New Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Coordinator Named

Science faculty and Webb parent ‘22, ‘24 John Choi has been appointed to the new position of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Coordinator at The Webb Schools. Mr. Choi will continue to teach his science courses, as well as serve in this new role supporting students, families, faculty/staff, the Senior Administration and Board of Trustees.  

“The purpose of the DEI initiatives we’ve come up with is to ensure every member of our community feels like they belong, and their contributions are valued. Our focus will be on how we support everyone in our community, particularly those who are underrepresented racially and ethnically,” says Mr. Choi. 

Since joining Webb from the Latin School of Chicago two years ago, Mr. Choi has dedicated himself to providing students with opportunities to engage with issues surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion. He has partnered with other faculty to bring Webb students to the People of Color and Student Diversity Leadership Conferences—and now supports both the Empowering Student Voices Initiative and the BIPOC affinity groups on campus. Mr. Choi is known as a trusted leader by students and adults alike—he listens and facilitates meaningful discussions on these important issues.  

“We’re focused on anti-racism and anti-bias behavior and want to facilitate conversations between all of the different constituencies from Webb. This world, and our Webb community, cannot progress until we acknowledge the inequity that exists and then we’ll be able to address solutions. However, this work will be impossible to do alone, and that’s why I’m asking for the help of everyone in the Webb community to support us and add your voice to help us achieve our goals,” said Mr. Choi.  

In a July letter to our community, Board of Trustees Chair Sanjay Dholakia ‘87, Head of Schools Taylor Stockdale and Associate Head of Schools Dr. Theresa Smith outlined eleven immediate action steps and plans that Webb is engaged in to address issues of institutionalized racism and inequality. One of these actions listed was the creation of a new position to guide this work. We are all excited to have Mr. Choi at the helm and look forward to the work ahead. 

Additionally, in that July letter, we also shared our intention to reach out and invite members of the community to share their stories or experiences. Led by members of our Empowering Student Voices Initiative, we added resources to our website and created a discussion forum on Instagram. You can join the conversation by following @webbcommunityvoices.  

And last, if you have a specific incident of bias or discrimination to report, we ask that you contact our Head of Schools Taylor Stockdale at tstockdale@webb.org, our Associate Head of Schools Theresa Smith at tsmith@webb.org or use our Lighthouse reporting service. Completely anonymous reports can be made through the school’s reporting service online at www.lighthouse-services.com/webb, by telephone at 833-430-0007 (Spanish speaking at 800-216-1288), or via email to reports@lighthouse-services.com.