AISNE DEI Conference: Innovation, Self-Reflection, Learning, and Advocacy

Among the numerous topic sessions on Thursday were two presented by members of the Rivers professional community. In the morning, Head of Middle School John Bower—along with Rivers alum Brad Belin ’03, assistant head of school for curriculum and program/ director of upper school at Glen Urquhart School, and Tina Fox, Park School lower division head—addressed “Nurturing Transracial Adoptees in School Communities.” That afternoon, Rivers Director of Institutional Equity Jenny Jun-lei Kravitz, along with Vermont Academy Dean of Residential Life and Belonging Eddie Carson, led a session on “How to Radically Rethink Recruitment, Hiring, and Retaining Faculty of Color.”

The panelists in the morning session each drew on their personal experience as transracial adoptees. But Belin, who received the Rivers Young Alumni Award in 2023, was careful to point out that every adoptee’s story is unique. “We don’t speak on behalf of all transracial adoptees,” he said. “We are not spokespeople.” The panelists spoke about various activities that typically take place in independent schools—grandparents’ day, making family trees, studying genetics through a personal lens—that might prove challenging for transracial adoptees. 

In small groups, workshop attendees discussed various case studies, drawn from actual experiences. One, for example, described a situation in which a student referred to the birth mother of a classmate adopted from Guatemala as his “Guata-mama,” later playing the comment off as “just joking.” The group talked about how to respond in a way that was appropriate and helpful to both students, making it a teachable moment while centering the harm done to the adopted student. Armed with that awareness, attendees moved a step closer to one of the stated aims of the session: “To pause and think about ways in which you can make your school communities more inclusive and emotionally safer for adoptees.” 

The afternoon session led by Kravitz and Carson addressed a challenge faced by many independent schools. Attracting and retaining faculty of color, they said, requires a dramatic shift in how such hiring is conducted. Said Kravitz: “Think of it as Afrofuturism meets human resources.”
 
Among their points, they urged attendees to ponder not just where job listings are posted but how they are posted. Carson said there are certain “tells” that might alert a prospective applicant of color about whether the institution’s commitment to diversity is authentic and pervasive or simply performative, including such factors as the number of current faculty of color and the emphasis of the curriculum. If a job posting includes instructions for requesting accommodations, Kravitz said, that tells her that the school is thinking about all kinds of potential hires, including those with disabilities. 

Nontraditional approaches to diversity recruitment, said Carson, might include cultivating long-term relationships with candidates of color even if there’s no position for them at the moment; building that relationship creates a pipeline, should a suitable role open up later. Similarly, he said, keep the applicant portal open year round, not just during hiring season, and tap networks of alums of color to broaden recruitment reach. Keep an open mind about qualifications versus qualities, he urged, making sure that HR is not “gatekeeping” by automatically excluding applicants who have followed nontraditional pathways. 

Kravitz served on the conference’s planning committee, and the Rivers contingent, which included professional community members from all across campus, enjoyed a range of sessions and activities throughout the two days. “This conference is always an energizing hub for innovation, self-reflection, fellowship, learning, and advocacy,” Kravitz said afterward. “I loved connecting with colleagues both from Rivers and from schools across the New England area. The conference is an excellent platform to begin conversations and partnerships that will carry forward throughout the year, until we meet again next fall.”