Career Center

Sacred Heart Academy (SHA) Bryn Mawr (PA) seeks a Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DDEIB), a full-time, K-12 senior administrative position which promotes the School’s commitment to ensuring that all students, families, and employees feel valued and supported at SHA. The DDEIB reports to the Head of School and serves on the School’s seven-member senior leadership team. 

Working with other administrators and faculty, the DDEIB is responsible for identifying and assessing areas of specific need such as anti-racist and anti-bias teaching and learning experiences, for building capacity to address those areas through strong partnerships and shared responsibility, and for implementing actions needed to build and sustain an inclusive and welcoming community. SHA seeks a community builder who can assist the School in realizing the vision implicit in its Mission and the Goals and Criteria of the Sacred Heart. 

DDEIB candidates will have excellent communication and relationship-building skills and be motivated to work collaboratively with all School constituencies including the senior leadership team. This is an important and highly visible role in the leadership of the School’s overall program.  Enthusiasm, a strong work ethic, impeccable organizational skills, and the ability to build a strong rapport with students of all ages are key.

Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr (PA) is a Catholic, independent college preparatory school for girls founded in 1865 by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and lay-owned and governed since 1969. The School serves approximately 200 students in kindergarten through Grade 12.

For more detailed information, please visit   https://www.shabrynmawr.org/about-sha/employment-opportunities

Responsibilities May Include

• Providing vision and direction for the SHA community in creating actionable long- and short-term goals for culturally responsive pedagogy and anti-racist and anti-bias teaching and learning experiences
• Leading the School’s efforts to fulfill those goals with the Head of School, other senior administrators, faculty members, and Board of Trustees
• Presenting the School’s institutional values, goals, and vision related to diversity initiatives to both internal and external audiences
• Continuing, in conjunction with senior leadership and the Board of Trustees, to define and meet the definitions of diversity, equity, justice, belonging, anti-racism, and anti-bias, and ensuring that these definitions align with the vision and strategy rooted within them
• Being an accessible, visible, and effective resource for students, employees, parents, and alumnae with regard to all DEIB matters
• Collaborating with Division Directors, Director of Academics, and faculty members, to coordinate, develop, and implement programming and initiatives across all three divisions, including but not limited to assemblies and speakers, curricular initiatives, dialogue, and affinity groups including the Black Student Union, to promote cultural understanding and competency and a culture of equity and inclusion
• Addressing incidents of bias in the school community in alignment with school policy and in collaboration with a designated team of colleagues
• Refining school policy with regard to protocols for reporting and resolving incidents of bias and overseeing restorative responses
• Working with the Director of Academics to lead, coordinate, and formalize DEIB professional development opportunities for faculty, staff, students, and other constituencies including implicit bias and anti-bias training
• Continuing collaboration with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and serving as coordinator for their No Place for Hate (NPFH) program at SHA
• Partnering with the Head of School, senior leadership, department chairs, and human resources, to assist in cultivating, attracting, supporting, and retaining faculty and staff who reflect and support a diverse and inclusive school community
• Working with the Head of School and Director of Enrollment Management to develop strategies that attract, enroll, and retain underrepresented student populations at SHA
• Leading and supervising the faculty and staff DEIB committee
• Working in conjunction with the two school counselors to support and aid students and families on issues related to identity and/or racial issues
• Working directly with the Parents’ Association, helping to coordinate DEIB initiatives among the parent body
• Staying current in the field and maintaining relationships with other schools and community organizations engaged in DEIB work

Experience

• Understanding of the principles and practices of equity analysis and inclusion program development
• Ability to research, identify, and implement best practices of equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion
• Ability to develop and sustain relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, e.g., parents, students, faculty/staff, alumnae, board members, and community organizations
• Knowledge of or willingness to engage in understanding the intersection of Sacred Heart education and DEIB work
• Experience in conflict resolution and ability to manage discomfort and tension that may arise when addressing issues of race and other disparities with all school constituencies
• Experience providing strategic direction on developing relationships with underserved/underrepresented communities, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ community members
• Experience as a proven collaborator, problem-solver, critical thinker, and change agent; adapting to new situations and challenges with determination and positive approaches
• Experience leading and facilitating events across a wide range of stakeholders and group sizes
• Active participation in local and national associations and networks relevant to the DEIB profession

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required; advanced degree preferred

• Consistent demonstration and application of diversity, equity, and inclusion work and administrative leadership experience; preferably in an educational setting

• A leadership style marked by agility, tenacity, resiliency, follow-through, incentive to innovate, tact, discretion, integrity, ability to receive and act upon critical feedback, sense of humor, and courage of conviction
• Strong communication skills
• Classroom teaching experience preferred
• Personal commitment to professional growth
• Appreciation of and commitment to single gender education
• Eagerness to contribute positively to the SHA community and uphold its Mission including a commitment to the Sacred Heart Goals and Criteria
• Ability to bring joy, kindness, maturity, and flexibility to the school environment

To apply for this position: Please send a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three professional references to the Director of DEIB Hiring Committee at admin.opening@shabrynmawr.org. 

About Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr

Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr is part of a national network of 25 Sacred Heart schools located in North America which share a common heritage and vision. There are more than 150+ Sacred Heart schools around the world, providing an international campus for our students at Bryn Mawr through exchange programs, summer workshops, and service opportunities. Sacred Heart Academy is accredited by the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) and a member of the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS) and the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). To learn more about Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr, please visit https://www.shabrynmawr.org/ Mission Sacred Heart Academy educates college-bound women by cultivating their self-confidence, guiding them to realize their personal and scholastic potential and their responsibility to others, and by preparing them to meet life’s challenges - all within an academic and religiously diverse community that focuses on spiritual values and the individual student. Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr commits itself to educate to the Five Goals and Criteria of a Sacred Heart education which unify us with the Network of Sacred Heart Schools.

Connections working at Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr