Director of Diversity

Yvonne Adams has been at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School for 24 years. She has served in multiple roles in her tenure at SSES: Middle School Athletic Director, Upper School Assistant Athletic Director, Middle School Dean, Middle School Residential Liaison, Dorm Parent, Member of the Discipline Committee, Coach for various sports, and faculty advisor for multiple clubs. She has been overseeing diversity and equity initiatives at St. Stephen’s since 2010, and Yvonne is also an academic advisor, advisor of Unapologetic (Black Affinity Space), health teacher, Student Government sponsor, Girls basketball coach, and a house parent to eleventh grade girls. She is an educator, school administrator, diversity practitioner and activist, and a strong advocate for the disadvantaged and underrepresented. She serves on the board of Austin Bat Cave, a nonprofit organization that provides a diverse population of students with opportunities to develop their creative and expository writing skills. Yvonne also serves as the Member Liaison and Consultant for the National Diversity Practitioners Institute, a program designed for those with responsibilities for aiding the equity and justice initiatives in their schools and assists those members in planning their diversity efforts at their school with support from institute faculty throughout the year with a formal mentoring program. Yvonne holds a B.S. in Community Health from Texas A&M University and a Master of Science in Education for School Leadership from the University of Texas at Tyler. She and her partner, Kevin, have three children: Brittany, KJ, and Jaila.

The Director of Diversity is a senior administrative position. Created in 2010, the Director of Diversity serves as the nexus of St. Stephen’s efforts to sustain and advance an inclusive community, as defined by our school’s mission statement and consistent with its core values. The Director of Diversity is charged with ensuring that diversity is integrated throughout the community and curriculum at SSES.

The Director of Diversity:

Serves as a resource to parents, students, faculty and staff
works closely with the each division head and faculty and staff to support a diverse body of learners and develop a keener sense of what each child needs to flourish.
Mediates racial and cultural misperceptions
Counsels and mentors students providing them with an opportunity to become engaged in active social work.
Provides support for community members as related to various personal identifiers, including gender, sexual identity, race and ethnicity, and religious and spiritual beliefs.

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