Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Emma Willard School

Details

Posted:

February 15, 2021

Location:

Troy, New York

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Type:

Full Time - Administration

Category:

Diversity Coordinator

Required Education:

4 Year Degree

Emma Willard School, a distinguished boarding and day college preparatory school for girls in grades 9–12, in Troy, New York, seeks a dynamic, empathetic, and courageous Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to inaugurate this important role and lead throughout the school community for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Understanding the significance of this occasion, the entire Emma Willard community is committed to forging the link between DEI and excellence.

The founding Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will have an institution-wide impact, function at the senior leadership level, and report directly to Head of School, Jenny Rao. With partnership from the administrative team, the Director will work to establish a DEI lens in all sectors of the school including finance, admissions, hiring, curriculum review, evaluation, advancement, and strategic visioning. Along with the school’s Assistant Director of DEI, the Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will build a team to support the needs of students for dialogue and community as well as the needs of faculty in terms of professional and program development.

As an authentic community fueled by respect and compassion, Emma Willard has engaged in powerful self-reflection and listening over the last year. In response to the country’s reckoning over injustice and systemic racism, the Emma Willard community dedicated time to hear directly from current students and alumnae who bravely shared experiences of hurt and harm both past and present. There is commitment in every sector of the community to strengthen the school’s culture of equity and inclusion. The school has committed to becoming fully inclusive in every way, with recent productive professional learning focusing on racial justice and gender inclusiveness. The inaugural Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a crucial step towards fully realizing this commitment.

Strategic Priorities/Opportunities for the Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Establish an inaugural position in DEI
Create and sustain an antiracist and gender- inclusive culture and environment
Support the efforts to include all voices and heal the school community, both past and present
Increase the diversity of faculty and staff through hiring
Develop institutional accountability metrics to evaluate progress on cultural and systemic change in DEI
Partner with academic and student life leadership and the Assistant Director of DEI, to lead DEI initiatives in academic, residential, and student life programs
Creatively partner with the Assistant Director of DEI in the work of service learning and
community engagement by exploring possibilities for connection and engagement with community organizations throughout the Capital Region

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Serve as a member of the Senior Administrative Team
Develop and facilitate awareness training sessions to build skills in cultural competence with faculty and staff
Create avenues for DEI learning and relationships with students, parents, and alumnae
Maintain communication with the stakeholders with regard to institutional accountability metrics
Partner with school leadership to participate actively in the investigation and resolution of complaints of discrimination and/or cultural insensitivity
Partner with school leadership to create and implement processes that balance individual accountability and a safe climate for raising concerns and seeking support
Interact with students and embrace the lifestyle of a boarding school

Qualities of the Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a seasoned practitioner, community- builder, and strategic-thinker who is excited about building deep ties within an engaged community that is eager to expand its knowledge and skills.

The Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is someone who has demonstrated success in leading strategic initiatives for anti-racism and DEI work, as well as a track record of effective collaboration with students, faculty, staff, and administrators for organizational change.

The Director can expect to engage with all constituencies to provide learning opportunities for DEI, as well as guide the community through both uncomfortable conversations and times of deepening and celebrating community. Students seek an advocate who speaks from a place of authenticity, thereby encouraging others to be their whole selves at school. The professional and parent communities at Emma Willard are eager to draw on an inspiring leader who will activate partnerships and institutional leadership throughout the school. The Director of Institutional DEI should be both patient and insistent in seeking change; passionate about the power of equity, diversity, and inclusion; and clear that neither a school nor the education it provides can achieve excellence without equity.

The Director will need to be a savvy builder of culture and an effective partner in helping articulate the school’s vision. This thought-partner for the Head of School and the senior administrative team will set priorities, build programming, and leverage collaboration. The Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion must be approachable and flexible and an effective builder of relationships in order to help the entire community grow in inclusiveness and competency. Excellent communication and presentation skills, experience in curriculum and instruction, and familiarity with adolescent development are also requisites. Having a sense of humor and the ability to find joy in working in a boarding and day school setting is essential.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND SKILLS

Bachelor’s degree with significant professional experience required; Master’s or doctoral degree preferred
DEI programming experience in an educational setting
Experience leading and facilitating difficult conversations and restorative practices
Experience attracting and hiring diverse talent
Experience mentoring marginalized and/or first- generation student and adult population
Experience supervising and evaluating faculty
Experience in curriculum and instruction
Familiarity with adolescent development
Compassion, high EQ
Extraordinary communication skills: written, verbal, and empathetic
Strong interpersonal skills

Emma Willard School offers competitive compensation and an attractive benefits package in a stimulating and dynamic academic community. The School encourages candidates from under- represented groups and individuals who have demonstrated experience with diverse populations who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through their research, teaching, and/or service to apply. We seek to identify, recruit, and develop employees who bring a diversity of experiences, perspectives, talents, and backgrounds. Emma is an equal opportunity employer. Interested candidates must submit the following materials confidentially via http://bit.ly/Emma-Director-of-DEI in one PDF attachment that includes in the following order:

Cover letter expressing interest in the Emma Willard School Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion position
Current résumé
Statement of educational philosophy and practice which expresses who you are and how you connect to this work (no more than 2 pages)
List of three references including name, title, phone number, email address, and professional relationship (references are contacted only with the candidate’s permission)

Please email any questions to jobs@strategenius.org or by phone to Namita Tolia at 415-579-2141.

About Emma Willard School

Since 1814, Emma Willard School has been one of the nation's leading college preparatory boarding and day schools for young women. At Emma Willard, every possible resource is dedicated to developing in students the values and skills that form the foundation of a life of accomplishment, leadership, and fulfillment. These include a love for the life of the mind, a commitment to service, courage and confidence, grace and creativity, and collaboration and friendship. Known for its rigor, the school promotes intellectual curiosity and disciplined study habits through a challenging curriculum distinguished by a wide array of advanced placement courses and electives. It also promotes active involvement in the life of the campus and off-campus communities through a rich co-curricular program. In all they do, students are both challenged and closely supported by an outstanding faculty and staff. The school's extraordinary physical plant is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and provides a breathtakingly beautiful yet state-of-the-art setting for learning and living. Throughout its history, Emma Willard has been committed to enrolling a diverse student body from across the Ca...pital Region, across the country, and around the world. This commitment is honored by significant expenditures in financial aid to assist families who might not otherwise have the opportunity to provide an extraordinary secondary education for their daughters.

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Director of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Emma Willard School

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