National Minority Health Month Honoree - 2008

National Center for Cultural Competence

Georgetown University

Tawara D. Goode, MA
Director,
National Center for Cultural Competence

Associate Director, Georgetown University
Center for Child and Human Development
University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics,
Georgetown University Medical Center

Ms. Goode is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. She has been on the faculty of the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development (GUCCHD), for the past 30 years and has served in many capacities. She has degrees in early childhood, special education and human development and over 32 years of experience in the field.

Ms. Goode is Director of the National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC) at GUCCHD. The NCCC has been in existence for the past 13 years during which Ms. Goode was the director for 11 years. The mission of the NCCC is to increase the capacity of health care and mental health programs to design, implement and evaluate culturally and linguistically competent service delivery systems. Ms. Goode has been actively involved in the development and implementation of programs and initiatives in the area of cultural and linguistic competency at local, national and international levels. These efforts address the needs of diverse audiences including health care, mental health, social services, early childhood and special education, community/advocacy organizations, professional societies/organizations, and institution of higher education.

Ms. Goode is nationally recognized as a thought leader in the area of cultural and linguistic competency and had a primary role in:

• creating four instruments and protocols to assess cultural and linguistic competency within organizations and for health providers, and a series of checklists for professionals in the health, mental health, and education fields;
• conceiving and has authored/co-authored a curricula enhancement module series for leadership education for health professionals focused on cultural and linguistic competency;
• creating a professional development/inservice training series for personnel of the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services;
• developing the Policy Brief Series that centers on organizational policy and structures to support cultural and linguistic competency as essential approaches in the goal to eliminate disparities in health and mental health care; and
• building the NCCC into a nationally and internationally award winning program.

Ms. Goode has published articles, monographs and policy papers on such topics as policies that support cultural and linguistic competence, children and families who are homeless, community-based service delivery models and the inclusion of children with disabilities and their families in child care.