NRMN Key Personnel Meeting (KPM) in Madison, Wisconsin

NRMN, CEC and NIH personnel gathered in Madison, Wisconsin for the NRMN semi-annual Key Personnel Meeting, June 14-16, 2017. Attending in person were 41 key personnel with 20 attending virtually including NRMN NIH Project Scientist Darren Sledjeski and Program Officer Mercedes Rubio.

NRMN embraced the collective impact model as a framework for organizing activities and discussions at the meeting. Collective impact is defined as “the commitment of a group of cross sector actors to a common agenda for solving social problems.” Each session was structured using one of five elements of the collective impact framework: (1) common agenda, (2) shared measurements, (3) mutually reinforcing activities, (4) continuous communication and (5) backbone support. Attendees considered how elements of the model influence NRMN’s pillars (match/link, train, promote, and refer) and the integrated logic model. "The use of the collective impact model as a framework for the meeting was extremely effective and resulted in a deeper sense of collaboration and community across NRMN," said Dr. Pfund, Principal Investigator.

During the meeting, attendees worked in small groups to more clearly and in measureable terms define one of the pillars and identify the current NRMN programs that fall within that pillar. For example, the group working on promoting focused on the many activities across NRMN and how the community can be better informed about them through mutually reinforcing activities. In addition, in the spirit of continual improvement, groups reviewed the current status of NRMN by identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) for each pillar. Groups then created action-oriented strategies based on their SWOT findings as a way to energize positive actions. 

The conversations only BEGAN in Wisconsin. NRMN continues internal discussions that embrace our collective work towards accomplishing the goal of diversifying the biomedical research workforce.

A special thanks goes to the NRMN Strategic Planning Committee for delivering an interactive and enlightening KPM meeting:

Abby Cook, Co-Chair (Boston College)

Emily Utzerath, Co-Chair (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Eileen Harwood, Member (University of Minnesota)

Damaris Javier, Member (UNT Health Science Center)

Kim Lawson, Member (Morehouse School of Medicine)

Jenna Rogers, Member (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Ann Smith, Member (University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Dina Stroud, Member (Vanderbilt University)