Last summer, Head of School Ms. Katherine Bradley hired Erica Ramirez as Dana Hall’s first director of community, equity, and inclusion.
    Ms. Ramirez has made a lot of goals for herself in this new position.
    “The hope with this role is really to focus on how all of our policies and procedures, and just like our school culture to be inclusive and equitable to all students. It’s also looking at our faculty and staff, and making sure our faculty and staff reflects our student body in terms of their racial and ethnic identities.”
    She also mentioned the #MeToo movement, and how we can build confidence in the students in our school that may not feel empowered.
    “It’s just a powerful statement when women are running the show. Particularly after the #MeToo movement, seeing so many women come up and speak about injustices that were done to them, it’s really important to me that women can find their voice. Whether you’re a black, brown, white woman, I think we all share this.”
    Ms. Bradley also has some ideas on how to become a more inclusive school.
    “I think it takes everybody working on it. It’s not the job of one person and one committee, but it’s the work of every student and adult on campus.”
    Ms. Ramirez’s main goal for achieving community, equity, and inclusion is ambitious. However, it can be achieved with a lot of hard work.
    “It’s continuing to help the faculty and staff and student leaders think about how to make their classrooms and their clubs and their athletic teams more inclusive. I want to encourage people to think about their identity, their communal identity and how they are part of a larger system, and the responsibility that comes with being an individual in a larger system.”
    How can we achieve this goal? Ms. Bradley also thinks that Ms. Ramirez’s aim to expand the “Dana Bubble” is an amazing goal for our school.
    “I think it is an extraordinary and wonderful goal, and I think the easiest way we can achieve that goal is to work with one another, be compassionate with one another, and to be courageous with one another.”
    This new position will greatly affect our school as a whole. Ms. Ramirez will work full time, giving her more opportunities to change community, equity, and inclusion at Dana Hall for the better.
    For those of you who do not know, Ms. Ramirez’s office is in common ground, between Conference Rooms B and C. Her door is always open.