Greetings Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Families (REDF) Section Members! The new REDF leadership team would like to alert you to what we are planning for 2021. In line with the goals of the REDF section, we intend to provide mechanisms that help members thrive in their professional and personal lives. To that end, we plan to have four, nonconference events throughout the year. Two events will be professional development oriented, and two will provide community-building opportunities within the section. The first professional development session will be in midspring, with the second in early or late summer, followed by more early fall. We are still working on a time frame for the community-building events. Please stay tuned to the section discussion board to receive more specific updates!

To facilitate both professional development and community building, REDF will begin holding weekly virtual working sessions. Sessions are planned for Wednesdays this spring with details to be announced. We invite section members to join the sessions and write and/or work in a community with others. Although there won’t be any live speaking, members should feel free to use the chat and other features to communicate and support one another. Sessions are come and go and open to all section members. Any latest calls for proposals or article submissions in the discipline can be shared with the section members. These sessions can serve as quiet time for focused writing or sharing any latest developments in the discipline, and they allow for individual goal setting and goal attainment in scholarship. Members can practice the “Pomodoro technique” and use the “breaks” to connect and consult with others. A link to the sessions will be posted on the section discussion board as well as on our social media platform (Facebook: NCFR Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Families Section and Twitter: @ncfrREDF). Questions about the sessions can be directed to Ijeoma Opara, SNP representative, [email protected], and Yolanda Mitchell, past chair, [email protected].

Veteran members of the section, please keep an eye out for solicitations to assist with professional development opportunities. We love to engage our senior members along with students and those in their early careers, following in the footsteps of our past members such as Robert Staples.

During the 2020 NCFR conference, the board of directors hosted the Black Scholar Flourishing Virtual Cocktail Happy Hour that was well attended by many of the REDF section members. Thank you to everyone who attended.

Please stay tuned to the section discussion board for more updates on upcoming events and opportunities including a sign up form to be a proposal reviewer for the 2021 conference.

Your help is very much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Your REDF Leadership Team

Anthony James, Ijeoma Opara, Lorena Aceves, Sarai Coba-Rodriguez, Sadguna Anasuri, Shardé McNeil Smith, Yolanda Mitchell