Director of Community & Equity

The Opportunity

Concord Academy, an independent, coeducational, day and boarding school renowned for its world-class faculty, dedicated staff, passionate students, and graduates who make their mark on the world, seeks a Director of Community and Equity to begin July 1, 2021.

The Director of Community and Equity is responsible for guiding and implementing the school’s day-to-day work in the areas of diversity, inclusion, and access throughout the school community. As such, this role is immersed in direct student contact, support, and programming, as well as direct collaboration and rapport with faculty and staff members. The Director of Community and Equity works closely with, and reports to, the Dean for Academic Program and Equity — which is itself a strategically created role at the school. Together, the Dean for Academic Program and Equity, Director of Community and Equity, and the Community & Equity Team lead the school to enliven the central tenet of the school’s mission, “striving for equity.”

The incoming Director of Community and Equity will find many institutional supports for their work: a long institutional history of leading independent schools in DEI work coupled with a desire for continual growth and improvement; a school culture that encourages engaging in DEI and anti-racism work, even when it is challenging or messy; active effort to address concerns from #blackatconcord; a commitment to try to shift from “opt-in” culture to engagement of all community members in this work; thoughtful and ongoing work to develop policies and practices that support transgender, gender non-binary, and genderqueer students; and more than fifteen affinity or social justice groups. The Director of Community and Equity will also find a community eager to investigate issues of access and equity, including the STEM equity task force which examined disparities in learning outcomes among students in those courses.

The Director of Community and Equity leads a small team of experienced and passionate faculty and students who together comprise the Community & Equity Team. Soliciting broad input and involvement from students, faculty, and staff, the Community & Equity Team collaborates to shepherd and advance Concord Academy’s diversity and equity ideals. View the full opportunity statement here.

Strategic Priorities/Opportunities for the Director of Community and Equity include:

• Help define what equity looks like in an independent boarding school setting
• Champion all dimensions of diversity and equity in the community
• Serve as a thought-partner to the Dean for Academic Program and Equity to envision a curriculum that engages every student in social justice learning in the academic program
• Collaborate with enthusiastic and engaged faculty and staff members to knit diversity and equity efforts across the community
• Set goals and objectives for the members of the Community & Equity Team to facilitate their work
• Make direct connections and relationships with students, graduates, and families
• Partner with Health Services to develop a comprehensive Health & Wellness curriculum that supports students of all identities and promotes belonging and equity as central to wellness in the Concord Academy community

Essential Functions:

• Lead and coordinate the daily efforts of the school to support equitable access to the school’s mission and program for students, faculty and staff, alumnae/alumni, and families
• Develop programming that engages community members in the school’s vision that equity and belonging are the work of all. Some examples include orientation programming, student leadership training, all-school assemblies, professional development and training opportunities for all Concord Academy employees, and family & alumnae/alumni workshops
• Consult with the student life office on residential life and programming
• Partner with the Dean of Faculty and hiring teams to support the recruitment, hiring, and retention of a diverse faculty and staff community
• Partner with the Advancement & Engagement office to support programming and connections for alumnae/alumni with marginalized identities, as well as programming for all alumnae/alumni, current families, etc., that encourages their support of the school’s commitment to equity and the development of global citizens in a collaborative, multicultural world
• Bring faculty and staff into equity work through discussions, workshops, and meetings relating to community and equity
• Represent the office at various key events. Examples include Admissions events, Family Weekend, and Board of Trustee meetings
• Develop goals and objectives with elected student Community & Equity co-heads to define and execute their role and projects, lead the Diversity Coalition, and facilitate Inclusion Council meetings
• Support an active affinity space culture by providing leadership and facilitation training and support to both student co-heads and faculty and staff advisors
• Oversee the execution of the Cohort program, which provides community and mentorship for domestic students receiving the highest financial aid awards to help them navigate Concord Academy as their whole selves • Participate on the Department Heads and Student Support teams

In addition, the Director of Community and Equity will:

• Teach one course per semester in their home discipline or assume another community role
• Keep current with best practices in schoolbased community and equity work and trends through the pursuit of professional development opportunities and networking connections
• Manage a team and a budget with an organized, detail-oriented, resourceful, collaborative, and growth mindset approach