INNOVATION
The 2020-2021 school year saw the announcement of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee’s three-year plan. The plan was crafted with the intent to be an essential bridge to our next organizational strategic plan. While Marburn’s work in DEI has been ongoing for several years, the three-year plan reflects a renewed focus and commitment to this work. During the three years, we will ask the tough questions, challenge our assumptions, systems and processes, confront implicit bias, listen and collaborate, have hard conversations, and push towards change across our organization. As we develop the organization’s next strategic plan, our hope is that DEI strategies will become an integral part of the work we do with students, families, and our communities. As an example, the DEI committee developed a series of “DEIalogues’’ in response to the physical separation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. These virtual sessions provided space for enhanced learning and presented opportunities for Marburn’s internal community to reflect, ask questions, and engage in a manner that was safe, welcoming, and empowering. 15 Marburn Magazine 2021
Topics included: What does it mean to be anti-racist?, The December Dilemma: Cultures, Holidays, and Bias, and Your Privilege is Showing. The committee received positive feedback from these events and will continue to offer DEI-alogue meetings during the 2021-2022 school year. The 2020-2021 school year also brought about a re-imagining of the DEI committee structure, in which a shift was made to include a chair and vice-chair leadership rotation. The current co-chairs, Leigh Hill and Archana Ramanujam, will be filling the chair position for the 2021-2022 school year. The DEI committee voted from among its existing members and elected Thomas Savage, Outreach Coordinator, to the role of vice-chair for the 2021-2022 school year. Additionally, the Academic Dean and Dean of Students were added as standing members of the committee. With these inclusions come valuable expertise in increasing student involvement in the organization’s DEI initiatives and enriching professional development opportunities for faculty and staff.
