About Penn

Penn Pritchard, MAT (they/them/theirs) currently serves as the Director for Education and Development in the Office of Equity and Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where they lead educational initiatives to advance equity and inclusion throughout the campus community. A graduate of Ithaca College with a background in fine arts, art history, and gender studies, Penn also completed their Masters in the Art of Teaching at the The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where they lived for 16 years before relocating to Western Massachusetts in July 2022.

Prior to their appointment at UMass Amherst, Penn was the Coordinator of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at AIM Academy in Conshohocken, PA, where they joined the faculty in 2009. In addition to overseeing DEI curriculum and instruction for 1st - 12th grade at AIM, Penn also designed equity programming for faculty, staff, and the wider school community. They are a 2019 awardee of the MCRC@ADVIS/Carney Sandoe Equity in Action grant, which supported them in developing instructional fidelity measures to formally establish, define, and assess cultural competency as a critical instructional component across all content areas. 

In addition to their work as a school-based practitioner, Penn is also an independent educational consultant and facilitator who is skilled at working with all audiences, from K-12 students to new and pre-service teachers, as well as seasoned educators and administrators. They particularly love to collaborate with schools and community organizations to design learning experiences to meet the needs of each unique group, and are available for speaking engagements, facilitated discussions, interactive classroom workshops, and independent consulting. 

Penn has presented on the topics of equity, inclusion, identity, and evidence-based instruction for students who learn differently at a variety of regional and national events, including:

Belonging @ UMass Conference (Keynote Speaker)

The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Annual Conference

        Carney, Sandoe, and Associates FORUM/Diversity 

SchoolKit's Equity for Early Readers Summit (in collaboration with Dr. Julie Washington)

        New Profit’s Gathering of Leaders for the ReImagine Learning Fund

        Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS) Cultural Competency Institute

        The Multi-Cultural Resource Center @ ADVIS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference

        International Dyslexia Association (IDA) Annual Conference

        National Art Education Association (NAEA) Annual Conference

        Pennsylvania Art Education Association (PAEA) Annual Conference 

Mount Saint Joseph Academy's Alumnae Board DEI Webinar Series (Keynote Speaker)

        The University of the Arts Alumni and Friends Workshop Series

*Complete resume and references available upon request*