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Diversity Roadmap
DIVERSITY roadmap 2017-2018 2018-2019
UNDERSTANDING KEY VOCABULARY
Marburn’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, formerly called the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, co-chairs were appointed in November of 2017. In December of that year, the co-chairs and the Associate Head of School attended the National Association of Independent Schools’ (NAIS) People of Color Conference (PoCC) where they gathered information on how to launch a DEI initiative in an Independent School.
In January of 2018, the DEI Committee was organized and took on their first task of developing a committee mission statement to align with the school’s core values.
The committee collaborated with Performance Con2019-2021 DEI COMMITTEE MEMBERS sulting Services, a business and training consulting firm addressing the specific and general needs of individuals, teams, and organizations, to develop the foundational building blocks to launch the DEI initiative.
Two professional development sessions with faculty and staff were led by the committee to break the ice around DEI topics. During the sessions, Performance Consulting Services introduced the Diversity Suite, a foundation for the vocabulary to be used at the school.
In the summer of 2018, Performance Consulting continued its professional development training with Marburn’s leadership team.
UNDERSTANDING EACH DIVERSITY SUITE
During the 2018-2019 school year, the DEI Committee met bi-weekly in order to establish professional development sessions to increase faculty and staff knowledge around DEI topics. Marburn’s faculty and staff participated in three professional development sessions. Each session, led by both the DEI Committee and Performance Consulting, took a deeper dive into the elements of the diversity suite: Awareness, Consciousness, Inclusion, and Integrity.
In the summer of 2019, Performance Consulting Services continued its professional development training with Marburn’s leadership team, the DEI Committee members, and other faculty and staff members to understand ‘the why’ behind the importance of diversity in the workplace. The DEI co-chairs collaborated with Human Resources (HR) to develop a conflict resolution plan to support faculty and staff through DEI-related conflicts and added DEI language to the faculty/staff handbook. A presentation was also created to introduce new employees to Marburn’s commitment to DEI during the onboarding
process.
Leigh Hill, Co-Chair Archana Ramanujam, Co-Chair Rachel Ammons, Specials Maggie Bender, Non-teaching academic Leslie Dilley, Lower Division Kelly Hunter-Rice, Non-teaching academic Shetal Parikh, Administration Ruth Rubin, High School Thomas Savage, Administration Paul Van Dop, Middle Division
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee develops, celebrates, and empowers the Marburn Academy community by encouraging courageous conversations that increase kindness and empathy while supporting our mission and core values.
IMPLEMENTATION AND APPLICATION
While three faculty and staff DEI sessions were planned for the 2019-2020 school year, only two were completed due to the COVID-19 closure. The committee reviewed the school’s Core Values and solicited feedback from the entire faculty and staff on possible revisions to place more emphasis on DEI. The new inclusive language was adopted along with a conflict resolution policy and a more detailed committee structure. The committee co-chairs again attended NAIS PoCC, researched how other schools fund DEI initiatives, and met with the DEI Director at Columbus Academy to learn how local independent schools are applying DEI initiatives and to explore potential partnerships. In the Spring of 2020, Marburn parents were also introduced to the important DEI work that the school was undergoing when Performance Consulting Services presented to Marburn parents at an MPTO event. In June of this year, in collaboration with the then Interim Head of School, Scott Burton, the committee co-chairs crafted an email to families in response to the death of George Floyd and protests across the country. Around that same time, faculty and staff members were also introduced to Marburn’s internal Google Site dedicated to DEI information and resources. The Board of Trustees also discussed the topic of DEI at length during a Board
Retreat.
2019-2020
LONG-TERM GOALS
In collaboration with other departments at Marburn, examples of the DEI Committee’s aspirational goals include:
Developing a three to fiveyear strategic plan
Highlighting DEI initiatives on the school website
Supporting families and the community through
Outreach and MPTO
Continuing to build diversity within our student, faculty, and staff population
Working with the Academic team to continue creating a curriculum and pedagogy that highlights diversity, equi-
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u ty, and inclusion. Overall, Marburn is creating a cohesive DEI program that supports students, families, faculty, staff, and Board members by fostering conversations, participating in professional development, and collaborating, while also recognizing the need for fluidity and change.
