Wheeler Diversity Conference
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2021 Wheeler (Virtual) Diversity Conference: “Identity & Belonging”
Saturday, May 1, 2021 | 9 am – 3 pm | $800 per school
What is the Wheeler Diversity Conference?
Partnering with Pollyanna, Inc., The Wheeler School joins a national group of independent schools hosting a one-day conference to create a platform that Pollyanna describes as a place “where groups of people can explore together diversity, inclusion, and equity; and share ideas, experiences, and knowledge in order to become change agents in their immediate communities. This conference model is a dynamic, focused and interactive program that provides guidance and training for community leaders. The goal is to improve inclusion within communities and the understanding that racial, socioeconomic, religious, and sexual diversity enhances all elements of the community.”
How the conference is structured
Unlike other conferences, Pollyanna has a unique structure. Each school will be represented as a School “pod” – with approximately 14 individuals who play a role in advancing the diversity discussion at your school. You will send two members from each of the following groups, if possible: administrators, alums, diversity practitioners, faculty, parents, 6th through 12th-grade students, and trustees. This conference is an amazing professional development opportunity for faculty.
Schedule for the day
The 2021 conference will be held virtually, running from 9 am – 3 pm. The morning begins with a keynote speaker, then workshops broken into each constituent group and individually facilitated. After lunch, there is a student presentation then afternoon workshops for each of the individual pods (school groups.) The day ends with a closing sharing session.
Conference Keynote Speaker Announced
Nationally-known author and educator, Dr. Ali Michael, will be the keynote speaker at the 2021 Wheeler Diversity Conference for area independent schools.
Ali Michael, Ph.D., is the co-founder and director of the Race Institute for K-12 Educators, and the author of Raising Race Questions: Whiteness, Inquiry and Education (Teachers College Press, 2015), winner of the 2017 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. She is co-editor of the bestselling Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice: 15 Stories (2015, Stylus Press) and bestselling Guide for White Women who Teach Black Boys (2018, Corwin Press).
Wheeler Diversity Conference 2019
