Intercultural Competency: Reframing Diversity to Drive Inclusion and Belonging in AMISA Schools

**THIS EVENT IS DESIGNED FOR HEADS OF SCHOOL AND GOVERNING BOARDS**

Intercultural Competency: Reframing Diversity to Drive Inclusion and Belonging in AMISA Schools

The mission of all schools compels leaders to foster and sustain an inclusive, and safe environment of belonging to support student learning and healthy development.  In most schools, these efforts typically fall under the umbrella of Diversity and Inclusion. Most international schools, however,  struggle with implementing elements of Diversity and Inclusion, as many of the frameworks are US-centric and do not resonate in a meaningful way within the context of the school environment.

During this two-day learning experience, Dr. Gay will leverage his 24 years of experience as an international educator, diversity and inclusion expert, and global citizen in order to support heads of schools and board members in effectively framing efforts that foster inclusion and belonging in schools.

CONFERENCE LEARNING GOALS 

Day One 

• ​​Learn about the Intercultural Competency Model
• Cultivate common language around diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Engage in exercises to learn more about your own world view, while identifying other viewpoints and perspectives
• Learn strategies to reconcile divergent viewpoints while aligning to common school values and mission
• Brainstorm strategic Intercultural Competency strategic questions and share across schools and participants

 Day Two​​ 

• Learn international school best practices and pitfalls around implementation of diversity, equity, inclusion, and intercultural competency
• Discover strategies to effectively navigate challenging intercultural competency topics through an AMISA regional lens: race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and politics, in an empathic manner than aligns with the School’s mission
• Engage in group case study
• Design provisional intercultural competency/DEI strategic priorities

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ABOUT DR. GAY

Dr. Derrick Gay currently consults with organizations, both domestically and abroad, on issues of Intercultural Competency, Global Citizenship, Diversity, and Inclusion. Over the past 23 years, he has partnered with over 600 organizations across numerous sectors to deepen DEI capacity; enhance inclusion and engagement; attract, hire, and retain the best talent; and design strategy to maximize business goals.

Prior to consulting fulltime, Dr. Gay taught Spanish, French, and music in a number of independent schools in the United States and abroad. His work has been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, El Tiempo Latino, NPR, 60 Minutes, and others. He has also produced two TEDx Talks, exploring the challenges around the word diversity and the nature of racial discourse. A frequent keynote at national and international conferences, Dr. Gay is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and proficient in Portuguese-- and currently consults around the world in these languages. His clients range from schools- independent, international, public, and faith based-- financial services, law, fashion, foundations, business schools, conservatories and orchestras, and global travel companies. Currently, Dr. Gay lectures at Columbia Business School and the International Fashion Academy in Paris, France, in addition to serving as a senior consultant at Sesame Street. Previously, he taught doctoral students at the University of Pennsylvania.

Current and former international school clients include Colegio Nueva Granada, The Pan American School of Porto Alegre, Colegio Nacional de Guatemala, Lower Canada College, Canadian International School of Hong Kong, Lycée Français de New York, Enrolment Management Association, CASE, and the International Boys’ School Coalition, among others. Global business clients include Clarins, Puig, Barilla, Tom Ford, Business of Fashion, Grosvenor GCM, and others.