Diversity Leadership Training

Student Diversity Leadership Training

National Level (NAIS POCC)
Each year the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) hosts the national People of Color Conference (POCC). The conference was started over 15 years ago with the mission to aid in the professional development of minorities within independent schools. Over the years the conference has grown from a few hundred attendee to over three thousand students, faculty and staff from around the nation and other countries. During the POCC there is a separate conference track for students, which is titled the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC). During this track of the conference, student facilitators are selected from leading schools around the country to assist in the training of other student diversity practicioners.

State Level (PAIS Inclusivity Conference)
The PAIS Conference is designed to increase awareness and cultural sensitivity in independent schools throughout South Carolina. Recently PAIS joined forces with the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools in order to rotate hosting the conference yearly between the two states. The conference format is modeled after the NAIS POCC Conference. Attendees of the NAIS conference are selected to facilitate and train other students here in their home state.

School Level (Council on Equity and Justice)
At the school level our Council on Equity and Justice meets to share experiences, discuss issues of diversity and to conduct awareness exercises that challenge the way we think about others. Once a year the council will host an upstate diversity network meeting to discuss how schools in the Upstate can work together to create more inclusive school cultures.