One of my primary goals this year is focusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  I see this as key to increasing our membership and setting an intention for where we want the chapter to grow.  For me personally, I can relate to feeling excluded in my past.  It’s shaped me to feel just a little bit on the outside of some social circles.  I think as people we want to belong; we want acceptance.  That feeling of not belonging, it’s a lonely feeling.   I don’t want people to feel excluded from MPI THCC.  I want this to be a chapter that welcomes all people in our industry.   

In order to do that, we need to take a look around us, from our social media to our speaker line ups to our members.   Do we have representation of people of diverse backgrounds?   When people look at our chapter do they see themselves here?  We tend to gravitate to what we know, and that means people that look and act like us, so if we don’t have a diverse representation, we are excluding whole segments of people that just don’t recognize themselves in our chapter.    I don’t think it has been a conscious choice, but the good news is that we can consciously choose to do better.  I want to challenge the chapter to seek out diversity. Everyone should be welcome in our chapter and at our events regardless of color, age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or abled differently.   To foster this work, I have formed a DEI Committee that will focus on membership, education, and industry trends.  The first task of this committee will be to write our Mission Statement and Vision.  Let’s light the way leading with kindness and acceptance. 

Sophie Curtis
2021-2022 President, MPI Texas Hill Country Chapter