Rosetta Lee

As I end my time here at the POCC Conference, I have to feature another role model for our girls who happens to be at SGS every day, Rosetta Lee. After receiving her B.A. in Biology from Harvard University, Rosetta worked as a Residence Director, Instructor, and Advisor at the Exploration Summer Program, as well as spending eight years as a Stage Manager with Actor's Equity Association. She joined SGS in its very first year and has expanded upon her primary areas of research to include equity and social justice, single-sex education, ethics education, neurobiology, and how we learn. Rosetta currently serves as a speaker, trainer, and consultant throughout the nation.

At this POCC, she served as a facilitator for the Asian/Asian American Affinity Group and presented workshops that included a "Train the Trainer" session described by one of the conference bloggers:

Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee Trains the Trainers

Rosetta taps into her own crafted facilitation skills as she trains a large group of participants on how to facilitate conversations about race. She reminds us that “authentic friendships” across race implies that regular discussions occur around race; otherwise, she questions how authentic these relationships really are.

A few great moments:

* Privilege is like fish seeing the water.
* Be mindful of “Leadership Oppression.”
* It’s not about blame, and it’s not about personal guilt.

The Afternoon

Following the inspirational speech of Mr. Green, the afternoon provided another opportunity to meet another remarkable woman. Linda Villarosa is a journalist, author, editor, and now novelist. For several years, she edited the health pages for The New York Times, working on health coverage for Science Times and for the newspaper at large. She was also the executive editor of Essence magazine -- two different times -- where she wrote or edited a number of award-winning articles. In her speeches and lectures, Villarosa addresses topics including "coming out," HIV/AIDS in the black community, women's health and wellness, LGBT workplace issues, and parenting. Her humor was combined with words of wisdom that really resonated with me - the idea of multiple identities "crashing" into each other at key points in our lives; and how to pick up the pieces, integrate and get whole again.

A Remarkable Day at POCC

Today's sessions included some very definite highlights and more role models for the girls - both male and female.

The morning started with Ernest Green. Yes, one of the "Little Rock Nine" who changed the face of American education forever! Mr. Green earned his high school diploma from Central High School in Little Rock, AR. He and eight other black students were the first to integrate Central High, following the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that declared segregation illegal. On November 9, 1999, President Clinton presented Green, along with the rest of the "Little Rock Nine," the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor given to a civilian, for outstanding bravery during the integration of Little Rock Central High School in 1957. He is presently the managing director of public finance for Lehman Brothers' Washington, DC, office. He has also been appointed as chairman of the African Development Foundation, and chairman of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Capital Financing Advisory Board.

I had the distinct honor to meet and share the stage with Mr. Green along with eight other Heads of Color at the conference. The entire audience was surprised to learn that there are only 53 people of color holding top leadership positions in over 1400 independent schools in the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). We have come so far, but have a ways to go.

Phoebe Eng

What a remarkable first day at the NAIS People of Color Conference!

Phoebe Eng - strategist, national lecturer, and author of Warrior Lessons - addressed many of her topics to the young people in the audience. She urged them to find those best places that will make a place for their "whole selves." Her book is a memoir-based examination of race, empowerment, and leadership in a rapidly changing world. She also provided three broad guidelines for our future leaders:

- There will be unique opportunities in "flattened hierarchies" that are becoming more and more common.
- Future generations will need to open up the "silos" of their lives in order to bring their whole selves to the table.
- Young people will need to fully engage the world around them, but on their terms - retaining the cores values they develop as individuals.

Eng has worked with a broad range of institutions - city, state, and federal agencies, Fortune 500 companies, churches and universities - helping them to understand the complexities and opportunities of a multicultural society and develop programs which increase the participation of women and people of color. Her next book Fluency will capture the highlights of this lecture series.

Once past the morning of inspiration, I had the opportunity to participate in the Latina/o-Hispanic American Affinity Group. Smart phone technology helped us quickly get a sense of who was in the room (check out http://www.polleverywhere.com/), and then we began a two-day exploration of our collective racial-cultural identity. I should highlight that a few doors down, Rosetta Lee, SGS faculty member, was helping lead the Asian/Asian American Affinity Group. Rosetta will also present two workshop sessions to her peers as she is well known and well regarded nationally in this work. You would all be very proud of the SGS presence at this gathering.

We ended the day with a gathering of folks from the Pacific Northwest region - mostly from Seattle - and we shared some of the local opportunities for young people and adults alike. More tomorrow!