Community
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

2023 MLK Jr. Symposium

Belonging as a Practice of Freedom: MLK Jr. Symposium Hosted by The Thacher School

Keynote Speakers

List of 2 frequently asked questions.

  • Leah Thomas: Intersectional Environmentalist

     
    Leah Thomas is a celebrated environmentalist based in Los Angeles, CA. Coining the term ‘eco-communicator’ to describe her style of environmental activism, Leah uses her passion for writing and creativity to explore and advocate for the critical yet often overlooked relationship between social justice and environmentalism. With this intersection in mind, Leah founded and launched the non-profit Intersectional Environmentalist, a platform and resource hub that aims to advocate for environmental justice, provide educational resources surrounding intersectional environmentalism, and promote inclusivity and accessibility within environmental education and movements. 
     
    Building on her work in the field, Leah penned The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet. The book serves as an introduction to the intersection between environmentalism, racism, and privilege, and as an acknowledgment of the fundamental truth that we cannot save the planet without protecting all of its people. 
     
    Leah is also the founder of the eco-lifestyle blog @greengirlleah, where she uses her multiple years of eco-focused educational and work experience to inform her ever-expanding list of projects, and connect with her audience of ??more than 400k followers across channels. Leah has been named to several notable lists—including TIME100 NEXT, INSIDER’s Climate Action 30, Marie Claire’s Creators to Watch, EBONY Power 100, and InStyle’s The Badass 50—and is an established public speaker who has presented at Google, 1% for the Planet’s Global Summit, Dreamforce, and more. Her writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Teen Vogue, The Washington Post, and Highsnobiety. She has also been featured in Harper’s Bazaar, W Magazine, and CNN as well as ABC News, NBC, The Weather Channel, and numerous podcasts.
     
    Leah is a graduate of Chapman University with a B.S. in Environmental Science & Policy and a cluster in Comparative World Religions. She has interned with the National Park Service and has worked at leading green companies, including eco-friendly soap company Ecos and outdoor retailer Patagonia.

  • Albert Nascimento: The Glasgow Group

    Albert D. Nascimento is a teacher, consultant and mentor who was raised in Brazil, immigrated to the U.S., and attended a New England boarding school and liberal arts college. He has taught in multiple disciplines at independent schools, and for the past 8 years has worked as both a Director of Equity and Inclusion and a Director of Multicultural Affairs, focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion work with school administrations to review the systems and structures in place, and with students on personal identity development and exploration. Albert has served as a faculty member for the National Association of Independent School's Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) since 2017.

    In addition to extensive affinity group work, he also leads faculty professional development sessions and one-on-one DEI consultations. Additionally, Albert is a principal consultant with The Glasgow Group, who works on projects and plans workshops designed to develop and implement student-centered curriculum and the development of school spaces for reflection and growth. 

    Albert holds a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Middlebury College. Albert actively works toward raising awareness around issues of equity and inclusion. He believes in the power of having a growth mindset and seeks to help those who are willing to become comfortable being uncomfortable. He identifies as multi-racial and uses he/him/his pronouns. Albert currently works in the Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity in Engineering Office at the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin.

Workshops

List of 16 frequently asked questions.

  • Tamara Anderson, Zinn Education Project

    Student Workshop: Student Organizing - Then and Now
     
    This workshop will include historical and current examples of student activism. The importance of student voices when it comes to achieving actual democracy within and outside of a school community. And steps and strategies to make it possible. Social justice in the classroom and the surrounding community can result in students working towards Voting rights, LGTBQIA rights and issues, Decolonizing the curriculum and mind, and more. In the words of bell hooks, a disruptor of hegemonic systems,  “moving from silence into speech” and “standing and struggling side by side as a gesture of defiance that heals, that makes new life and new growth possible” (Talking Back). 

    “Once you start being an activist, you don’t ever stop” (Karen Jordan, student from 1967 Philadelphia Black student walk out)

    Faculty Workshop: Teach Truth Movement - Today and Tomorrow

    Since 2021, there has been an influx of bills across the country limiting the teaching of authentic history, the rights of trans students, and teachers being able to teach the truth in their classrooms. Some of these bills have resulted in the firing of teachers, banning of books, and proliferation of fear among parents and school board members. Zinn Education Project in partnership with Black Lives Matter at School, and the African American Policy Forum have been pushing back with actions and more importantly developing a community among educators across the country to end isolation and to provide a space for strategies and solutions to be created. 
     
    This is an opportunity to speak about how this anti-truth movement affects all of us.

    Workshop Presenter: 

    Tamara Anderson is a multi-talented actor, singer, writer, and director. She has been featured in musicals and plays across the country and in multiple TV, film, and commercials like The Blacklist and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. She is an advocate for children and teens, an anti-racist trainer, a professional artist, editor, freelance journalist, and blogger with over 24 years of experience as an educator. Tamara is currently an adjunct at West Chester University in the Education Policy Department. Her production company, The Gumbo Lab, features a virtual platform for Black female identifying and Black queer solo artists and an annual ten-minute film festival. Her BIPOC Database and Resource Guide connects BIPOC creatives to work in the industry. She is one of the founding steering committee members of the National Black Lives Matter Week of Action at Schools, a founding member of the Racial Justice Organizing Committee, a founding member of Melanated Educators Collective, a founding member of Opt-Out Philly, a previous steering committee member of the WE Caucus, a diversity consultant for the American Association of Physics Teachers, a Teach Truth organizer with Zinn Education Project, and on the National Advisory Council for Teaching Artists Guild (TAG).

  • Albert Nascimento, The Glasgow Group

    Student and Faculty Workshop: What Are You Bringing? Building Community and Reflecting on Our Roles

    (Please note there will be two sessions, one for students and one for faculty.)

    In this workshop we will reflect on aspects of our culture that make us who we are and how we express them in our school community. Participants will take part in an activity called “What are you bringing?” in which individuals will reflect on and share qualities they believe make them who they are. Participants will also reflect on the qualities of our identities we choose not or are more hesitant to share. Participants will be asked to think more deeply about their identity and core cultural identifiers from the individual point of view and a community point of view to understand how we all have a role in creating community. Participants will be able to practice self-reflection, communication, build trust with community members.

    Workshop Presenter: 

    Albert D. Nascimento is a teacher, consultant and mentor who was raised in Brazil, immigrated to the U.S., and attended a New England boarding school and liberal arts college. He has taught in multiple disciplines at independent schools, and for the past 8 years has worked as both a Director of Equity and Inclusion and a Director of Multicultural Affairs, focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion work with school administrations to review the systems and structures in place, and with students on personal identity development and exploration. Albert has served as a faculty member for the National Association of Independent School's Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) since 2017.

  • The Healing Space, UC Santa Barbara (Workshop 1)

    Student Workshop 1: Becoming Change Agents: Addressing Racism and Cultivating Wellbeing

    Racism, especially anti-blackness, creates trauma for marginalized individuals and prevents us all from being in healthy and safe communities. For youth from oppressed racial groups, developing a strong sense of self and mental wellbeing requires both systemic change and resilience processes within themselves. For youth from dominant racial groups, growth and wellness involves recognizing how their racial group contributes to oppressive systems and acting on this recognition. Facilitators will discuss key domains of identity development, have participants independently reflect on their own growth as resilient change agents, and engage participants in small and large group discussions about how they create affirming community spaces. 
     
    Workshop 1 Presenters: 

    Angela Pollard (she/her) is a doctoral student in the Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychology program at UCSB and provides therapy services through the Healing Space to address racial trauma and foster resilience among Black Santa Barbara residents. In addition to this work, her research focuses on the implementation of effective school- and community-based supports for youth who are at-risk of juvenile legal system involvement. She is committed to creating safe and joyful school environments for marginalized youth, especially those who identify as Black and queer.  
     
    Gaby Hinojosa (she/her/hers) is a second-year doctoral student in the Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology (emphasis) program working under Dr. Erin Dowdy at UCSB. She is a student clinician in the Healing Space which provides mental health services to Black-identifying individuals in the Santa Barbara community. Her research interests lie in understanding Black graduate students’ experiences in school psychology and how these experiences have been shaped by systemic and institutional racism.

    About The Healing Space: 

    The collective toll of racism on Black Americans in the US is widespread. This ranges from police brutality to mass incarceration to the school-to-prison pipeline and in today’s world, ongoing discrimination in the US healthcare system related to COVID-19. Given the ongoing and long-standing ill effects of anti-Black racism on mental health, the Healing Space was formed to provide a therapy space to address racial trauma and foster resilience among Black and African American residents in the larger Santa Barbara area.

  • The Healing Space, UC Santa Barbara (Workshop 2)

    Workshop 2: Family Mapping as a Form of Intergenerational Healing

    “Genograms (family mapping) have recently been adapted as a tool to support healing intergenerational trauma, particularly among Black community. Participants will create their own geneogram (family tree), as a way of empowering themselves with knowledge of their historical wealth of experiences and resources. This workshop will guide reflection of family/community strengths and resilience.”

    Workshop 2 Presenters: 

    Jacquelyn (Jackie) Chin (she/her) is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research and clinical work aim to support creative mental health interventions for Black LGBTQIA+ communities. A graduate of Howard University, Jackie is a student-clinician in the Healing Space Clinic and UCSB’s Counseling and Psychological Services.

    Jazzmyn Ward (she/her) is a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Broadly, she is interested in researching and treating variations of trauma and its effects on mental health among marginalized populations particularly in the Black community. She is also a student clinician in UCSB Healing Space working to support Black community members navigate mental health and racial trauma.

    About The Healing Space:     

    The collective toll of racism on Black Americans in the US is widespread. This ranges from police brutality to mass incarceration to the school-to-prison pipeline and in today’s world, ongoing discrimination in the US healthcare system related to COVID-19. Given the ongoing and long-standing ill effects of anti-Black racism on mental health, the Healing Space was formed to provide a therapy space to address racial trauma and foster resilience among Black and African American residents in the larger Santa Barbara area.

  • Ana Guerrero Gallegos, Princeton University

    Student Workshop: Connecting the Past and Present: Chicana/o Organizations and their Advocacy for Undocumented Immigrant Rights 

    This workshop invites students to explore Chicana/o organizations' activism for undocumented immigrants' rights and the different forms of belonging they constructed in the late 20th century through a historical perspective. By looking at different primary sources, such as organizations’ documents, newspapers, and Chicana/o activists’ handwritten records, students will learn to analyze the various forms of activism used by each organization and understand how historical narratives are constructed. Students will be asked to bridge connections between past and present as a means to develop an understanding of current-day political concerns and activism.

    Workshop Presenter: Ana Guerrero Gallegos is a Ph.D. candidate in the history department at Princeton University. She studies the histories of undocumented immigrants in the second half of the 20th century and 21st century. She is interested in how specific federal and state immigration legislation affected undocumented women and their families and how undocumented women and their allies reacted to immigration bills and laws. She graduated from UCSB in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Chicana/o Studies with a minor in History.

  • Michelle Glass, Public Art and Social Practice Artist

    Student Workshop: Awaken Your Color Story through the Magic of Plants:

    Awakening our color story helps us reclaim our connection to the land and each other. Our stores are held deep within us, hidden in the land of our people, ingredients we use in traditional family recipes, and in the landscape around us. Together we will discover how Indigenous people created natural dyes by extracting pigment from bugs, bark, and plants. We will experiment with dye infusions to create a variety of tonal ranges and explore how dyes react with various fibers such as silk, wool, cotton and linen. Fabric swatches will be provided however participants are welcome to bring additional prewashed natural cotton fabric items to experiment with. Wear clothes and shoes that you don’t mind getting stained and feel free to bring an apron and rubber gloves to protect your hands and clothing.

    Workshop Presenter: Michelle Glass is a Public Art and Social Practice artist that works alongside BIPOC communities to reclaim our ancestral histories and deepen our connections between the land and each other. She creates community engaged art that considers the geographic and social/historic attributes of the community, acknowledges the contributions and histories of diverse groups, amplifies the voices of the people, and provides an opportunity for collective actions.  Her work is site, engagement, and community based and is deeply rooted in her personal history. She is a third generation Chicana with Indigenous Yaqui roots that comes from a legacy of ancestors that were land stewards.  As a young child, she moved from urban East Los Angeles to the rural, agricultural town of Moorpark, CA where everyone knew their neighbors and generations of families nurtured the land. Throughout the years, relatives shared stories about their lives living on a ranch or in wooden farmworker carriages as they followed the crops. This was a time when people realized that all life is interconnected and interdependent.  Growing up within these two perspectives, she witnessed firsthand the contradictions between the wealth and poverty of communities and inequities around race, bureaucracy, language barriers, and culture.  This experience prompted her to use art as a tool to bring disparate groups together in an effort to build equity and social justice. Her methodology embraces research, arts education, community building, and community engagement. She holds a BA in Art Education/Single Subject Teaching Credential with an emphasis in Art Studio Photography from the California State University, Los Angeles and a MFA in Public Practice from Otis College of Art and Design.

  • Dr. Bre Evans-Santiago, Cal State Bakersfield

    Student Workshop: Mirror, Mirror 

    Students will acknowledge and discuss gender and body dysmorphia and feeling out of place. We will then talk about what helps us thrive and create virtual or artistic visuals of mirrors for ourselves.

    Faculty Workshop: The Fives “Senses” of Thriving as a Trans* and/or Gender Creative Person on Campus

    We will develop empathy and discuss the needs of our T*GC folx on campus and what we could embrace of our five “senses” as we become more inclusive and celebratory on campus.

    Workshop Presenter:

    Dr. Bre Evans-Santiago is the Chair and an Assistant Professor of the Teacher Education Department Cal State University Bakersfield, where she also Co-Directs the CSU Center for Transformational Educator Preparation Programs (CTEPP) housed at the Chancellor’s Office, and co-chairs the LGBTQ+ Pride Affinity Group.
     
    She has been an educator serving faculty, students, families, and communities in both K-12 and higher education settings for over twenty years. Dr. Evans-Santiago has an Educational Administration Master’s Degree and is a Doctor of Education, focusing on Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy. Her passions include providing awareness of issues and access toward opportunities for students of color, and implementation of inclusive curriculum within public schools. Her current project beyond CTEPP is providing LGBTQ+ curriculum for educators and working with them in various capacities to document outcomes from implementing inclusive curriculum in K-12 schools.

  • Dr. Avi McClelland-Cohen, Polytechnic School

    Student Workshop: Organizing and Communicative Practices for a Transformative Activist Community.

    This workshop will explore the communicative practices involved in building effective, resilient activist communities. Participants will learn about practices that facilitate both broad and deep organizing, drawing on long-standing traditions such as narrative organizing, which has contributed to the success of efforts such as the Civil Rights and United Farm Workers Movements. After developing a basic understanding of key practices, participants will develop and share their own stories of what motivates them to pursue social change, practicing skills that will be transferable to any community organizing context.

    Workshop Presenter: Dr. Avi McClelland-Cohen is an Upper School History and English teacher at Polytechnic School in Pasadena. She completed her doctorate in Communication at the University of California Santa Barbara in 2020, where her research focused on the communicative practices involved in social movement organizing and community building. She also has experience with labor, electoral, and community activism.

  • Narmeen Hashim, Seeds of Belonging

    Student Workshop: The Writings on the Wall: The Revolutionary Art of Belonging

    Join Artist, Critical Geographer, and Social Rights Advocate Narmeen Hashim for an engaging session in which you will explore the way graffiti art has been used by black, brown, and indigenous communities of color to mark culture and history onto the walls of the city. Using aerosol primed canvas, paint markers, and sharpies together we will create a collective art piece as an expression of group identity.

    Workshop Presenter: 

    Narmeen Hashim is an artist, social rights advocate, and geographer. She has a passion for working towards a more just, equitable world through inspiring creative activation in hearts. She combines her passion for human dignity and global wellness as a geographer by working with others to strategize micro and macro solutions that integrate an intersectional knowing of the social and physical world; human community and earths capacity. Narmeen holds a Bachelor of Arts Honors in Geography and Political Science from the University of Ottawa, and a Master of Arts in Geography from York University. She is currently the Co-Director of Seeds of Belonging: Inclusive Early Childhood Spaces, an anti-bias anti-racist education program for teachers and parents of children age 0-8 in the Ojai Valley.

  • Alea Wade, Blk Crcl

    Student Workshop: Circles of Belonging   

    Students are invited to build community through the practice of storytelling. Join us for a Listening Circle (Council) exploring themes of community, activism, and belonging as a practice of freedom.

    Workshop Presenter: 

    Alea is an educator, certified council trainer, and community organizer. She holds a B.A. from UC Santa Barbara with studies in Philosophy, English, and Black Studies; and shares her knowledge to create and collaborate on social-emotional programs in support of community, growth, healing, and empowerment. She has worked with children, community organizations, schools, teams, corporate groups, and individuals – leading outdoor education programs, facilitating groups, and training others on the principles and practices of council to build more bridges of access at the intersections of healing, council, and social equity. Alea is the co-founder and Executive Director of Blk Crcl (pronounced “Black Circle”) – a community organization that prioritizes accessibility to healing practices, council, outdoor education, and nature-based retreats for Black people in support of mental health, personal development, and the generational healing of Black communities impacted by systems of oppression. 

    Alea also serves as the Program Associate for Center for Council and the Administrator for the Trainer’s Mentoring Circle. And she has worked and collaborated with The Ojai Foundation, Youth Passageways, Crossroads School, Brentwood School, Celebrate Life, UCSB, UCLA, The Youth Justice Coalition-LA, Ventura Charter School, Campbell Hall, Deutsch, Snapchat Inc., and Independent Living Resource Center.

  • Zingha Foma, New York University

    Student Workshop:  Is the Dashiki African? Tracing the Origins of the Textile used to Produce the Dashiki Tunic

    Globally, people assume that the Dashiki tunic is quintessentially African. However, this shirt has a more complicated origin, with roots in Ethiopia, Ghana, the Netherlands, and the United States of America. This presentation will unravel the complex, multicultural, and multinational history of the Angelina textile, made in the Netherlands and used to produce the Dashiki tunic in Africa and the diaspora. We will be exploring the three major ways a European-made textile, such as the textile used to produce the Dashiki shirt, came to be known as a traditional “African textile.”

    Workshop Presenter: Zingha Foma is a UCSB alumnus and currently a fourth-year history Ph.D. candidate at NYU, studying African history. She studies eighteenth-century textile trade and fashion between the English and West Africans on the Gold Coast. She examines the eighteenth-century Atlantic trade between the English and Africans on the Gold Coast to uncover how commercial relationships and trade goods transformed the accumulation of wealth, the (under) development of local industries, and fashion on the Gold Coast. Zingha is also an African designer and business owner who hand crafts African clothes that are culturally significant and historically relevant.

  • Christian Garris, The Thacher School

    Student Workshop: What is “Freedom” and How is it Portrayed in Music?

    Within the framework of “Belonging as a practice of freedom”, What does Freedom actually mean? What does it mean where we show up? How do our various identities impact our relationship with freedom? The hope here is to explore what freedom looks like in our various communities, institutions and the countries in which we live and work. This session will also use music as a lens through which we experience “Freedom” . How do various songs portray the notion of “freedom” and how do they impact the listener? Feel free to come with some of your favorite freedom songs and we will also listen to FREEDOM by Jon Batiste really loud! …and possibly dance. 

    Workshop Presenter: 

    Christian Garris is an alumnus of Tabor Academy and is both the Associate Director of Admission and the Associate Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Thacher.

  • Erin Garris, The Thacher School

    Student Workshop: Yoga for a Feeling of Belonging and Freedom
     
    This workshop will begin with a grounded and introspective practice in order to become rooted and connected to the self and safe in the communal space. We will practice affirmations of belonging while participating in gentle yoga. As we warm up and become more connected to ourselves, the experience will flow and move with freedom. No experience necessary, and all are welcome to join!  

    Workshop Presenter: 

    Ms. Garris’s yoga journey began over twenty years ago. Captivated by the focus, strength and sense of balance it provided. A lifelong student of physical motion, she began teaching yoga to family and friends who participate in high intensity workouts. She has completed over 500 hours of Yoga Teacher Training under the instruction of Tiffany Cruikshank, founder of Yoga Medicine. Following a path of holistic health, Erin became a Reiki practitioner in 2013, studying under the direction of Master Shannon Foley, founder of Healing Within. She continued on the path and became a Reiki Master Teacher in 2018.  She furthered her commitment to education and instruction when earning her Bachelor’s in Education and Art from Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, VT, and her Master’s Degree in Education from Lesley University in Boston, MA. She opened a yoga studio in New Bedford, MA in 2016. Ms. Garri's’s teaching and mentoring skills expand beyond yoga, and she is currently the Wellness Center Coordinator at Thacher. Erin continues to share the ancient art of Yoga with people of all ages and abilities.

  • Nicole Chung, The Thacher School

    Student Workshop: Black-Asian Solidarity: Where We've Been and Where We Go from Here

    Black and Asian Americans have long been pitted against each other, an example of how White supremacy breeds inter-minority hostility over allyship. Where does this narrative of Black-Asian hostility come from in American communities? How do these experiences lie within and also beyond our borders? And how can we work towards a place of solidarity, despite our differences as minority groups with distinct histories?

    Workshop Presenter:

    Nicole graduated from Amherst in the spring of 2022 with a degree in chemistry and education where she also played important roles in the college’s ongoing efforts around diversity, equity. and inclusion and health and wellness. Nicole wrote her undergraduate thesis about higher education initiatives in maintaining diverse and genuinely inclusive science classrooms, and the role of educators in humanizing what tends to be a very quantitative and objective domain of study. Nicole joined Thacher this year as its newest Fisher Fellow, a two-year appointment where she will gain hands-on experience in the classroom coupled with the personal, expert mentorship that is critical to the growth of beginning teachers. 

  • Lily Clemens, Marty Valdez, and Juan Sánchez, Environmental Action Committee at The Thacher School

    Workshop: Food Apartheid: Radcialized access to healthy and affordable food in America

    In this student and faculty led workshop, attendees will explore the intersection of environmental and social justice through the examination of access to healthy and affordable food. Also known as food deserts, these are geographic areas where residents access to affordable, healthy food options (especially fresh fruits and vegetables) is restricted or nonexistent due to the absence of grocery stores within convenient traveling distance. Food deserts are primarily located in low-income areas with larger populations of people of color. Participants will engage in interactive activities to explore the intersection of food, race, and health. 

    Workshop Presenters: Lily Clemens is currently a Junior at the Thacher school. She has been involved with the Environmental Action Committee (EAC) for three years now, working within Thacher’s environmental justice, eco-rep, and chicken programs, as well as environmental organizations outside of school. This year, she is enjoying working with Marty Martinez and increasing the school’s community engagement with environmental issues.
     
    Marty Valdez is a Thacher student who is working within the EAC and other advocacy groups. He hopes to use art and discussion as a way of unity to combat climate change and other systemic issues. 
      
    Juan Sánchez (faculty) is systems thinking practitioner and an advocate for social and environmental justice. As an educator, he has worked with youth from around the world to provide comprehensive environmental education with a local and global perspective. (Juan holds a bachelor's degree in Natural Resources Management from UNED, Costa Rica, a master's degree in Urban Planning and Environmental Policy from Tufts University, and a professional certificate in Systems Thinking from Cornell University.)

  • Rachel Kesler, The Thacher School

    Student Workshop: Finding Balance: Learning How to Rest and Resisting Burnout

    Students will learn about the seven different types of rest as a lens to understand the     intersection between self-care and racial justice. Students across the United States are as stressed as they’ve ever been: emerging from a global pandemic, living through an era of increased racial unrest and social protest, and struggling with the increasing competition and expectations placed upon them. Throughout all of this, they are also actively learning how to hold space for themselves and how to build an effective toolbox to take on the challenges they’re facing. This workshop will give students yet another set of tools to practice self-care and to contextualize their need for rest to effectively meet that need. 

    Workshop Presenter: Rachel Kesler hails from Flagstaff, Arizona and is a member of the Navajo Nation. After growing up in Arizona, she moved to New Hampshire to attend Dartmouth College, where she studied History and Native American Studies, and wrote her senior honors thesis on the first class of Native women to attend the college. Since graduating, she has been teaching for four years, first at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut before moving to Thacher this fall. She has taught a variety of classes, including United States history, world history, Native American studies, and the American West. Among her favorite topics of conversation are finding a healthy work/school/life balance, cats and cat pictures, and anything outdoors.

Event Information

Event Date: January 16, 2023
Students and All Visitors: 9am-2pm
Faculty/Staff: 9am-3pm

Schedule
9:15 am - Opening Remarks and Opening Keynote with Albert Nascimento (Milligan Center)
10:30 am - Workshops (Various)
11:30 am - Lunch (Dining Hall)
12:30 pm - Student Panel and Closing Keynote with Leah Thomas (Milligan Center)
 
Location: The Thacher School, 5025 Thacher Rd, Ojai CA 93023
After entering the gate, please park in the lot immediately to your right and follow the signs to the Milligan Performing Arts Center.

Event Details: The day will begin with opening remarks and a keynote before students go off to engage with various workshops across campus before returning to lunch together in the dining hall. Closing remarks and a keynote will round the day and guests will be able to disembark from campus by 2pm. 

Registration: While the Symposium is free to attend, space is limited. Please register no more than one adult, and 3-5 students that uphold and/or are representative of the justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion values at your school. 

List of 2 members.

  • Photo of Sepideah Mohsenian-Rahman

    Sepideah Mohsenian-Rahman 

    Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Counselor
    Bio
  • Photo of Christian Garris

    Christian Garris 

    Associate Director of Admission, Associate Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    Bio
A college preparatory boarding school for grades 9-12
5025 Thacher Road
Ojai, California, 93023
Tel: 805-646-4377 Fax: 805-646-9490 Email: info@thacher.org 
Notice of nondiscriminatory policy as to students: The Thacher School admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other School-administered programs.