Building Inclusive Leadership (BIL)

Applications are now live for LEO’s Building Inclusive Leadership program! Applications will be accepted until December 4, 2021 at 11pm, and decisions will be sent out by December 19, 2022. Learn more about the program below, and click here to apply.

Building Inclusive Leadership (BIL) is a year-long extracurricular program aimed at developing learners’ understanding of and advocacy for marginalized identities. The program is geared toward learners who desire to deepen their working knowledge of the lived experiences of oppressed groups and develop their ability to integrate this understanding into their personal and professional lives. The identities explored will include but are not limited to Queer and Trans populations, Black, Brown, and Indigenous folks, individuals with disabilities, and older adults. Learners must apply to be admitted to the program.

The program aims to:

1. Create a safe space where learners can explore their respective identities, process lived experiences and better understand the identities and experiences of others.
2. Provide informal learning opportunities and connection to resources through discussion-, skill- and identity-oriented sessions. 
3. Foster a sense of community, belonging and support across UNM learners 
4. Mobilize culturally relevant and socially engaged champions and advocates across learners.

The program curriculum will feature sessions in each the following domain areas:

• Skill-Oriented Sessions: The goals of skill-oriented sessions are to 1) expose learners to new strategies and skillsets and 2) provide learners with the space to practice and workshop newly acquired skills.
• Discussion-Oriented Sessions: The goals of discussion-oriented sessions are to 1) provide learners with a safe space to process academic and professional experiences and 2) create opportunities for learners to share perspectives and engage in informal discourse.
• Identity-Oriented Sessions: The goals of identity-oriented sessions are to 1) affirm and validate learner experiences (particularly those belonging to oppressed/marginalized groups) and 2) develop learners’ understanding of their own lived experiences/identities and that of other learners. The sessions will be educational in nature but will include opportunities for skill exploration and discussion.

BIL will meet on the 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday of the month from 5:30pm – 7:00pm. The first session will take place on January 10, 2023, and the final session will take place on June 20, 2023. All SOM learners are eligible to apply to join the BIL cohort, including medical students, residents, fellows, research education students, and health professions students. Residents and fellows will need to secure permission from their program directors to attend all sessions. Cohort members are paid for their time and will receive documentation from LEO highlighting their participation such as a note in a Dean’s Letter, a letter for their file, or Interprofessional Honors.

The pilot for this program began in January 2022 with a 20-member cohort and ran through June 2022. Click here to see the results of the pre-and-post program evaluation for the pilot. The next cohort will begin meeting in January 2023 and run through June 2023. Applications for cohort members are now open! Click here to apply.

Please direct any questions to HSC-LEO@salud.unm.edu.

Meet The Inaugural Cohort!

Roger Atanga — BSGP student, 4th year

Jesse Cohen — Physical therapy student, 2nd year

Amanda Collar — MD-PhD student, 6th year

Chris Cormier — Pathology resident, 2nd year

Mirella Galvan-De La Cruz — MD student, 4th year

Elizabeth Garchar — MFM fellow, 2nd year

Julian Garcia — MD student, 1st year

John Gurule — MD student, 1st year

Mariah Hukins — Pathology resident, 2nd year

David Jones — MLS student, 2nd year

Sageline Labaze — MD student, 3rd year

Ngan Le — MD student, 1st year

Evelyn Lozano — MD student, 1st year

Gabriela Marin-Villalobos — PA student, 1st year

Alison McWhorter Anderson — MD student, 2nd year

Phuong Anh Nguyen — MD student, 1st year

Monserrat Orozco — BSGP student, 1st year

Nikhil Pillai — Child Psychiatry fellow, 1st year

Sarah Putnam — MD student, 1st year

Cassandra Shafike — MD student, 1st year