In recent years, the landscape of healthcare, including hematology/oncology, has evolved in complex ways. With social inequities and political polarization impacting both professional spaces and patient care, pharmacists have a growing responsibility to lead with purpose and by example. The Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) has always valued the varying perspectives of its members and aimed to optimize care for all people with cancer, and the association formalized its approach early in the Covid-19 pandemic.
A session called, “Fairness, Access, and Representation at HOPA: Current and Future Directions” presented by Eric Chow, PharmD, BCOP, MPH, and Ashley Chen, PharmD, BCOP, at the 21st HOPA Annual Conference (April 9-12, 2025; Portland, OR), illustrates how much can be accomplished by putting a clear plan in place.
Dr Chow began the session with a discussion of the genesis of a HOPA-member work group called the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) task force (although its name may change to reflect the times.) What hasn’t changed is how fairness, access, and representation have emerged as core values of HOPA.
A 4-Year Journey: From Task Force to Advisory Group
In response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, HOPA began organizing and set in place the infrastructure for the task force to begin in 2021. Establishing the task force marked a commitment to both social justice and practical change within the organization. As leaders in therapeutic innovation, medication safety, and patient counseling, pharmacists have an obligation to ensure that healthcare systems value diverse perspectives of healthcare providers and honor lived experiences of patients as we strive for the best outcomes.
Listening to Our Members
As an exercise in self-assessment and introspection, in 2021, the task force launched a survey of HOPA’s membership to assess diversity, equity, and inclusion within the organization. The findings were eye-opening: HOPA membership reported that the organization’s leadership did not closely reflect the demographics of its membership.
This feedback was both validating and galvanizing and suggested areas for improvement. With demographic data collection now incorporated into membership renewal, HOPA aims to track and improve alignment between member identities and organizational leadership. According to Dr Chow, as of 2023, however, committee leadership still showed a White majority, whereas member demographics suggested broader diversity. In addition to racial diversity, younger members of HOPA are more likely to openly identify as LGBTQ+, highlighting the need for inclusive communication and policy development.
The task force developed a group of 50 prioritized recommendations that were organized into 4 key domains:
- Research
- Leadership and Advocacy
- Education
- Professional Practice
Through collaborative efforts across HOPA’s leadership board and committee chairs and the task force, 79% of those recommendations have already been implemented, and several others remain in progress. A handful were sunset, however, a challenging but necessary exercise in honest prioritization.
What HOPA Achieved: Tangible Outcomes for Members and Patients
Some of the more important outcomes from the efforts of the task force include:
- Created an official HOPA DEI statement that commits the organization to diversity and inclusion as core values
- Revamped the board nomination process to reflect greater demographic diversity among HOPA leadership
- Launched a dynamic toolkit of resources to support members in their journeys toward equity in the workplace, in research, and across their home organizations
- Partnered with PharmGradWishlist to provide travel grants for pharmacy trainees
- Established an Annual Member Award, celebrating members who champion health equity and social determinants of health in their institutions
- Made strides in advocacy by contributing to public statements on national issues such as:
- Correcting racial and social injustices
- Standing up for patient-provider decision-making after the Dobbs v Jackson Supreme Court ruling
- Launching a campaign to raise awareness around the need for representation in clinical trials
Looking Ahead: Goals for a More Inclusive Tomorrow
Dr Chen presented details on the future landscape of the DEI efforts at HOPA. Although the exact nomenclature may evolve, the work of the task force will now be subsumed within the newly formed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Group, which has been added as an integral part of HOPA’s governance structure. Its work focuses on 3 guiding objectives:
- Empowering Diverse Voices: Encouraging participation from historically underrepresented members in conferences, councils, and leadership pipelines
- Embedding fairness, access and representation across committees: Serving in a consultative role to ensure that every committee’s actions reflect principles of fairness, access, and representation
- Enhancing Inclusivity in Education: Making educational content more culturally conscious and accessible
As Dr Chen asserted, hematology/oncology pharmacists are well aware that health disparities aren’t abstract—they are real, persistent, and often life-threatening. Ensuring that HOPA reflects these realities is not just good governance; it is a professional imperative.
