With 2021 behind us, we continue to wrestle with the reality of a global pandemic and the myriad challenges it has presented. Many -- if not all of us -- have had pain and loss. These trying times have required us to adapt and to grow in ways that we might not have anticipated under ordinary circumstances. Now more than ever, ACBS is striving to evolve in such a way that we might be an organization worthy of our members, ready to meet the challenges of the coming year.
And we have indeed evolved - ACBS is now a community of 9,200 people representing over 100 countries. For the second year running, we held our annual World Conference online with record attendance: 1500 attendees from 69 counties. Our hope was to make this conference the most accessible to date by including offerings in both Spanish and Portuguese and by offering reduced rates for members from low and middle income countries (LAMIC). In addition, ACBS created a number of new resources for our members, including video recordings of the 2020 World Conference, many of which are available in Spanish.
Also of note this year, several ACBS chapters - India, Poland and Türkiye - hosted conferences that were culturally tailored and designed to be accessible to members of LAMIC and other communities. Our Awards committee created a new award intended to support work that advances diversity, equity and inclusion in our community. The strategic teams that are entrusted with carrying out the work of our four pillar plan have made commendable progress, including three major projects and several upcoming papers. Finally, the impact factor of the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science (JCBS) more than doubled, going from 1.523 to 3.092 in just one year.
Looking forward, we hope to make 2022 a year of connection -- expanding our work and creating new opportunities for our members. In June of 2022, we will host our World Conference in San Francisco, California. At this writing, we are working to make at least some offerings available online as we move toward an increasingly hybrid model for our annual conferences. We will also be calling for applications for talented people to fill a few vacancies on our committees and to work with our strategic pillar teams. We are always looking for passionate people who want to help shape the future of ACBS. Please consider getting personally and professionally involved with our mission. You can explore opportunities here.
Miranda K. Morris, Ph.D.
ACBS Board President
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