UNMC and The Department of Psychiatry believe we are better together. Therefore, diversity, equity, and inclusion are ingrained in the practices of the Psychiatry Department.
Adult Psychiatrist Sheritta Strong, MD, serves as UNMC Assistant Vice Chancellor of Inclusion. In her role, she is the faculty advisor and mentors to Graduates and Professionals Representing Achievement, Diversity and Service, a peer-mentoring group; a founding member of I-AM-HOME, the Interdisciplinary Association of Minority Health Professionals of the Omaha Metropolitan Area; and past faculty board chair and psychiatry director of SHARING, the UNMC student-run free clinics. Dr. Strong also provides psychiatric care at the Charles Drew Health Center. 
The Psychiatry Department has a DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) committee. Ali DeLizza, PhD, and Laura Schutte-Lundy, LIMHP, LADC, co-chair the committee, which meets every month. When the committee was created, more than fifty staff members volunteered.
“The DEI Committee is open to all members of the department- residents, faculty, and staff,” said Dr. DeLizza.
The committee's mission is to ask questions, listen, reflect, and engage team members and community partners to create a culture where everyone belongs and where we continually act in concrete ways to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion. The impact of this committee must ripple across education, research, service, and clinical care. It must cross hierarchies and cultural barriers. And everyone must approach the work with a fundamental sense of humility.
"We can always do more to speak up and advocate for our patients, our trainees, our colleagues, and our community," said Department of Psychiatry Chair Howard Liu, MD, MBA.