Elsy is the first President of the PDA BAME Pharmacists’ Network since it launched earlier this year as part of the PDA’s dedicated work to meet the demands of the growing and diverse membership and advance work on equality.
Congratulations to Elsy, a pharmacist who has amassed over 20 years of experience across different pharmacy sectors including hospital, home care GP practice, NHS commissioning and primary care. Elsy is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion within the pharmacy profession and with her expertise will help drive forward the PDA’s work to make the profession more inclusive and give BAME Network members a voice.
Elsy said: “I am overwhelmed by the confidence BAME members have in me. I am really pleased and I appreciate the opportunity to work towards making meaningful changes and advancing the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda. Furthermore, I am looking forward to working with other PDA pharmacist groups such as the NAWP, LGBT+ and Ability Networks to ensure we address the challenges intersectional discrimination poses to many PDA members.”
As president, Elsy’s duties will include chairing network meetings, being a key spokesperson for the PDA BAME Network and serving on the PDA Equalities Council alongside the chairs of the other PDA equality networks (NAWP, LGBT+ and Ability).
In the same elections, Sherifat Muhammad Kamal, a locum pharmacist with management experience in the community and the NHS, was elected as Vice-President of the BAME Network. Sherifat said: “I am indeed grateful and honoured to have been elected as the Vice-President of the BAME Pharmacists’ Network for the PDA. I, together with the President and the elected committee members will continue to further the interest of those in the network, as well as build bridges across all pharmacist teams and networks.”
Dorothy Egede, a foundation pharmacist in Middlesbrough, was elected as PDA BAME Honorary Secretary. Dorothy said: “I am both pleased and honoured to have been elected as Honorary Secretary of the PDA BAME Pharmacists’ Network. This success has strengthened my resolve to not only champion representation but also encourage engagement of BAME members and our allies, and lead by example. I look forward to working closely with my esteemed colleagues on the team to pursue, challenge and inform the narratives that concern PDA BAME Members. Like F. Roosevelt said, ‘we cannot build a future for our youth, but we can always build our youth for the future’. So many thanks to everyone who voted and granted me this opportunity.”
For more information about the PDA BAME Pharmacists’ Network, to join, or to become a BAME ally, visit: www.the-pda.org/bame. You can also follow the network on social media, by searching #PDAbame.
Introducing the newly elected BAME officers
Elsy Gomez Campos, President of the PDA BAME Pharmacists’ Network
Sherifat Muhammad Kamal, Vice-President of the BAME Pharmacists’ Network
Dorothy Egede, Honorary Secretary of the BAME Pharmacists’ Network