My Journey

MY JOURNEY

My Journey

For 23 years, I engaged in anti-racist, culturally responsive, diversity, inclusion, and equity work within the NYC Department of Education (View my bio/resume). In my various roles, I worked with social workers, principals, school aides, teachers, superintendents, deputy chancellors, paraprofessionals, custodians, after-school staff, parents, students, and other school and community staff. I helped facilitate critical conversations, develop curriculum and programs, collaborate with other offices, and trained school staff. I would get to the end of a project or school year and while I was usually happy with the work that was done, there was always a feeling that something was missing.

In February of 2012, I was selected to be the Senior Director of the Expanded Success Initiative (ESI). ESI, the educational component of the NYC Young Men’s Initiative, was focused on ensuring that Black and Latino young men graduated from high school. Forty high schools in NYC participated in the five-year initiative and we saw mixed results as schools revamped the scope and sequences of courses, implemented culturally responsive education, and created community-building events and activities. While the hard-working, well-intentioned staff was creating these structures and systems, I noticed certain behaviors that were occurring…and not occurring…with these young men. I began to realize that while the scope-and-sequences were being revamped and events and activities were being created, hearts and minds were not changing and bias-based beliefs were present and prevalent. In 2016, I started to study and learn about implicit bias and the effects it has on us, every day, personally and professionally.

In my recent role as the Executive Director of Educational Equity, Anti-Bias and Diversity, I was charged with developing and facilitating an Implicit Bias Awareness Workshop for over 100,000 employees in NYC Public Schools. There was an increase in the number of school and district leaders who were examining their school and district data, policies, and practices. As they looked at their suspension data, referrals to special education, attendance and homework policies, gifted and talented programs, and hiring practices, they noticed disproportionate and inequitable outcomes. It was clear to me that an examination of bias-based beliefs was as important as the time spent examining the data.

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Leaders and staff members of these institutions are asking, “What do we do?” “Where should we start?” “Where do we go from here?” Some people had already started and wondered where should they go and what should they do next.

I am convinced that now, more than ever, before you start…and even if you have started…this equity and culturally responsive and diversity and social justice and anti-racist journey, it’s critical that we do reflective and introspective work. We need to examine and address the implicit biases that we bring to the table every single day. This is what I call “the work behind the work”.

Click the button below to learn more about the Implicit Bias Awareness Workshop