“Diversity matters series”—The ALBA network

Abstract

Over the past year, the editorial leadership of EJN has had vigorous discussion about initiatives that further diversity, equity and inclusion (Helmreich et al., 2017, 2019; Schrouff et al., 2019). While we are deeply committed to working within EJN to diversify our editorial board and reviewers, we also want to showcase the efforts of other organizations, some grassroots and some that are funded by larger bodies, that are attempting to tackle these critical issues at multiple levels. We realize that while the work of these organizations is discussed in social media and in other forums, it is often not a focus of discussion in the primary mode of communication within science—the scientific journals. Through our discussions, we coalesced on the idea that EJN will run a series where we present the work of organizations across the world whose primary commitment is to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion. Our initial focus will be on the neurosciences, but we plan to expand the ambit to the broader scientific enterprise. This would allow us to place, front and center, critical discussions that need to be had within the scientific community, and to underscore and highlight the efforts being made by organizations to address the important issues that will ensure equity within the scientific community. Our position is that Diversity Matters—it is only when we can dissolve the hurdles and challenges that keep us from achieving an inclusive scientific community that we will fully gain from the entire spectrum of innovative ideas and creative thought in the scientific enterprise and thus serve the entire gamut of humanity. The hurdles span a wide spectrum from explicit prejudice to its far more insidious counterpart, implicit bias. Indeed, implicit bias may often be a more likely predictor of behavior than an explicitly stated belief (Nosek et al., 2011; Stanley et al., 2008). Another key point for discussion is on the widely held belief of “merit” with the scientific community, with the prevalent notion that the scientific community is already a meritocracy. It is vital to emphasize that no discussion on the illusion of “merit” is possible without a simultaneous willingness to also recognize privilege. Awareness of privilege is the very first step on the path to equity in the scientific community. Unless we take collective responsibility for engaging with efforts to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which while related also require distinct and multipronged strategies to address, this will remain a task assigned to a small few. Often the predominant responsibility to chart progress for DEI relevant matters is disproportionally placed on under-represented minorities, whereas in reality the ownership to further DEI must always be collective. EJN is committed to supporting ventures that increase DEI, and we kick-start our series on “Diversity Matters” by highlighting the work of the recently formed ALBA Network, which arose under the aegis of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) and whose charter is to enhance equity and diversity in the brain sciences. The ALBA Network (Alba means dawn/sunrise; http://www.alba.network/) was officially launched at the FENS Regional Meeting, Belgrade 2019 (Figure 1). Professor Carmen Sandi (FENS President and Chair of the ALBA Network) chaired the event. Professor Mara Dierssen (President of the Trisomy 21 Research Society, Center for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain) was a guest speaker at the event. As EJN is the society journal of FENS, we thought it most appropriate that ALBA be the first organization highlighted in our series. To accomplish their goals of fostering equity, diversity and inclusion in brain sciences across the globe, the ALBA Network activities include promoting best practices, developing a series of webinars on region-specific issues linked to diversity, and producing a Podcast showcasing how diverse the profiles of neuroscientists are around the world. The Network is also responsible for organizing and sponsoring talks and panel discussions at international meetings, such as their session on negotiating skills at the FENS Forum 2022 or a breakfast social at the Society for Neuroscience Meeting. In order to provide role models for early-career researchers, ALBA also awards several prizes celebrating the promotion of diversity. Recently, the ALBA network has published the Declaration on Equity & Inclusion. The Network also maintains a website, which is a valuable repository for resources (http://www.alba.network/resources) helpful for promoting diversity and inclusion. In fact, one goal of ALBA is to become an umbrella organization so all initiatives in DEI in brain research can have a common voice. We spoke with Dr. Carmen Sandi about the choice of the name ALBA for the network: “ALBA means sunrise in several languages, and I was trying to find a word that would evoke an image of something positive starting, or that has already begun. The sunrise evokes a new start, full of new energy. At ALBA, we believe that things are changing in terms of implementing diversity and inclusion in science and academia, and we want to be a movement that helps catalyze this change.” In the short time since ALBA's founding, its mission has become even more relevant and urgent due to events surrounding 2020. These events include the increased awareness of racial divides, the rise of BlackLivesMatter, the increased awareness of gender issues, the MeToo movement, the Trump Presidency and the 2020 election in the US, and the pandemic. The pandemic brought its own challenges and exacerbated existing inequalities. When asked about the current zeitgeist, Dr. Sandi responded: “There's been a boom in actions here, everywhere. But I feel we need more coordination—if we are a common voice and work together we are much stronger.” These challenging events across the globe also served as a catalyst to bring together those who were no longer willing to simply wait for change to organically emerge, but wanted to contribute and act directly. When ALBA was first established in 2018, diversity issues were being discussed in the US, but not so much in Europe, and there were no policies in place to ensure inclusion in some major brain research organizations” said Mathilde Maughan, ALBA Network Manager. Dr. Sandi added “I think there is a danger that even if people realize that things should change—that we have to be more inclusive, have more equity and diversity, if we don't have a community that is actually working for this to happen, change may not materialize very easily”. Currently, the declaration has more than 200 institutional signatories. Dr. Carey says that “I want to stress that the relevance of the declaration for individuals is also really important. Too often, the burden of constant education and explanation on these issues falls upon members of the underrepresented groups themselves. And so, in addition to serving as a resource, we hope that the Declaration would also empower individuals, by providing something concrete that we can all point to when leaders within organizations, or people who self-proclaim themselves as allies, say that they want to help, but they just don't know what to do.” The role of individuals, in addition to the role of institutions, also applies to ALBA's vision of follow-up or accountability to the act of signing the charter. Dr. Carey: “Although it's not binding, we don't think it comes without accountability. The accountability is there in the public signing of it for institutions and organizations and, importantly, I think our vision is that the institutional signatories are partially held accountable by the individuals within their communities. Members of the organization can say, ‘we signed this together, this is something we believe in’. We hope to see this kind of vertical integration within organizations–not only top-down but also bottom-up.” Mathilde Maughan also suggested, “In a few months, we're thinking to survey the signatories, ask them to evaluate themselves as to where they are right now. Then, 2–3 years down the road, we will come back and ask them: this is where you were then, where are you now? This will also provide an assessment of the evolution of the environment in general.” “WILEY is pleased to be a signatory of the Declaration and very much shares the goals of the ALBA Network. We hold strong to the belief that research has a place in building a more equitable future and are committed to ALBA's workplace values of equity & inclusivity. Our guiding principle is to create a more empowered, inclusive, and equitable culture reflecting the global diversity of our colleagues, partners, and customers. You can read more about our efforts here?” Jackie Jones, Publisher, Wiley. The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience joins science organizations from across the globe committed to making science more inclusive by endorsing the ALBA Declaration on Equity and Inclusion. “This supports the work of the University of Rochester's Neuroscience Diversity Commission,” said commission chair Manuel Gomez-Ramirez, Ph.D. “Our members have spent the last several months committed to creating an inclusive and equitable environment in the neuroscience community in Rochester. As we continue this work, we hope actions like signing this declaration, will encourage other individuals and organizations in science to join this same commitment. The more we empower those studying neuroscience and those interested in the field, the more we will elevate this important work.” Manuel Gomez-Ramirez, Ph.D. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/del-monte-neuroscience/about/diversity-commission/news-announcements.aspx ALBA is also committed to a broad definition of equity and diversity, including gender, race, and disabilities. In addition, its mission has stretched beyond Europe. When IBRO (International Brain Research Organization) became a supporter of ALBA, they tasked the network to work towards achieving a more global reach (Figure 3). To that end, “we are also capitalizing on what has been developed in other places, for other groups and events. Now we are organizing webinars and podcasts in different regions of the world, identifying specific barriers” says Carmen Sandi. This is where the strength of ALBA as a Network comes into play; by having ambassadors and board members from across the globe, outreach efforts can be specifically tailored to the culture and history of a specific geographic location. Below are statements from ALBA Ambassadors and Advisors: I was born in Brazil, a granddaughter of Italian immigrants. In the village where I was born, there was a difference between people from wealthy families and poor families, even if they were decent, honest, hardworking, wise. You wouldn't be invited and you wouldn't be part of the group. It was that simple. Today with globalization, the reasons why you are not accepted in certain groups have expanded: the country you come from, the way you speak, your skin color, your sexual orientation, if you are a mother, a woman, etc. ALBA brings together scientists from various countries. They include people from outside, from Latin America, like me. They embrace diversity of language, religion, culture, which makes a real difference. From Prof. Elaine Del Bel, Professor of Physiology at the School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto (FORP) of the University of São Paulo, Brazil & President of FALAN (Federación de Asociaciones Latinoamericanas y del Caribe de Neurociencias)—ALBA Advisor. Any kind of social media platform is really a very effective tool to try to promote equity and diversity; I'm saying this as part of my own lived experience, as a scientist of color in Europe. We've also been doing this through our podcast series, to highlight what minority scientists encounter and the hurdles they have to jump through. We are trying to provide a platform for marginalized groups to vocalize their concerns. And these issues and how to discuss them depends very much on what part of the world we are covering. From Dr. Srikanth Ramaswamy, Group Leader and Senior Scientist in Circuits Section of the Simulation Neuroscience Division, EPFL, Switzerland—ALBA Ambassador & Chair of the ALBA Promotion of Diversity Taskforce. Working to develop equity has always been a driving force for me. I started by voicing observations of discriminations and implicit biases, mainly against women, since my youngest age, before starting to read and share studies quantifying those discriminations and biases. I was thrilled to be invited to become an ambassador of the ALBA Network because I foresee this unique initiative has the potential to improve recruitment ethics, and hopefully provide new policies to ensure equity in Neuroscience for the next generations. From Dr. Anna Beyeler, INSERM Principal Investigator at the Neurocentre Magendie of the University of Bordeaux—ALBA Ambassador. In addition to the declaration and a wide panel of activities (awards, networking events, webinars, podcasts, interview series etc.), the ALBA network also stimulates advocacy, mentorship and careers for members of underrepresented groups, by organizing workshops and sharing opportunities on its social media platforms. To the readers of EJN, Dr. Sandi shared “I think that EJN readers appreciate quality. The journal has a very excellent peer review process, which is honest and transparent. The interaction with the authors is unique and appreciated. I think this audience is already quite supportive of openness, and I would like to take this opportunity to invite them to visit the ALBA website to learn more about the Network and become members”. The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1111/ejn.15332. The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1111/ejn.15332.

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