Leadership Opportunity: Seattle, WA

Lakeside School, an independent, nonsectarian, day school serving 891 students in grades 5-12 on two campuses in Seattle, Washington, actively seeks a visionary and collaborative colleague to serve as the next Director of Community, Equity, and Belonging.

The next Director of Community, Equity, and Belonging will lead students, employees, trustees, parents and guardians, alums, and other community members in accomplishing elements of Hope in Action, the school’s strategic plan, as well as lead the daily operation of Lakeside’s equity, inclusion, and belonging program. 

For years, Lakeside has been committed to building and strengthening its diversity, as well as practices and approaches around equity and inclusion through carefully crafted and executed multi-year plans. During the last two decades, Lakeside has transformed itself into one of the most diverse U.S independent schools and built a well-established diversity, equity, and inclusion program. The school’s most recently completed multi-year plan, Our Work Together, reshaped institutional culture and practices around equity and inclusivity. Hope in Action tasks Lakeside with not only building upon this work, but also establishing and strengthening a shared sense of belonging among the many individuals and constituents that comprise the community. The vision, planning, and execution of this next effort will be led by the next Director of Community, Equity, and Belonging. 

The Director of Community, Equity and Belonging reports to the Assistant Head of School and works closely with the Head of School. A member of Lakeside School’s director’s group and select committees of Lakeside’s Board of Trustees, the Director of Community, Equity, and Belonging’s leadership opportunities also include providing guidance to all constituents on making equity, inclusion, and belonging-informed policies and decisions; identifying community, equity, and belonging student programming needs; leading a collaborative effort of directors, departments, and grade-level teams to further the school’s equity and inclusion efforts; and collaborating with colleagues on institutional research, including compiling and analyzing complex data and information, for senior leadership and board review and to inform decision-making and policy formation. 

Lakeside: Fast Facts

About the Position

The Director of Community, Equity, and Belonging is an important partner and collaborator for students, colleagues, and leadership. They are a resource for students navigating the exciting and challenging work of building an inclusive community. In the adult community, they serve as a trusted thought-partner to colleagues developing 5-12 student programming and identifies, designs, and delivers relevant and resonant professional development on teaching and learning, and curriculum planning. As a leader in the school, they participate in various school and board committees to ensure the school’s commitment to equity, inclusion, and belonging is met; partner with the Parents and Guardians Association on annual programming; connect with alums and community partners to build their engagement with Lakeside; and represent Lakeside in local, state, national and international programs and events related to equity, inclusion and belonging. 

The Director will also: 

• Lead the equity, inclusion, and belonging department and team. 
• Conduct benchmark studies and promote best practices. 
• Lead, establish, maintain, and regularly and proactively evaluate protocols, structures, and frameworks to create a consistent approach to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) across all aspects of school life and school leadership. 
• Collaborate with the recruitment and hiring manager on employee recruitment, including serving on hiring committees and participating in hiring fairs.
• Collaborate with other departments, programs, and offices as necessary throughout the year to realize the school’s equity, inclusion, and belonging immediate goals and long-term goals.
• Serve as Lakeside’s representative to the People of Color in Independent Schools (POCIS) Consortium. 
• Contribute regularly to the independent school landscape through industry publications, social media, and presentations, webinars, and conferences, and by maintaining and leveraging professional networks.
• Other duties as assigned. 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree. 
• Prior work experience in building and strengthening equity, inclusion, and belonging within organizations and/or communities.
• The ability to stand and sit for long periods, walk up and down stairs, lift approximately 20 pounds, and regularly walk between the Middle and Upper School campuses, a distance of 0.3 miles that includes a gentle hill.
• Working knowledge of MS Office products and Google Workspace. 
• Satisfactory completion of three criminal history background checks. 

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years experience at an accredited NAIS independent school or college/university association equivalent.

Skills, Competencies, and Mindsets of the Director of Community, Equity, and Belonging

The ideal candidate is collaborative, a problem-solver, curious, highly detailed, a planner, and has a strong ability to successfully execute detail-rich and complex projects, prioritize multiple deadlines, and maintain a collegial and professional demeanor that allows them to develop productive working relationships. Other desired qualities include the ability to:

• Engage and bring together multiple people, constituents, and stakeholders of all backgrounds and unite them around a shared vision for the next phase of Lakeside’s work building belonging by:

  • Listening deeply and honoring lived experiences across lines of culture, gender, race, sexuality, religion, ability, and other identities.

  • Engaging in and facilitating challenging conversations when necessary. 

  • Navigating disagreement and conflict with patience and steadiness.

  • Preemptively recognizing and intuiting disagreement and conflict, when possible, and proactively developing solutions, systems, and/or plans to address them.

• Guide communities through cultural and structural change by teaching and training constituents on:

  • Implementing inclusive teaching practices, anti-bias curriculum, and culturally responsive pedagogy.

  • Knowledge of how kids and adolescents develop their sense of identity, belonging, and agency.

  • Dismantling inequitable systems, practices, and power dynamics, and building new and equitable ones.

• Analyze demographic, climate, and student experience data and communicate insights clearly by: 

  • Demonstrating consistency and fairness.

  • Handling sensitive situations with discretion and ethical approaches.

  • Learning new data systems and data processes quickly. 

  • Developing new equitable and inclusive institutional systems and practices responding to challenges highlighted in the data.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary Range: $145,000 - $165,000 based upon experience and education. Lakeside School is committed to attracting and retaining outstanding candidates and provides a competitive compensation package. Lakeside School offers a competitive compensation package and a comprehensive set of benefits, including:

• Employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance (based on FTE)

• Dependent medical and vision subsidy

• Retirement with generous employer contribution

• Life/disability insurance

• Employee Assistance Program

• Flexible spending accounts

• Free lunch

• Free parking

• Bus/bike benefits

• Housing assistance program

• Reduced facility rentals

• Passport Corporate membership

• Computer loan program

• Paid holidays and vacation

• Use of school library and gymnasium

• Mentoring

• Professional Development

Application Process

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, and salary history via Lakeside’s online application system. Application review will begin January 5, 2026, and the position will remain open until filled.

Working at Lakeside

Lakeside School is committed to sustaining a community in which individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds teach, learn, and thrive together. To learn more about working at Lakeside—including professional development, mentoring, benefits, and opportunities for involvement—please visit the Careers page on the Lakeside School website.

Participate in the 2026 Diversity Career Fair hosted by POCIS Northwest

Virtual: Sunday, February 8, 2026, 9am-12pm PST on Zoom

In-Person: Saturday, February 28, 2026, 9am-12pm at The Lakeside Middle School

For more information and to register, visit Diversity Career Fair

About Lakeside School

The School’s Mission and shared commitment of all Lakeside employees is to develop in intellectually capable young people the creative minds, healthy bodies, and ethical spirits to contribute wisdom, compassion, and leadership to a global society. We provide a rigorous, dynamic academic program through which effective educators lead students to take responsibility for learning. We are committed to sustaining a school in which individuals representing diverse cultures and experiences instruct one another in the meaning and value of community and in the joy and importance of lifelong learning.

Connections working at Lakeside School