Los Angeles, California, United States
Seasoned Multiethnic Education-Leader & Inclusive-Administrator with 24 years' of culturally responsive pedagogical training, traversing Delhi, Virginia, California & Washington. Consistently achieving illustrious milestones, my strategic acumen developed Inaugural Inclusive practices; built comprehensive all-school frameworks; tracked strategic planning & institutional policy initiatives; championed Student Belonging & academic support; amplified family engagement; boosted professional development; advocated Admissions Outreach & fortified Hiring Systems; innovated Curricular Design; crafted distinguished University of California (UC) approved 12th Grade courses & enriched school cultures tailored for BIPOC stakeholders; spanning K-12 & Undergraduate milieus. Nurtured in a South-Asian single-parent, Educator-rich, economically middle-class multicultural household, trained at India’s pre-eminent St. Stephen’s College, garnering exceptional pedagogical Honors post which, winning University of Virginia (UVA)’s celebrated 3-year President’s Fellowship propelled me towards distinguished Graduate Honors. Self-made South-Asian 3rd Generation K-12 Educator-Leader, I've earned incremental career trailblazing roles of Inaugural DEIB Director, Director of Inclusion, Founding Co-Chair of Radical Inclusion for Social Equity (RISE) K-12 Committee & Diversity Committee Co-Chair. Guided by visionary commitment to Social Justice, my core inquiry revolves around propelling Diverse Communities into Just Communities. A Systems-Builder & Inclusion-Architect, I've left an indelible mark on Crossroads, Cate & Open Window Schools & UVA; reshaping DEIB initiatives; fueling Enrollment techniques; crafting DEIB workshops; transforming Curricular design & fostering BIPOC Inclusion in Academia. Serving on Senior Leadership Committees, Boards of Trustees & Chairing DEIB Board of Trustees, while steering DEIB Strategic Plans, underscores my dedication to leading with Learning. Multilingual-Dialogist fluent in Hindi, Urdu & English with burgeoning proficiency in Persian, amplifies my engagement with Diverse communities, underscoring my commitment to authentically foster Globally informed & Inclusive landscapes. Hailed a Global-Visionary & Thought-Partner, I cultivate synergistic proficiency, bolstering joyfully Pluralist & profoundly Inclusive milieus. Grounded in professional acumen, indomitable Integrity with unassailable Fortitude, my Leadership ethos epitomizes a foundational mantra of forging United Community.
Design: multiple cooperative learning DEI courses & activities serving scholar athletes for different Elementary & Middle Independent Schools to amplify comprehensive & Inclusive Learning through Play.
Strategic Diversity Leader, 2013 – present Operationalized DEI strategy, ensuring mission alignment, integrating Admissions, Hiring & cultural competency; spearheaded Inclusive policies, championed curricular excellence, student agency & parent engagement. Led transformative DEI workshops for stakeholders, catalyzing pedagogically responsive teaching & institutional growth across all educational levels, acknowledging centrality of DEI competency in teaching, professionalism & collaboration.
As 1st Full-time Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, I Partnered with Admissions; Created Hiring Systems; and Bolstered School Culture to vertically integrate DEI programming within the infrastructure of the school, to regularize it within the daily functioning of the institution at the macro and budgetary level as well at the micro and temporal or more curricular level. Charge and Key Roles– 1. Admissions – Partner with Director of Enrollment Management and Outreach, to focus on Admissions, researching marketing and recruitment options to build a diverse pipeline of applicants. 2. Hiring – Collaborate with HR Manager to focus on hiring, cultivating and applying strategies to recruit and retain a diverse faculty and staff. 3. Build culture and capacity with current students, faculty, and staff with the goal of creating a community where all feel they can bring their whole selves to work. 4. Chair and work with the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Board of Trustees to track progress. 5. Key role and strategic partnerships on vital Administrative Leadership Committees and Gatherings 6. Design and lead several DEI best-practices and curricular programming and trainings for Parents, Guardians, Faculty, Staff and Students
➤ SNAPSHOT Transformed DEI efforts to a skills-based framework that recognizes the centrality of DEI competency to teaching, professionalism, and collaboration. Operationalize Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives of the school and its community so that all members feel a genuine sense of belonging and are able to achieve their greatest potential. Supervise 3 teams with 15+ faculty/staff and various working groups. Address and resolve student and faculty complaints and professionalism issues. ➤ FOCUS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS ✓ A CULTURE OF LEARNING: Planned, created, and delivered 10+ full faculty trainings, 12+ student trainings. Widened scope of trainings, generating a dramatic increase in the professional development that staff receive, all in-house at tremendous cost savings. Develop systems and structure for trainings to have long-term success, ensuring mission integration and built-in processes for support and feedback. ✓ DIVERSITY IN HIRING: Combat implicit bias through equitable systems and processes. Led charge in transitioning to behavior-based interviewing. Completed anti-bias training for all hiring managers, developed core competencies for posts and behavior-based questions around those competencies, generating great results in hiring diverse candidates with needed skills. ✓ LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: Designed and delivered leadership training program to middle and senior level managers to close implementation gaps and augment essential management competencies. ✓ DEI TRAINING: Designed, developed, and implemented DEI training curriculum and skill development for students, faculty, staff, senior leaders, and Board of Trustees to build cultural competencies and deepen role-specific skills to increase engagement and belonging throughout the organization. ✓ STRATEGIC PLANNING: Restructured institutional approach to DEI and led in-house Strategic Planning process. Developed and analyzed alumni survey and managed crisis communications.
Advanced Contemporary Global Geopolitics: Crafted and teach UC approved Honors level advanced course to 12th Graders on international politics.
Mentor four 9th Grade advisees, meeting nearly every day to help navigate their academic and social-emotional development and well-being at school.
• Led committee in evaluating curriculum through an Equity & Justice lens. • Educated on trauma informed lens teaching; aided administration in writing hiring best practices. • Created goals, identify plans, allocate steps for implementation and report on work for future use.
- Member K-12 think tank of Administrative-level Diversity Leaders from across Crossroads: - Reported monthly to Associate Head of School and to each other to monitor and support DEI work.
• Led RISE (Radical Inclusion for Social Equity),K-12 Diversity initiatives at Crossroads for almost 8 years. • Formulated the Mission and Vision Statement for RISE. • Wrote and regularly updated RISE Diversity Strategic Plan. • Planned and facilitated monthly meetings for students, parents, board members, faculty, and staff. • Managed bank of long-term, short-term, and immediate RISE goals vis-à-vis the school. • Monitored DEI communications between elementary, middle, and upper school, directed to RISE. • Liaised between school community and the administration. • Coordinated events between the Equity & Justice Institute and RISE. • Piloted and met monthly with RISE Core Committee. • Provided support to Council and Affinity group training by connecting community needs. • Created videos to advertise Diversity work including RISE at Crossroads. • Brainstormed with heads of parent association and admissions to promote and advertise the school. • Point person on major student and faculty issues that arose.