Alumni
Alumni DEI
A Message from the Alumni Board DEI Committee
The mission of the Alumni Board Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee is to support, promote, and celebrate the diversity of race, identity, and culture within Polytechnic’s community. The committee provides opportunities to engage thoughtfully in courageous and difficult conversations addressing inequity, structural racism, and social injustice at Poly and elsewhere, holding ourselves accountable for unlearning our implicit biases and recognizing that justice is a principle tenet of equity. We embark upon an enduring commitment to disrupt bias, decolonize unsafe spaces, and create lasting and systemic change, making ourselves accessible to members of the alumni community who seek to convey their recommendations for making Poly an antiracist and inclusive school.
Alumni Affinity Groups
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Asian American, Pacific Islander and Bi-racial
Elise Kuo ‘07Traci Tsai Gadow ‘99
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Black, African American, Caribbean American, African, and Bi-racial
This is a group of Black, former Poly students committed to creating a community that fulfills all members individually, culturally and professionally. Their primary focus is on fostering camaraderie and relationships within the group, while also working to support, mentor, and protect current Black students and amplify the voices of their families, Black faculty, staff, and administrators.
Please contact blackpolyalums@gmail.com -
Latinx and Bi-racial
Alexis Casillas ‘01Joseph Masters ‘18
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Pride (LGBTQ+)
Chiemi Suzuki ‘96Jayzen Patria ‘91
Interested in Getting Involved?
Alumni affinity groups strive to bring together Poly alumni with common interests, experiences, and/or backgrounds to strengthen ties with your fellow alumni and the school. If you’d like to get involved, are looking for more information about a group, or are interested in starting a group that is not currently listed, please contact us at alumni@polytechnic.org.
Alumni Reconciliation Forums
The Alumni Reconciliation Forums were created to foster dialogue and invited past and present students, staff, and faculty to come together and share their frustrations, disappointments, as well as ideas to address bias dynamics at Poly. Eight affinity-based forums were hosted between July 2020 and March 2021, in order to (a) recognize the richness of experiences that exist along lines of race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and religious background, and (b) provide spaces where participants might feel more safety and comfort to share their authentic voices and insights with peers in that same identity group.
Past and Upcoming Events
"With Drawn Arms" Filmmaker Conversation
The Alumni Board DEI Committee hosted an inaugural event and film screening of the documentary “With Drawn Arms.” The event included a panel discussion with the filmmakers Glenn Kaino and Afshin Shahidi and was moderated by Gbenga Ajilore '92, Poly parent, Trustee, and co-chair of the Board of Trustees DEI Committee, Kwame Brathwaite, and parent of alumni, Upper School Dean and advisor for SLIDE (Student Leadership in Inclusion, Diversity and Equity), Aquita Winslow.
Articles to Read
Books To Read
- An Anti-Racism Reading List from Hammer Staff
- Caste: Origin of our Discontents - Isabel Wilkerson
- How to Be an Antiracist - Ibram Kendi
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race – Beverley Daniel Tatum
- White Fragility – Robin J. Diangelo
- The Souls of Black Folk – W.E.B. Du Bois
- Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower – Brittney Cooper
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Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates
Note: Embedded links lead to Black-owned bookstores
LA Black Owned Businesses to Support
Resources
Policies
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