Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Dear Mercer Island Parents and Community Members,

We hope that you and your families are having a positive start to the beginning of the 2023-24 school year.

We would like to take this opportunity to provide an update on the various Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives that are being led by our PTA and other partners across the island. We know that DEI is a subject that many of you are passionate about, so we are pleased that there is so much commitment and activity to report. And, we hope that you are inspired to get involved or continue your involvement.

Please check back for updates from our DEI chairs soon!

DEI LEADERSHIP

We are grateful to the PTA Council for DEI positions at the council level!
We are thrilled to announce that the following DEI positions have been filled at each school as a demonstration of each PTA's commitment and support of the Council's DEI efforts. The names of the Vice Presidents and Directors of DEI and contact information for each local PTA unit are provided below, with encouragement for you to reach out to us and your local VPs to share any questions, concerns, and recommendations you may have.

PTA Council: Cristina Martinez, Vivian Zhou, Robin Li
diversity@miptacouncil.org

Mercer Island High School: Jaymee Lundin, Angela Bahng
diversity@mihsptsa.org

Islander Middle School: Cathy Chen, Yen-Ling
diversity@imsptsa.org

Island Park: Tamar Heyman

diversity@islandparkpta.org

Northwood: Shilpa Allimatti, Caroline Muroki Caraballo
dei@northwoodowlspta.org

West Mercer: Mellissa Hill
diversity@westmercerpta.org

Lakeridge: Melissa Danielli
dei@lakeridgepta.org

Mercer Island Preschool Association:
MIPA@mercerislandpreschoolassociation.org

DEI PRIORITIES

The PTA DEI Vice Presidents, Directors and other committed community members meet regularly to discuss the execution of our mission statement and develop strategic initiatives for PTA DEI efforts on Mercer Island.

At the council level, we have established the following statement to guide our work for the school year and to ensure that we are making progress as a community in our shared goals.

The strategic priority for the PTA Council DEI committee is as follows:

Foster and embrace diversity, inclusiveness, and equity with a focus on respect and acceptance of every student and their family so they can be unencumbered in reaching their fullest potential, in an effort to dismantle institutional racism and other structural inequities.

As a PTA Council DEI committee, we have also identified the following as key DEI issues:

Community Outreach
DEI FAQs
Student Engagement
Demographic Data Collection
Information Management

Each of the individual PTA local units (i.e., each MI school) have created their own mission and vision statements to guide their school's unique efforts in increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion.