(The Center Square) – In accordance with National Heritage Months, nearly all categories for Johns Hopkins Medicine’s “Achievers Award Program” exclude straight, white, able-bodied men.
Of the nine Achievers Awards categories, men who are white, straight and able-bodied are apparently only able to qualify for the Veterans Day award.
The listed award categories are Black History Month, National Women’s History Month, Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Caribbean American Heritage Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Awareness Month, Veterans Day and Native American Heritage Month.
In 2024, the Veterans Day Achievers Award recipient was Julie Ann Fenstermaker, senior project manager of Johns Hopkins Health Plans.
The award program’s webpage reads that “the Achievers Award Program recognizes and highlights underrepresented minorities across Johns Hopkins Medicine who exemplify excellence and exhibit our Johns Hopkins Medicine core values.”
Johns Hopkins Medicine media relations did not respond to two requests for comment.
“Faculty, staff and learners” at Johns Hopkins Medicine can be nominated for the Achievers Awards.
In order to be nominated for an award, an individual must “self-[identify] as a member of the heritage group being celebrated,” and make “outstanding contributions to the field of health care and/or surrounding communities,”
Potential nominees must also “be in good standing,” and “have been employed at Hopkins for at least one year.”
“Award recipients will be profiled on the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity website, on Inside Hopkins, and at the signature Employee Resource Group events during each heritage month,” the program’s webpage states.
The Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity puts on the Achievers Award Program
The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity states on its webpage that its mission is “to recruit, promote, retain, and engage those underrepresented in medicine, science, nursing, and healthcare administration so that we can achieve health equity for the most vulnerable populations.”
Additionally, its mission is “to provide content expertise and programmatic support to institutional leadership.”
The office offers a number of resources concerning LGBTQ matters, including Gender Affirmation Surgeries and Tips for Parents of LGBTQ Youth.
In its “Tips for Parents” resource, parents of children who believe they are LGBTQ are told their child is not just going through a “phase,” but is experiencing “an evolving sense of self.”