People of Color Conference 2016

January 13, 2017

In December, just before the School started Winter Break, six students and three faculty members flew to Atlanta, for the NAIS People of Color Conference. Director of Multiculturalism and Inclusion Jose Powell, who led the trip says,”PoCC 2016 was historic in many ways, from an attendance that exceeded 5,000 participants, to the conference’s return to Atlanta, considered by many the birthplace of the civil rights movement.” The theme of the 2016 PoCC was the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The PoCC, a branch of the National Association of Independent Schools, is designed to inspire work for equity, diversity, and social justice. “The mission of the conference is to provide a safe space for leadership and professional development… to improve and enhance the interracial, interethnic, and intercultural climate… as well as the attending academic, social-emotional, and workplace performance outcomes for students and adults alike.”

Powell says that for many Cate is as diverse a community as any they’ve previously experienced. “So, how do we recognize, challenge, debunk, probe, recalibrate, fall, rise, affirm and celebrate? After listening to the students who attended, I am encouraged by their willingness to attempt to lend a contribution to answering that question.” Abner Olivares ’19, who took part, says that the result of the presidential election was the subject of many conversations . He and other conference attendees spent time “seeking answers to many questions that had come up in recent days.” He adds, “We, as a diverse community, realized that there has never been a more important time to come together and keep having conversations about diversity in our schools and with each other. The conversation can’t be stopped and it was our job to make sure our message as a community doesn’t get lost.”