NYSAIS Justice, Equity, & Diversity Institute

About the Institute

The Justice, Equity, and Diversity Institute aims to equip its participants to advance the work of justice, equity, and diversity in schools. It is designed to provide a comprehensive mid-level entry point into all aspects of equity work in independent schools, including specific topics related to identity and oppression, practices in the field, and strategic approaches to the work. The Institute harnesses the synergy of a cohort that explores these topics over a whole academic year, and provides access to participants to the networks available through past cohorts, the NYSAIS community, and the collective of diversity practitioners in the country.

The Institute is for NYSAIS and other independent schools who currently have a Director of Diversity who would benefit from this experience, and NYSAIS and other independent schools without a Director of Diversity who wish to strengthen their efforts by seeking this training for a faculty or staff member who may or may not fill this formal role. The institute has particular appeal to classroom teachers looking to apply a firmer equity lens to curriculum and pedagogy, and to faculty and staff members interested in part- or full-time director of diversity roles (whether or not they are given the title of Director of Diversity.)

Over the course of one year, cohort members participate in:

• • Opening retreat – August (required)
  • Diversity Practitioners Conference and Justice, Equity, and Diversity Institute Closing Retreat at Mohonk Mountain House, late April/early May (required)
  • One NYSAIS Governance Workshop, September (required)
  • One full-day Diversity Symposium in New York City – April (required)
  • A series of webinars over Zoom, as well as some in-person gatherings
  • A mentor partnership
  • An online Slack community to extend the work asynchronously

Topics include:

• Common Challenges and Trends in Justice, Equity, and Diversity
• Leading Change: Developing a Personal Vision for Institutional Justice, Equity, and Diversity
• Best Practices for Engaging School Leadership and Varied Constituent Groups
• Justice, Equity, and Diversity in the Curriculum, and Various Identity-Based Topics
• Crisis Management and Conflict Resolution
• Data Gathering, Conducting Research and Evidence-Based Decision-Making

Specific Dates for the 2026-27 Cohort:

• Thursday, November 6, 2025 – Application will open
• Thursday, January 15, 2026 – Application & Letter of Recommendation deadlines
• Friday, April 3, 2026 – Payment Due
• April 2026 – Cohort #9 announced
• Wednesday, August 5 – Friday, August 7, 2026 – Opening Residential Retreat (required) – Millbrook School
• Trustee Governance Workshop – Choice between September 2026 or January 2027 (required)
• NYSAIS Diversity Symposium – April 2027 (required) – Lycée Français de New York
• NYSAIS Diversity Practitioners Conference and Justice, Equity, and Diversity Institute Closing Retreat – late April/early May 2027 (required) – Mohonk Mountain House
• Monthly seminar dates announced in Spring 2026, typically held on Sunday over Zoom

Application for 2026 – 2027

The ninth Justice, Equity, and Diversity Institute cohort, consisting of roughly 20 members, will begin in the summer of 2026. The deadline for completed applications is January 15, 2026. The 2026-2027 cohort will be announced in March 2026.

Candidates must:

1. 1. Complete the online application form
   2. Attach a current résumé to the online form
   3. Ask your Head of School, Assistant / Associate Head, Division Head, or Department Chair to upload a letter of recommendation using a separate, secure form

Cost: $3,900 (NYSAIS member school) | $4,680 (non-NYSAIS member schools) – all-inclusive for the 1-year program. This fee is non-refundable.

2026 – 2027 Staff

The principal leaders of the Justice, Equity, and Diversity Institute are Dr. Kalil Oldham and Semeka Smith-Williams. Additional facilitators contribute to the program in various ways.

Dr. Kalil Oldham (he/him) is the Director of Equity and Community at the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, located in the heart of Greenwich Village, New York City. Kalil brings a rich range of experience and expertise to his work with the NYSAIS JEDI program: decades of teaching and writing history; a commitment to whole child education (including experiential education, outdoor education, and student-centered learning); knowledge of independent school leadership; familiarity with non-profit governance; approaches to building community across all independent school constituencies; and the careful, strategic work of creating and implementing equitable and inclusive policies, practices, and procedures schoolwide in a Pre-K-12th grade institution.

Prior to joining LREI’s leadership team in 2021, Kalil was a high school history teacher and DEI coordinator at Episcopal Academy (PA), a high school history teacher at the Horace Mann School (NYC), and a high school physics teacher, coach, and dorm advisor at the Loomis Chaffee School (CT). Beyond independent schools, Kalil spent many years working in higher education, most recently as a Visiting Professor in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine program at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Kalil has also served on the NYSAIS EPIC (formerly “Diversity”) Committee since 2023, and on the Board of a non-profit organization dedicated to equity and diversity in the outdoor recreation industry since 2021.

Kalil earned a PhD and MA in History from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in History and Science from Harvard University.

Semeka Smith-Williams currently serves as the Upper School Dean of Students at The Calhoun School. She has more than 20 years of experience working in schools as a Kindergarten teacher, Elementary Dean of Students, LS Diversity Coach and Dir of Diversity & Equity. Semeka worked at the Packer Collegiate Institute and Community Partnership Charter School in Brooklyn, Manhattan Country School, and River East Elementary School. For ten years, Semeka was a member of the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) Diversity Committee and also served as Co-Chair for two terms. She is an Associate with the Institute for Social and Emotional Learning (IFSEL) conducting sessions with educators from around the world.

Semeka received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University in African American and American Studies and a M.S.Ed. in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Bank Street College of Education. She is also a proud member of the third cohort of the NYSAIS Emerging Leaders Institute (ELI).

Please contact NYSAIS Support for additional information.