The View From Here: Our School-Wide Commitment to Equity and Belonging

Our School-Wide Commitment to Equity and Belonging

Last spring, we announced a half-time, interim Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) position, which has been exceptionally led by Dot Kowal as she has also continued in her Director of College Counseling role. Even before our national racial justice reckoning took hold this past summer, we recognized the critical importance of expanding our leadership and commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives throughout the SA community. As the Transition Committee noted on the first day I started in my position, the new Head of School “will continue the forward movement of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives in collaboration with the Board, staffulty, and SAPA, including identifying blocks and barriers to equity and inclusion at SA, better supporting underrepresented groups on campus, and looking at policies and procedures across all aspects of the school through a lens of equity and inclusion.” It is a charge that has, in part, led to this exciting moment for our school.

As I began my first year at SA, we embarked on a national search to find our first-ever, full-time DEI Director. We knew this hire would position SA to be a leader of equity and inclusion work throughout the country. We received almost 100 applications for this position from qualified candidates throughout the region and our country. Over the past two weeks, we invited three finalists, including our very own Dot Kowal, to meet with our staffulty and students as we took on the vital task of determining the best person to lead this important work for our entire community moving forward. 

I am thrilled to announce that, starting July 1, 2021, Dot Kowal will be our first ever full-time DEI Director at Sonoma Academy. Dot impressed our search committee throughout the multiple stages of our search process, and it was clear to me that she is the right person to lead our DEI efforts across our many constituencies at this critical moment. As one feedback respondent mentioned, "Dot has done exceptional work in her role as a part-time, interim Director" and she will "continue to bring tremendous heart and expertise to DEI work at SA moving forward." It is also not easy being an internal candidate and, as one person captured it, "Dot handled this process with such grace and dignity, which speaks volumes about her character, while also continuing to move the necessary work forward." It should be noted that we are moving quickly to launch a national search to fill the Director of College Counseling position, and we have a plan in place to support our current juniors as they head into the college application process.

Over the past six months, we have built a solid foundation for our DEI work which includes the creation of this full-time position as well as a DEI Committee of our Board. We have engaged in meaningful antiracist professional development in partnership with some of our recent alumni and regional DEI consultants, launched student and staffuty affinity groups, evaluated our hiring practices, and our Board just participated in an Implicit Bias training with a leading practitioner in the field. Most recently, Dot conducted a workshop for our staffulty on affinity group spaces, facilitated a SAPA Book Club discussion of How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, and participated in a DEI dashboard training that we will utilize at SA. 

Please join me in congratulating Dot as we “welcome” her to SA in this exciting new role. Dot and I look forward to partnering with you as we take on these initiatives in earnest and strive to make SA a leader of equity and belonging throughout the region. Collectively, we have enormous potential to work together to build the most equitable and inclusive community possible, one that benefits everyone who is a part of it.