Aligning with Carney Sandoe’s mission to provide resources and support that help foster diverse, inclusive environments, the Equity, Inclusion & Community Thread features a variety of content addressing the challenging and complex issues that face underrepresented educators, staff, and school leaders, as well as those working toward creating more equitable and just school communities.

Highlights of the Thread include:

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2     10:00-11:00 AM EST     (LIVE SESSION)

More Than Conversations: A Feminist Approach to Equity Work in International Schools
Praxia Apostle – Director of Learning, International School of Kuala Lumpur
Ika Azwa Muzamal – Talent and Culture Development Lead, International School of Kuala Lumpur

In this session, we will share our story of building and sustaining change as it relates to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice work in an international school setting. We knew that for this work to have authenticity and be transformative, it needed to begin with our community of operational staff and teaching faculty listening to one another's stories, building relationships, and creating a shared vision for change. As we began this school-wide initiative focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ), we applied the principles of feminist pedagogy to inform our leadership approach. In this session, we will share stories of our learning and leadership journey, how to keep relationships at the heart of your equity work, and how these approaches and strategies can be adapted to any school setting where diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice is driving change. Participants will walk away with tools and models to reflect on current leadership structures present in their own context, and how to nurture empowerment, voice, and community through change.

THURSDAY, JUNE 3     2:00-3:30 PM EST     (LIVE SESSION)

Weight Watching: Unpacking Weight Bias in the Workplace
Esther Weathers – Associate Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, Harvard Graduate School of Design

What images do words like “fat, thicc, plus-size, overweight, BMI, and body positivity” connote? How does our social understanding of these terms reinforce fatphobic oppressions against womxn and womxn of color in the workplace? How do we take stock of our privileges within the sphere of this discourse? How do we affirm the lived realities of fat womxn with intersectional analysis, and begin to build mechanisms of advocacy against these daily oppressive experiences? In this workshop, we will attempt to name and deconstruct weight bias, explore the realities and lived experiences of fat womxn who exist outside those boundaries, and develop new strategies of dismantling fatphobia in everyday life. This workshop aspires to foster a collaborative, challenging yet fulfilling space where womxn of all sizes can freely dialogue. (Please note this session will include activities that utilize visuals.)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9     (ARTICLE)

The Art of Giving and Receiving the Gift of Racial Feedback: Building Joyful and Productive Allyship
Nikkia Young – Director of Counseling, Lick-Wilmerding High School
Lisa Haney – Executive Director, California Teacher Development Collaborative

Feedback is a gift. Allyship is a blessing. Nikkia Young (she/her) and Lisa Haney (she/her) first crossed paths at the 2019 CATDC Women + Leadership Conference, in the midst of a public racial miscue. How did they, as a Black woman offering racial feedback and a White woman receiving it, move from a potentially fraught moment to a productive and joyful relationship of cross-racial professional allyship? And, how can you cultivate similarly nourishing connections in your own professional life? Read their story to find inspiration, connect with your courage, open your heart to growth and join in as they celebrate their journey together.

THURSDAY, JUNE 10     3:15-4:15 PM EST     (LIVE SESSION)

1+1=1: A Middle East Perspective of Leadership and Systemic Change
Bridget Justen – Education Consultant, Independent Business
Marilyn Helpenstell – Education Consultant, Independent Business
Lisa Johnson – Principal, American Academy for Girls

During this session, you will learn the meaning of 1+1=1 and how a unified village of staff, parents, students, government, and community came to share the vision of transforming our PreK-12 Middle Eastern female students from being individual, passive followers into an inclusive student body who used their voices to promote leadership and belonging. Following the story of the school’s journey, you will be asked to share your interpretation of 1+1=1, how it could relate to your situation, and current forms of evidence that perpetuate the belief that building belonging through student voice and leadership can lead to sustainable, systemic change.

TUESDAY, JUNE 15     12:00-1:00 PM EST     (LIVE SESSION)

Leading While Black
Dr. Carla Postell – Director of Curriculum Integration & Instruction, Hazel Park Schools

Oftentimes women in leadership are forced to play by a different playbook from their male counterparts. When you add race to the configuration, the playbook changes even more. This session will generate a discussion with participants regarding the trials and triumphs of leading as a Black woman. Session participants will be provided tools and resources to successfully navigate this role.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23     1:00-1:30 PM EST     (LIVE SESSION)

Critical and Emergent Leadership Literacies in Intersectional Women Leading K-12 Independent Schools
Jessica Flaxman – Partner, 120 Education Consultancy
Clare Sisisky – Executive Director, Global Education Benchmark Group

Gender disparity at the leadership level of K-12 independent schools is a critical and persistent issue in the ongoing effort to foster equity and justice in historically white and male-led independent schools in the United States. Although 39% of independent school heads now identify as female, up from 33% in 2000, this increase does not tell a complete story. Women of all identities and backgrounds continue to lag male heads — both nationally and in large independent schools with more than 700 students where only 22% of heads are women, 19% of them white. In this presentation, learn about the leadership literacies that intersectional women leaders need to develop and adapt as they approach and enact the headship, particularly the K-12 headship of large schools. Through whole-group discussion, break-out group conversation, surveys, and self-assessment tools, participants will gain insight into national independent school trends as well as their own professional development and leadership pathways.