Your New Year's Resolution: Be an Ally

January 1, 2021

Allies are individuals of one social identity group who stand up in support of and seek to help those of another group facing oppression^1,2. Although allies might not be members of the underrepresented or oppressed groups that they support, allies make efforts to understand and dismantle personal, interpersonal, and structural sources of bias and oppression. Allies acknowledge their own privilege and the struggle experienced by those of oppressed or marginalized groups and work to educate themselves further. Most importantly, allies commit to implementing effective strategies to break down barriers and advocate for these groups. Anyone can be an ally.

What might allyship look like at work?

• Recruiting and mentoring trainees from underrepresented communities
  • Serve as a mentor through programs such as NIH Academy, iCURE, HiSTEP  or the SIP sub-programs
  • Implement evidence-based strategies for promoting an inclusive research group³
  • Learn more on supporting early-career Black scholars⁴
• Sharing growth opportunities and resources with colleagues of underrepresented communities
• Inviting and amplifying the voices of those traditionally left out of conversations, meetings, and panels
• Using inclusive language⁵ and speaking out against inappropriate behavior, such as microaggressions
• Sharing your pronouns during introductions and including your pronouns in your email signature
• Continuing to educate yourself: engaging in NIH Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion training and quizzing yourself on the NIH glossary of diversity-related terms