The Washington State Charter Schools Association (WA Charters) is pleased to announce that John Scott, Ph. D. will be joining the staff as the organization’s Chief Equity Officer, following a twelve-month position development and recruitment process.
A key tenet of the Washington state charter public school mission is to close opportunity gaps and provide equitable education for global majority students (sometimes referred to as students of color) and systemically underserved students. As such, WA Charters is committed to ensuring that every facet of our work on behalf of Washington state students and families reflects that value.
In his role, Dr. Scott will develop and guide the organization’s strategy around diversity and inclusion, helping to ensure ongoing and strategic action toward a more equitable organization and charter public school sector.
“We are so fortunate to have Dr. Scott join the WA Charters team. Now more than ever we must commit to being an anti-racist organization, holding ourselves accountable to racial justice in every aspect of lives – both personally and professionally,” said Patrick D’Amelio, WA Charters’ CEO. “The addition of Dr. Scott to our team is just one of many steps that WA Charters is taking to dismantle systemic inequality.” We’re elated that Dr. Scott will also be supporting our evolving equity committee at WA Charters to further integrate values and practices of social justice and equity in everything we do.
Dr. Scott is a professor, activist, educator, and transformative leader who has been providing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion support to organizations, schools, and leaders for over 20 years.
Dr. Scott served for three years as the director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for Washington state with Seneca Family of Agencies, where he created an infrastructure and intentional culture for sustained DEI practice. Dr. Scott has created and facilitated trainings with corporations, non-profit organizations, colleges, and educational systems – providing support surrounding issues of cultural humility, community leadership development, anti-racism, non-violent communication, and community building processes.
In addition to facilitating this dynamic work locally in Washington state, Dr. Scott has also designed and facilitated trainings internationally in South Africa, Egypt, Japan, and Canada.
Dr. Scott worked with Shakti Butler (Jefferson Award recipient) for several yearsand was the artistic director for two of her nationally acclaimed films, “Making Whiteness Visible” and “Cracking the Code” that both explored issues of internalized and externalized racism, multicultural dialogue, and racial healing in America.
Dr. Scott holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Drama Therapy. He also holds a Ph.D. that focuses on issues of ecology, environmental racism, water, and indigenous studies.