Kara Kutner, Anna Heckman '15, Kirsti Peters and Vicky Orcozo
The relatively new team at the Center for Peace Equity and Justice, which is responsible for all values-based co-curricular programming, plans to build upon the strength of past mission-centered work in 2022-23. In September, Kara Kutner joined Friends as the Director of the Center for Peace Equity and Justice. During her 20-year tenure at Marymount School, Kara served many roles and, most recently, as Director of Academic and Global Programs and Director of College Counseling. In addition to being fluent in Spanish, her experience as an administrator developing curriculum, leading global education programs, and extensive work to support Diversity, Equity and Belonging (DEB), have prepared Kara well for her new role. She comments, “In these early weeks I have been getting to know the team, community and some treasured service traditions like F.L.I.N.G. (Freshman Lead in National Giving) at Governor’s Island, God’s Love We Deliver and the Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association.”
The Director of Diversity, Equity and Belonging, Kirsti Peters, now in her second year, spent her first year listening to the needs and concerns of the community. She comments, “Our community spoke and we listened. It was clear that instead of me telling everyone what to do, it was important for senior administrators to set their own actionable DEB goals.” Over the summer Kirsti met with them individually to identify 30 goals ranging from hiring more diverse faculty and leadership to creating space for faculty, students and parents to be DEB leaders. Kirsti will meet with administrators each month to support and assess their progress. She will also continue to work closely with teachers to strengthen the DEB curriculum inside the classroom, “DEB needs to happen in the classroom before we take it into the world.”
CPEJ also welcomes new team member, Vicky Orozco, Specialist for Diversity Equity and Belonging, and returning team member Annah Heckman '15, Specialist for Service Learning and Civic Engagement.
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