Last Tuesday, DSST launched our first network-wide race based Affinity Groups! Over 40 staff members braved a snowy evening to come together at Cole Middle School and spend meaningful time sharing honest dialogue and reflection.  Together we are excited to continue our personal and collective identity journeys and equity work.

Equity work can be many things, but it often starts with identity, and it often thrives when there is community.  At DSST we believe that who you are is sacred, and we need to take the time and space to honor our identities, individually and together, so that we can collectively impact our mission. Working towards educational equity means sending 100% of our kids to college, but it also means developing our own equity mindsets, unpacking our own identities, learning, healing, and reflecting in safe spaces through courageous conversations.

One participant shared that after Affinity Groups they felt “both seen, supported, and challenged--I’m excited to embrace the opportunity to be a part of an intentional space to actually talk about issues that can be hard to talk about.”

Another participant shared, “I didn’t know I needed a space like this until I had it--I know this is a space where I can go deeper, be more honest with and about myself, and come out with a stronger mindset that will impact my work, my kids, my co-workers, and myself”

We would love for you to join us at our upcoming meetings--it’s ok if you missed the first one! All are welcome!

The dates for the upcoming meetings are as follows:

• Tuesday March 19, 2019

• Tuesday April 19, 2019

• Tuesday May 14 2019

If you would like the outlook invitation, please reach out to Uzma.Chowdhury@scienceandtech.org.

If you are interested in dinner/childcare:

Dinner:

Please accept the outlook invitation 72 hours prior to the event. There will be voting buttons at the top that will allow you to select “yes or no” to needing dinner!

Childcare:

Please accept the outlook invitation and reply to Uzma.Chowdhury@gmail.com 72 hours prior to the event with details about your children.

Why race-based affinity groups?

• Users will find that there’s an intentional but not a sole focus on race.

• Identities are exponential; choosing to focus on one aspect of identity allows us to deeply understand racial identity while also preventing exclusion of certain identities. Narrowing the lens intentionally narrows the scope of what otherwise would be an infinite list.

• Race is external, unlike most other identities. It is often the first point of judgment and exclusion.

• DSST’s focus on integrated schools means that we interface directly with racial diversity as a core component of our model, and therefore must take ownership of the impact of race on our mission.

• Even as participants continue to explore other lines of identity—it is done through an intersectional lens.

Why adult learners?

• Identity development is neither finite or linear. Because there’s no final destination, the space to reflect and investigate about identity needs to exist both for adults and students, particularly for those adults attempting to build identity investigation spaces for students. Affinity Groups honor DSST’s institutional recognition of this necessary space.

• As adults, we must cultivate our own identity development simultaneously as we look to the students.

Also, please check out our DEI Portal on the Helix. Here you will find resources and programming that aim to support all of our collective work toward developing our equity mindsets.

Please reach out to uzma.chowdhury@scienceandtech.org with any questions.

Uzma Chowdhury