For the 2018-2019 school year, Friends Select School established a new position, Director of Equity and Inclusion, and hired Toni Graves Williamson to fill the new role.

During the 2017-18 academic year, Naté Hall worked part-time as the Diversity Coordinator and worked to make our school a more collaborative environment by organizing diversity events and meetings that everyone at Friends Select could participate in. However, FSS was in search of someone who could be available full time, and since Naté was committed to her college counseling work, Friends Select searched for another person just as qualified.

Jim Miller, Upper School Dean of Students and part of the hiring committee at Friends Select stated, “We looked at a great many very qualified applicants– some of the best in their field. And to be honest, Toni was at the top. We knew we had a strong candidate on our hands who had an excellent track record of working with students, and who was also a national figure in equity and inclusion work.”

Toni is responsible for supporting the entire community in leading and implementing the school’s diversity efforts.  She does that in a variety of ways. Toni runs a couple of student groups in the Middle and Upper School that focus on issues such as racism and gender inequality. She has been doing so by planning presentations and other opportunities to get more people involved in conversations.  Toni is on a lot of committees that focus on everything from curriculum to standard practices at FSS. She also works with the Parent Association to support the programming of the Multicultural Friends and Family group, the LGBTQ group and the Learning with Differences parent affinity group.

In describing her job, Toni said, “I meet with teachers to help support them– not only with their curriculum but also with helpful and supporting interactions.”  She says, “The list is long! But I love what I am doing!”