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Question:
I just noticed there are no POCs on your Advisory board. This is a great tool that I have shared with others over the years, so this makes me sad. I do hope you're making strides to correct that as representation matters especially to those of us who work for community/social change.

Cheers!
Answer:

            
              Thank you for your comment about the Community Tool Box that you recently posted. We appreciate both your taking the time to write us, as well as your comment itself.  It is important.
              You refer to an Advisory Board, but the Tool Box presently does not have one.  Those who are involved are described in the “Who We Are” section of the Tool Box, at https://ctb.ku.edu/en/who-we-are
               It might be that you were referring to the Advisors in our Ask an Advisor feature; these are the people who answer our questions, and whom you wrote to. If that’s the case, we try to see that our Advisors are diverse and representative of the people we serve.  For example, one of our four advisors scheduled for 2020 is an African-American research scholar, from North Carolina.  
            The Community Tool Box itself also contains 11 separate sections of text on Cultural Competence in a Multicultural World, the majority of which have been written by an Asian-American.  And since the majority of our readership now actually comes from outside of North America, it’s essential that we be culturally sensitive in our work.
            So in developing content, we collaborate with global partners across the world. One recent example was the development of an African Action Toolkit, designed to offer guidance for addressing health and development goals on the African continent. You can view it at https://who-afro.ctb.ku.edu/
           Having said this much, we’re sure we can improve. And we want to improve.  Specifically, when we recruit for people to be Advisors in 2021 (over the summer), we will aim to make a more vigorous effort to recruit people of color.  I will also forward your comment to our Tool Box team.  
              Beyond that, we welcome suggestions from you and others on specific steps you believe we ought to take to improve, keeping in mind that we have very limited resources to do all the things we would like to do.  If you have such suggestions, please write us outside of the Ask an Advisor system, at toolbox@ku.edu, and we will aim to respond as best we can.
              Many thanks again for writing, and all best wishes for continued success in your own work.

Question Date: ven, 01/31/2020