Widening the Lens 2021

The Far Brook School Diversity Conference

WELCOME! We are excited to announce that Widening the Lens: The Far Brook School Diversity Conference will be held virtually on Saturday, November 13, 2021. Our theme: Where Do We Go From Here? Affirming Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Independent Schools is a response to growing challenges to the value and content of DEI efforts in our schools. It is important to address these challenges by fostering dialogue among our various constituents, and reaffirming our commitment to building and supporting strong diverse communities.

Widening the Lens provides an opportunity for attendees to gain inspiration from industry experts, engage with colleagues and peers, and, importantly, to take action. We look forward to a virtual day of authentic dialogue and collaboration as we seek to become more inclusive, and to nurture informed, engaged, and empowered leaders of tomorrow.

Conference Structure

The unique structure of this conference follows the format of the Dalton School Diversity Conference (NYC), designed by Pollyanna Inc., a nonprofit devoted to increasing racial understanding. We invite schools to register a “pod” of individuals who will work together to advance the diversity and inclusion goals of their school. Each school pod consists of the Head of School, and two participants from each of seven constituencies:

  • Parents
  • Teachers
  • Administrators
  • Students
  • Diversity Coordinators
  • Alumni
  • Trustees

This year, the conference schedule will run from 9:00 AM until 1:30 PM. The opening presentation includes a welcome by Head of School Amy Ziebarth, the featured keynote conversation with Q&As, and student speeches. Following the opening, participants will enter breakout rooms to engage in a facilitated dialogue with their peers who represent the same role/constituency group. For example, all faculty (or parents, or trustees, or alumni, etc) from all schools meet together in the same breakout room to share experiences, ideas, and recommendations from their unique perspective. After these facilitated conversations, we will reconvene for a dynamic presentation of the students’ learning and recommendations. This is always a highlight of the conference.

School pods will meet for action planning at a time that is convenient for each school – either that afternoon, or on a school day the following week. We encourage schools to hold the pod meeting within one week of the conference so that the ideas and takeaways from the day are still fresh. The first of three follow-up meetings for Diversity Practitioners is held one month later.

Powerful learning and growth happen when we bring together this cross-section of voices and perspectives that exist within our own communities, and when we share our challenges, experiences, and best practices with colleagues from peer schools.

Keynote: Featured Conversation

Between Jim Best and Jason Craige Harris

This year, the keynote presentation will be a dynamic conversation between independent school leader, Jim Best, and conflict mediation specialist, Jason Craige Harris, to illuminate the current debate about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in independent schools. As a former Head of School, Jim will share insight and strategies about how to bring a community together around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. As an expert facilitator of dialogue, Jason Craige Harris will offer insights and practical approaches to creating authentic conversation across polarized perspectives in our communities. There will be an opportunity for questions and answers at the end.

Jim Best

Jim has spent 30 years in independent schools in the United States and abroad. He has served in a variety of roles including Head of School, Associate Head, Division Director, Teacher, Advisor, and Coach. Jim has always kept his hand in the classroom, having taught and advised students from early childhood through graduate school. Jim serves on a variety of non-profit Boards and is particularly proud to be a founding Board member of Global Online Academy. Jim has significant experience working with schools and organizations throughout the world. He is passionate about Equity & Inclusion, Excellence & Innovation, and Health & Wellness in independent schools—and has spoken and published on these topics locally, nationally, and internationally.

Jim received his BA with Honors and was a John Motley Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds an MA and EdM from Teachers College, Columbia University. He was also a participant in the Klingenstein Center for Private School Leadership where he currently serves on the Advisory Board.

Jason Craige Harris

Jason is a leading voice for organizational healing and societal transformation. He is an equity and belonging strategist, conflict mediator, and restorative justice practitioner. Jason is also a longtime social justice educator, group facilitator, leadership coach, and spiritual guide. He consults in a variety of contexts, with constituents of every age and role, across sectors. Jason is a Consultant at Pollyanna, a national organization working to promote racial literacy and cultural competency, as well as a Partner and Senior Advisor at Perception Institute & Strategies, an international consulting firm and research consortium that promotes empirically grounded solutions to gaps in dignity, equity, and belonging in workplaces and their work.

Jason holds a BA with Honors in religion and African American Studies from Wesleyan University, where he was a fellow at both the Center for the Humanities and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Program, and a MA (summa cum laude) in religion, ethics, and cultural studies from Yale Divinity School, where he was a Marquand Merit Scholar and Extended Year Program Fellow.

Jason will be facilitating the Head of School constituent group discussion.

2021 Conference Leader

Mikki Murphy
Director of Diversity, Equity, and Community
 mmurphy@farbrook.org

2021 Conference Schedule

Past WTL Conferences

2020
(virtual)

Lift Every Voice: Centering the Student Voice in Building Anti-Racist Communities
Keynote: Zerlina Maxwell
Remarks by: Rodney Glasgow

2019

Class in the Classroom: Exploring Socioeconomic Diversity in Our Schools

Keynote: Anthony Jack

2018

From Attending to Belonging: Reimagining Independent School for our Intersectional Communities 

Keynote: Richard Blanco

2017

LGBTQ+: Illuminating the Spectrum and Cultivating Pride

Keynote: Charles Blow

2016

Race: Creating a Generation of Inclusive Thinkers and Community Leaders

Keynote: Howard Stevenson

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