware of systemic inequities that disproportionately burden many members of our society and this concerns us.  It concerns us to think that we continue to grapple with a justice system that doesn’t always get it right It concerns us that many communities at risk for drowning (African Americans, Alaskan Natives, individuals with cognitive disabilities, and others) lack access to basic life skills that would help to protect them in water.  It concerns us that it is so difficult to even agree that we all should be working toward an anti-racist society.  
  
We live in a world of immense beauty and deep pain, and sometimes it can be a challenge to be hopeful, but we must.  In order to achieve our highest possibilities as a community, and as people who love one another we should take a moment to examine ourselves and truly continue the important work that we do every day.  Our work is that light that shines in the darkness.  Our work is what brings comfort to so many.  We can be the example of what is possible; people who do not shy away from the hard conversations, or the hard work.

To begin this hard work, NDPA strives to provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity by:

  • seeing diversity, inclusion, and equity as connected to our mission and critical to ensuring the well-being of our staff and the communities we serve. 
  • acknowledging and dismantling any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services and continually update and report organization progress.
  • exploring potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness. 
  • advocating for and supporting board‐level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.
  • challenging assumptions about what constitutes strong leadership at our organization and who is well positioned to provide leadership. 
  • practicing and encouraging transparent communication in all interactions. 
  • committing time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, committees, and advisory bodies. 
  • leading with respect and tolerance, and we expect all employees and volunteers to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.

NDPA abides by the following action items to help promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace:

  • pursue cultural competency throughout our organization by creating substantive learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies.
  • conduct or identify research related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress toward the visibility of our diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts and make that information publicly available. 
  • improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of American society. 
  • pool resources and expand offerings for underrepresented constituents by connecting with other organizations committed to diversity and inclusion efforts.
  • develop and present sessions on diversity, inclusion, and equity to provide information and resources internally and to the community. 
  • develop a system for being more intentional and conscious of bias during the hiring, promoting, or evaluating process.   
  • include a salary range with all public job descriptions.
  • advocate for public and private‐sector policy that promotes diversity, inclusion, and equity and challenge systems and policies that create inequity, oppression, and disparity.
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Bringing Diversity To Aquatics

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states the sad fact that more than 3,500 people drown each year in the U.S, making drowning the leading cause of death in children 1 – 4 years old. Even more sad, minorities drown at a rate three times higher than their peers.

Diversity is directly linked to the opportunity to be water safe. As we are well aware, aquatics suffers from lack of diversity, enforcing a system where the access to learning how to swim and gain water competency are not the same for everyone.

Between 1999-2010, the fatal unintentional drowning rate for African Americans was significantly higher than that of whites across all ages. The disparity is widest among children 5-18 years old and is most pronounced in swimming pools. African American children 5-19 drown in swimming pools at rates 5.5 times higher than those of whites. This disparity is greatest among those 11-12 years in which African Americans drown in swimming pools at rates 10 times those of whites.(1)

Factors such as access to swimming pools, the desire or lack of desire to learn how to swim, and choosing water-related recreational activities may contribute to the racial differences in drowning rates. Available rates are based on population, not on participation. If rates could be determined by actual participation in water-related activities, the disparity in minorities’ drowning rates compared to whites would be much greater.(2)

Many organizations and advocates are striving to bring swimming to minority communities and thus reduce the incidence of drowning among them. Here are a few that you can support:

Diversity In Aquatics 

The drowning and participation gaps in aquatics mirror the disparities we find in public health and education, often ignoring the ongoing historical issues of race, socioeconomic circumstances, and cultural stereotyping. Therefore, a revamped focus is needed to address and help curve the current gaps found in aquatics.

Founded by Dr. Shaun Anderson and Jayson Jackson in 2010, Diversity In Aquatics is an organization built to develop a network to help save lives by empowering communities to have equitable access to quality aquatic opportunities. They work to address historical policies and practices that impact resource allocation and access to public spaces to understand present-day aquatic disparities.

Afroswimmers

AfroSwimmers is a swim movement that offers lessons and aquatic wellness services for people of color, founded by swim coach and aquatic healer Noelle Singleton.

AfroSwimmers boasts a facility in Atlanta where programs — including competitive coaching, aquatic therapy, and private swimming lessons — are offered to help break down barriers between the Black community and swimming.

Black People Will Swim

Black People Will Swim’s sole mission is plain and simple: it’s smashing the stereotype that Black people don’t swim. Their end game is to make a difference in the world of aquatics.

They aim to do this through a number of ways with their acronym F.A.C.E. encouraging their community to FACE their fears.

Swim Uphill

Founded by paralympic swimmer Jamal Hill, this organization has made it its mission to take justice against senseless drownings by promoting water safety competency through the Swim Uphill method in underserved communities around the globe.

Black Kids Swim

Black Kids Swim is a 501c3 organization based in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Their mission is to increase Black participation in the sport of competitive swimming. They also offer their consultancy services to aquatic facilities that wish to include a diverse group of adults and/or children to their programs.

The Josh Project

The Josh Project is a drowning prevention agency dedicated to water safety training and education. Their mission is to build basic swimming skills and knowledge of water safety to prevent drowning.

SwemKids

SwemKids is nonprofit school-based program that teaches children introductory swimming lessons and water safety skills as a part of their school’s curriculum. This model ensures that children are exposed to the water early and gain important life-saving skills to make sure they are safe while having fun!

Black Swimming Association

The Black Swimming Association (BSA) is a non-profit organisation set up to promote education among the Black community as well as other ethnic minority communities on water safety and drowning prevention measures.

They strive to ensure that the issues that preclude these communities from engaging in aquatics are researched, understood and  adequately addressed to promote inclusion and change.

  1. Gilchrist J, Parker EM. Racial/ethnic disparities in fatal unintentional drowning among persons aged ≤29 years—United States, 1999–2010. MMWR 2014;63:421–6.
  1. Branche CM, Dellinger AM, Sleet DA, Gilchrist J, Olson SJ. Unintentional injuries: the burden, risks and preventive strategies to address diversity. In: Livingston IL, editor.  Praeger handbook of Black American health (2nd edition): Policies and issues behind disparities in health. Westport (CT): Praeger Publishers; 2004. p. 317-27.