History of the NBPA
Prior to establishing the NBPA, Dr. Frankie Heyward, had a first-hand account of himself and other Black postdocs being inadvertently siloed within their respective institutions throughout the Harvard Medical School campus. He appreciated the critical need for the establishment of a HMS-wide network capable of cultivating a sense of connectedness throughout the HMS Black research community, while also enable the exchange of information and opportunities that would enhance the social wellbeing, research advancement, and professional development of its members. Thus, he led a team of Black postdocs at HMS to establish the Harvard Medical School Black Postdoctoral Association (HBPA) during the Spring of 2020. At the time, Stanford University had founded (2015) and established the first and only Black Postdoctoral Association.
Since Dr. Heyward was acutely aware that many Black postdocs did not have access to their own supportive networks, he set out to develop a virtual community for Black postdocs across the nation, many of whom he suspected were similarly experiencing unprecedented levels of isolation.
Dr. Frankie Heyward, President of the US National Black Postdoctoral Association
In late June 2020, Dr. Heyward selected Slack as the platform for this community, while creating various channels to serve as discrete safe spaces for community building, information sharing, peer-to-peer support, and brainstorming of grassroots diversity, equity, and inclusion projects. In early July, he invited every black postdoc he knew via Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter to join while bringing a friend. Conversations in the “introduce yourself” channel demonstrated that many members were overjoyed by the existence of this unprecedented burgeoning digital community of black postdocs that evolved into the NBPA.
The NBPA was officially incorporated and became a non-profit organization in March of 2021, with Dr. Heyward as the Founding President. To date, Dr. Cynthia Tchio is the current NBPA Treasurer and Dr. Anthony Williams is the current NBPA Secretary.