TAS Educators Attend the NAIS PoCC Conference

By Brooke Burns, Communications Manager  

Earlier this school year, E-chieh Lin, Director of Inclusion and Wellbeing, presented at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) People of Color Conference (PoCC), attended also by Kismeth Caminero (Lower School), Shirley Koo (Middle School), and Chase Williams (Upper School). This small but enthusiastic team of TAS representatives made sure to cover as much of the conference as possible, choosing from over 100 workshops.  

The NAIS People of Color Conference (PoCC) provides, “a safe space for leadership, professional development, and networking for people of color and allies of all backgrounds in independent schools.” One of the goals of the conference is to provide the knowledge and experiences for attendees to improve the interracial, interethnic, and intercultural climate of their schools, thereby positively impacting the community. From improvements to academic and social-emotional outcomes, to increasing employee productivity in the workplace, addressing these important topics has myriad benefits!   

E-chieh presented with a former colleague on “Building DEI Skills through an Advisory Curriculum.”  They presented on the development of a scaffolded DEI curriculum that was implemented from Grades 6-12 in advisories at her prior institution in the United States. They shared their curriculum which had monthly lessons covering the development of different DEI skills and topics.   

In sharing about her experience, E-chieh said, " This conference exemplifies the word “equity”; it provides the racial minority in independent schools the resources that people of color do not often have on a day-to-day basis to develop professionally, refocus their work, and learn through an equity perspective. It is, for me, a place to reconnect with myself and the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work I love."

Meanwhile, Ms. Caminero, Ms. Koo, and Mr. Williams attended many different sessions. Ms. Koo attended, “Considering the impact of DEI and Belonging on Student and Faculty/Staff Well-being,” “Code Switching: Understanding & Addressing the "Double Life" Independent Schools,” "Where DEI Ends and Counseling Begins: The Importance of an Effective DEI and Counseling Partnership,” and “Affinity Group Resistance: What's the worry and what can we do?” 

She selected these workshops for their relationship to her work at TAS. As a JEDI Committee member and affinity group facilitator, she wanted to gain a better understanding of how DEI works/issues can impact her work in these groups. “The experience I gained at PoCC is helping me navigate a multicultural and diverse workplace like TAS,” said Shirley.  

Mr. Williams had the opportunity to attend a number of sessions, covering topics from dismantling discriminatory power structures to expanding diversity of perspectives in social studies curriculum and developing opportunities for student activism on campus.  

For Mr. Williams, the most impactful part of his PoCC experience was the time spent with the white accountability affinity group. Focus on the 3 A’s: Alone, Affinity, and Alliance, this affinity group sessions pushed Mr. Williams to reflect on his experience as a white person and work in affinity with other white individuals to become better allies for our BIPOC colleagues. “These sessions renewed my commitment to the important DEIJ work that we are doing at TAS, especially our affinity group work that began last spring,” said Mr. Williams.  

“There is still much work to do to make TAS a welcoming and just space for all - and it is up to those of us with privilege to lift up the voices of our colleagues from historically marginalized communities and be better allies in the work,” said Williams.  

The session that most impacted Ms. Caminero was “Using Action-Based Definition for DEIJBA” presented by Dr. Liza Talusan. The description of the workshop was the first thing to capture Ms. Caminero’s attention, "Every school and community uses some form of the acronym DEIJBA: diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, belonging, and accessibility. Yet the combination of these letters and terms tends to imply that they are all the same. When we treat these as the same, we fail to create some meaningful and accurate action for this work."  

During the workshop, Dr. Talusan guided Ms. Caminero and other attendees through three important steps to build a more strategic approach to DEIJBA work. Ms. Caminero shares that according to Dr. Talusan, “We must 1. build knowledge, 2. engage in reflection, and 3. move to action” as part of understanding DEIJBA in our school community. Not only do each of these concepts have clear and distinct definitions, but there are also concrete action steps that align with each definition. Ms. Caminero is looking forward to reading Ms. Talusan’s new book, “The Identity Conscious Educator: Building habits and skills for more inclusive schools." over the next school break!  

The PoCC experience for this group of TAS educators was an eye-opening and engaging experience. Armed with their knowledge, they have since returned to TAS and shared their learnings with their colleagues. We hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about the incredible NAIS People of Color Conference and the impact it had on our educators!