Aloha and welcome to pathways, the electronic forum for the NIMC, otherwise known as the national institute on multicultural competence . I’m Brian Kajiyama, one of the webpersons, and I’m Elizabeth Foster.

 

To begin, I’d like to share why the NIMC is important from a disability perspective. The forum will be an avenue for us to share new ideas on how we all can heighten our awareness and sensitivity to issues related to persons with disabilities. We believe this will lead to a paradigm shift from looking at someone’s deficits and moving towards more strengths based and comprehensive approach when working with this unique population.

 

Secondly, we are extremely proud and excited that this forum is based out of Hawai’i, perhaps one of the most culturally diverse location on our planet. Hawai’i clearly exemplifies the need for mental health practitioners and counselors to be competent from a multicultural standpoint. We genuinely look forward to being pioneers in this area and strongly believe it will cause a significant shift so that multiculturally competence is viewed as a vital component in this move to achieve social justice.

 

Thank you for your attention and Ms. Foster will now explain the many unique facets of pathways.

 

Thank you, Brian. Aloha everyone. Thank you for taking the time to view this video. We had two main goals when we created this site. One was to make it interactive and the other was to make it accessible. Regarding accessibility, we wanted to respect and honor different learning styles. One way we have done this is giving multiple formats for people to access information. In addition to this audiovideo component, if you would prefer to read or read along while you listen, text has been transcribed below the video box that you’re viewing this in. Additionally, we have tried to use a clear and large sized font to aid in the visibility of the site. This is an on-going endeavor and we will update you with our progress.

 

Regarding the interactive component of this site, when you visit our homepage you will see a column on the left side of your screen entitled resources, initiatives, and projects. This column has links to the variety of projects that we are working on including the video message center that you are viewing this video in as well as the interactive discussion forum. We also have the CACREP advocacy and consultation for training standards, the student mentoring project and early career development leadership initiative, the decade of change initiative, the dialogue on race justice and peace project, and many others. Regarding the interactive discussion forum and the video message center, those are the key areas we are seeking your assistance regarding the interactive format. Both of the pages offer the opportunity for you to post comments. So after you view this video or read the interactive discussion forum questions there is a part for you to add a comment and we would appreciate hearing from you. We look forward to suggestions and feedback for how to improve this site as well as any comments you have about the content of the site. So we hope you enjoy helping us create an interactive, vibrant community for the NIMC family. Aloha.