On October 22, 2021, Francis W. Parker School will once again host the Administrators of Color in Independent Schools (“ACIS”) Conference. The ACIS Conference, which was first held in 2018, originated from the work of two former Parker Administrators, former Assistant Principal Ruth Jurgensen and former Head of the Upper School Justin Brandon. The ACIS Conference began as a method to address a perceived void in conferences focused on administrators of color. At that time, it was estimated that only 8% of independent school administrators identified as administrators of color. 

Since the inaugural 2018 ACIS Conference, attendance has steadily grown. The first Conference attracted 70 administrators. The next year, in 2019, there were 90 attendees. The third year of the Conference, which was held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, attendance grew to 140 administrators from 22 states and the Virgin Islands. The 2021 Conference will again be held virtually, with attendance reported as 85, with representatives from 15 different states and 1 from the Virgin Islands. 

With the departure of both Jurgensen and Brandon, Assistant Principal Priyanka Rupani now leads the ACIS Conference. Having previously attended the ACIS Conference as a participant, Rupani said, “It’s just been really cool to go from being a participant and then planning and to see what goes into crafting an experience for others that was that that was crafted for me before.”

This year, the ACIS Conference is scheduled for one day, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. During the first two years, the Conference spanned two days. During the pandemic year, the Conference was scheduled for one day, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “We were hoping to make this an in person conference again this year,” Rupani said. “But with everything being so unpredictable, it’s easier to keep it on Zoom.” 

With the ACIS Conference again taking place virtually over one day, “the most important part of the day is to be able to be in a learning mode again, rather than a doing and problem solving mode that most of us administrators are in every day,” Rupani said. 

Parker’s Head of Upper School, Christopher Arnold, shared a similar sentiment on the role of ACIS Conference. “On one hand, it’s great to connect with fellow admin of color across the city and US. On another note, professional development is good for my mind and soul. It gives me new perspectives to consider when meeting with teachers and parents,” Arnold said. 

Despite the switch from in-person to virtual, the ACIS Conference has not significantly evolved over the past four years. Director of Middle and Upper School Studies Sven Carlsson has attended every ACIS Conference. In Carlsson’s opinion, the Conference has not “needed to evolve very much – this is because the format of having three speakers and three subsequent breakout spaces for conversation and processing works really well.” Carlsson also shared that “we have consistently gotten amazing speakers like Ibram X. Kendi and Eve Ewing, and simply having a space for administrators of color in independent schools is itself so novel that the space is special.”  

This year’s ACIS Conference will feature three keynote speakers. Dr. William E. Cross, Jr. is one of America’s leading theorists and researchers on black identity development in particular and racial-ethnic identity development in general. Dr. Adrienne Keene, a member of the Cherokee Nation, is a Native scholar, writer, blogger and activist and is passionate about reframing how the world sees contemporary Native cultures. Dr. Clint Smith is a staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of the narrative nonfiction book How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America. 

As a means to accommodate the virtual format, Rupani revised this year’s Conference schedule. When the Conference occurred in person, “there’s been a speaker on Thursday evening to kick off the Conference and then one in the morning and one in the afternoon on Friday,” Rupani said. Previously, the time between the speakers was allocated to workshops. This year, with a one day format, the emphasis is placed on hearing from the keynote speakers and no time will be allocated to workshops. 

Despite the change in format, the purpose of the ACIS Conference remains unchanged. From Rupani’s perspective, the purpose of the ACIS Conference is to allow administrators to “be a learner again, and to be in an affinity space … and to reflect on their own experiences in their schools.” Arnold, who attended the ACIS Conference in previous years, also attended this year. “Last year was a wonderful experience, and it is what prompted me to apply at FWP. However, this year – to me – was a lot better. It felt tighter. The caliber of the speaker was higher – Clint Smith, alone, was worth the price of admission. However, I was pleased we secured Adrienne Keene. As someone who’s 50% Indigenous, I was glad we had an Indigenous speaker,” Arnold said.  

Although Rupani did not make any changes to the ACIS Conference this year, she highlighted some possible updates for future conferences. Going forward, Rupani hopes for a return to an in-person Conference. “It feels really important to have to have meals together and just connect and have social time,” Rupani said. In addition to holding an in-person event, Rupani shared that “I think the one thing that maybe I would love to think about in terms of the format is having a debrief after each of the speakers so that we really get to process what we’re hearing in small groups.” 

Rupani will also seek feedback from attendees after the Conference to ensure that the content and the speakers are of interest and ask whether there would be interest in a second spring time meeting. As an attendee, Arnold is also hoping for an in-person ACIS Conference next year. “With [in-person], I think there will be more opportunities to network and have gatherings beyond what happens in the walls of Parker,” Arnold said. 

Carlsson supports the idea of additional gatherings for the ACIS group. “More time for often isolated people to share their experience in a regularly scheduled cohort setting would likely be well-received,” Carlsson said.

Parker’s continued sponsorship of the ACIS Conference closely aligns with the school’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. As an administrator at Parker, Arnold sees the ACIS Conference as a means to “give me new things to read and listen to and bring to our school that has a strong focus on DEI and Civic Engagement.” 

The ACIS Conference “creates a space that didn’t really exist for the administrators of color honors who we say we are in terms of advancing DEI work,” Rupani said. 

With more schools incorporating DEI work, “the I – Inclusion – means that all people are able to be their full selves as they work in their schools, and spaces like the ACIS Conference help recharge and connect those individuals, ultimately for the benefit of the students in their care,” Carlsson said.

The purpose of the Conference is also consistent with the tenets of progressive education. The ACIS Conference not only provides a forum for learning, but also an opportunity to, according to Rupani, to “see what new ideas come out of us all being together.”