The National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Director, Debra Chew (center) and Strategist Bali White (right), teach NIH's SafeZone Training to a class at U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' (HHS) sister agency U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). They are joined here by FDA's Edwin Echegoyen (left), Acting Director, Office of Management.

The team was ecstatic to share the expertise and knowledge embodied in NIH's course with fellow HHS colleagues in Silver Spring, MD, not far from the NIH Campus in Bethesda, MD.

Awareness and education on the particular needs and concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex individuals as well as other sexual and gender minorities in the workplace help to address many of the commonly held misperceptions, myths, and stereotypes related to LGBTI communities.

The training is designed to improve understanding and help everyone at the NIH, and in this case, FDA, understand, accept, and work with LGBTI employees as they would with every employee - in the spirit of cooperation and productivity to support the health, well-being, and safety of the American public.

Check out EDI's website for more information on SafeZone Training and check out the downloadable posters that remind us that being consciously unbiased and inclusive drives our agency and department success.

Do you have a story idea for us? Do you want to submit a guest blog? If it's about equity, diversity, or inclusion, please submit to edi.stories@nih.gov.

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