Manager, Racial Equity

Manager, Racial Equity

The Surrey School District respectfully acknowledges that our schools reside on the traditional, unceded, and shared territories of Coast Salish peoples: The q̓ ícə̓ y̓ - Katzie, the qʼwa:n̓ƛʼən̓ - Kwantlen and the SEMYOME - Semiahmoo First Nations, who have been stewards of this land since time immemorial.

Surrey Schools values an inclusive school district, where equity is deeply embedded and diversity welcomed. We are committed to creating and cultivating diverse, inclusive and barrier-free environments for all applicants, employees, students, and their families. We work to continuously grow and improve our practices, celebrate our differences, and empower people to promote positive change in our communities. Our identity, as Surrey Schools, is expressed in the shared values of openness, fairness and tolerance and recognize the importance of diversity of identity and thought. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

Surrey Schools, recipient of the BC Top Employers and Canada's Greenest Employer awards, is the largest school district in BC and the second largest employer in Surrey. Spread across one of the fastest-growing cities in British Columbia, Surrey Schools provides quality education to over 77,000 students with 124 schools sites and a variety of other learning facilities, offering a broad range of innovative programs and services to support the learning of our students. The Surrey School District team of approximately 13,000 employees works tirelessly every day to ensure that children are getting the best start they can, providing the preparation to be our leaders of tomorrow.

The primary focus of this department is to advance racial equity initiatives, strengthen capacity to understand and respond to all forms of racism in schools and workplaces, build racial equity understanding through ongoing education and professional development, and to raise awareness of culturally responsive curriculum and diverse resources for learning in the classroom. By doing so, we intentionally look to dismantle systemic racism, as well as other forms of racism, and create an organization that celebrates, infuses, and promotes equity, diversity, and belonging.

Reporting to the Director of Instruction, Racial Equity, the manager will develop, coordinate, implement and supervise community & school partnerships, programs and services which enhance the districts’ racial equity priorities and strategies including restorative justice responses in schools. The manager will liaise with school principals and vice principals, school districts, post-secondary partners, and other key community partners and stakeholders in the design and delivery of programming aimed to support academic achievement and social functioning. Key collaborations will include district departments such as Community-Schools Partnership and Safe Schools.

We invite applications from individuals with:

• Demonstrated skill in building relationships with colleagues and community stakeholders in support of safe and caring environments where equity, diversity, and belonging in culture, learning and success are all important.
• Demonstrated skill and leadership in building connections and programs between students and community partners in promoting racial equity and a greater sense of belonging in schools.
• Experience delivering training/workshops in various topics, such as anti-racism and restorative justice to students and adults.
• Demonstrated ability to collaboratively problem-solve complex issues, including incidents at the school and district level.
• Experience in effective practices for affinity spaces with community partners for Black, Indigenous, and/or other racialized groups.
• Education and/or experience in Restorative Justice practices and principles.
• Post-secondary education in a related field.
• Experience in student Restorative Justice circles in schools.
• Exceptional formal leadership experience, preferably school district level experience.
• Demonstrated ability to use data to inform strategic directions.
• Superior interpersonal and communications skills.
• Commitment to confidentiality and professionalism while working in a collaborative environment.

Qualified and interested applicants should apply by clicking "apply online" below by June 6, 2023. Be sure to upload resume and cover letter.

Note: Successful applicants will be required to consent to a Criminal Records Search prior to employment. Only those applicants selected for interviews will be contacted. To all others, thank you for your interest.