In the summer of 2021, a National Academies of Practice DEI Task Force was developed to promote a diverse, equitable, and inclusive interprofessional community of practitioners, scholars, and professionals that would focus on NAP strategic initiatives related to these themes. Each NAP Academy Chair was asked to select a representative for the task force that would be able to represent the views and advocate for the interests of underrepresented individuals or groups as well as represent the consensus views of their academy. Attempts were made to reach out to specific academies that did not have representation on the task force. Additional members were added that had particular interests in collaborating with NAP colleagues as change agents for diversity, equity, and inclusion excellence. NAP President, Rick Weisbarth, appointed Laurel Daniels Abbruzzese, as chair of this taskforce.

The task force started its work by creating a mission, vision, and values statement. This work was led by members, Michael Blackwell, Nicole Wilkins, and Diane Bruessow. We were working within a framework that assumes that vision (where we are going), mission (how we will get there), and values (what guides our journey) statements would help focus our work and provide guidance to those new to thinking about justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. One of our first proposals was to shift from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI). Adding justice acknowledges the importance of dismantling barriers to resources and opportunities in achieving diversity equity and inclusion.