March 17, 2021
Dear LREI Community,
I hope that this note finds you well and enjoying the slow-but-sure arrival of spring. We are almost there, really.
I write to ask you to join me in welcoming our incoming Director of Equity and Community, Dr. Kalil Oldham. Kalil emerged as the best candidate for the role after an extensive national search that began in the fall after last year’s initial process concluded.
The search committee reviewed dozens of applications selected by our search consultant from a much larger pool. We then interviewed a dozen people “in-person,” followed by three finalists who joined us for an extensive all-day interview process. At the conclusion of this process, Kalil stood out as the person who would join the LREI community ready to support our current efforts and challenge us to grow, to learn, and to become a more just community while influencing the larger community to do the same.
Kalil comes to LREI from the Episcopal Academy outside of Philadelphia where he is a DEI Coordinator and Upper School History Teacher. Before Episcopal, Kalil spent 10 years at the Horace Mann School where he was a history teacher and led a variety of smaller programs in the high school. Prior to Horace Mann, Kalil was a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota and a teacher at the Loomis Chaffee School. An avid rock climber and out-doors person, Kalil brings a variety of skills, passions, perspectives, and areas of expertise to his equity work.
Tammy Dunn, Search Committee Chair and Kindergarten Teacher, adds, “I am delighted that Kalil will be joining the community as our new Director of Equity and Community. On behalf of the DEI facilitators and the search committee, I would like to extend a warm welcome and congratulations to him. Kalil stood out amongst the finalists as a passionate practitioner of equity and justice work, a strong communicator, and a collaborative listener who will meet us where we are and work to move us forward with our vision as we strive to be an anti-racist, anti-bias institution.”
In our conversation about his joining the LREI community, Kalil said, “I am an admirer of LREI’s progressive philosophy, orientation toward justice, and demonstrated commitment to living the school’s values. In conversation with students, staff, faculty, parents, and school leaders during the search process, I was inspired by the genuine warmth I felt, the moral clarity I witnessed, and the wealth of knowledge and experience this community possesses. I’m excited and honored to be joining the team, I’m humbled by the task before us, and I’m eager to get to work in the service of our young people.”
I want to take this opportunity to thank the search committee for the many hours of work they put into this process this year and last. Focused on LREI’s mission, on our history of equity and inclusion work, and on the work we have still to do, this group created a thoughtful search process and brought us to an excellent result. Thank you to Tammy Dunn for her expert leadership of this year’s efforts. Thank you, as well, to the many, many members of the LREI community who joined this process, including members of the Board of Trustees, the Parents Association Executive Committee, the Affinity Group leaders and many members of the faculty and administrative staff and, of course, our high school students. Thank you one and all.
Kalil and I are discussing ways for him to get to know the LREI community in the months between now and when he joins us officially on July 1. I will be in touch as we create these opportunities.
Welcome, Kalil. We are looking forward to our work together.
Be well, all,
