President’s Letter June 2020

Diversity Alliance for Science Inc. has continued to closely monitor the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and its impact in the United States.

As you know based on previous communications, we have been carefully considering our options for the Annual East Coast Conference which was rescheduled for August.  Regretfully we announce that our East Coast Conference will not occur as planned.

As of recent, the State of New Jersey had a 15-person limit on in-house group gatherings and protocols for social distancing and cloth face masks are still highly recommended.  Majority of the corporations have travel bans that will extend through end of year.
While every day seems to bring positive news of a shortened timeline for a vaccine,
its contradicted by a pronounced extension of just how long it will be before the virus is behind us.

It has become clear that hosting our traditional annual 3-day event in August would not be in the best interest of our DA4S Community.   This was a difficult decision to make especially considering so many of you have contacted us asking for us to host our event understanding now more than ever opportunities to interact in person are vital to your business.

We know this is disappointing news and will continue our virtual programming until further notice. Additionally, we will host a GEO Cluster during the month of September with details to follow.  Please visit our website frequently, sign up for our e-news and interact with us through our social media channels to receive the latest information.

We want to assure our DA4S community that we know our conferences are valued for the platform it provides to gather suppliers with the corporate buying community and the face to face connections. We are hopeful that once we are able to rebound from this that we can provide opportunities for that to happen soon!
This is an unprecedented time for all of us, but we will get through this together. When we emerge from this crisis, we know our DA4S network will be stronger than ever.

We hope you and your families stay diligent about all protocols and things you can do to prevent COVID-19 and stay healthy during this challenging time.

Kathy April Rush
President
Diversity Alliance for Science