Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

REACH (Re-imagining Equitable and Anti-oppressive approaches to Contemplative research and Healing) Committee

Aproteem Choudhury, Committee Chair and Member of the ISCR Board

ISCR is dedicated to developing an organizational culture that embeds considerations of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in everything that we do. Our aim is to work with the Executive Committee to translate our aspirational DEIB principles into concrete institutional practices within ISCR. We have so far achieved the following three tasks:

• Centering our Intention in our Name: We have voted to name ourselves the REACH (Re-imagining Equitable and Anti-oppressive approaches to Contemplative research and Healing) Committee to better reflect our shared values and aspirations for our committee work.
• Recommendations for Fostering Inclusive and Anti-Oppressive Conferences. After debriefing the feedback received from attendees to our first conference in 2023 as a committee, we brainstormed a list of formal recommendations on how to improve future conferences. Under the leadership of Jennifer Daubenmier and Doris Chang, we compiled the recommendations and drafted a report, which was vetted by the full REACH committee and has been shared with the conference planning committee to inform the planning of the 2024 ISCR conference.
• Self-Governance Structure. We have developed a rotating leadership structure in which the Chair (Doris) serves as a liaison to the EC committee and works with a Co-Chair, another member of the committee who volunteers to take on this role for the semester. Recent Co-chairs have been Jennifer Daubenmier (Spring 2023), Maura Tennor (Fall 2023), and Lindsay Romano (Spring 2024)

2025 REACH committee members:

Mays Imad
Nicole Nicotera
Tyralynn Frazier
Vijay Kanagala
Yanli Lin
Zev Schuman-Olivier