In this episode, you'll hear from Jan Abernathy, Chief Communications Officer at The Browning School, a K-12 boys' school in New York City. Formerly the director of marketing and communications at The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, NJ, she has presented at conferences sponsored by the National Association of Independent Schools, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools, and the New York State Association of Independent Schools. At Browning, she is a member of the Health & Safety Team, responsible for managing COVID response, and co-chaired the school’s successful search for its new director of equitable practice and social impact. At EMS, she also chaired the Equity and Justice Task Force, managed the school’s participation in the NAIS’ Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism Survey, and led the school’s NJAIS reaccreditation.
She is president of New York City Independent Schools Communications Professionals, a professional association of over 100 members from schools throughout the tri-state area, and the co-founder of Black Advancement Networking Group, which works to gain further representation and greater professional growth of Black professionals in advancement roles in independent schools. Jan is chair of CASE-NAIS 2022, the most prominent international advancement conference in the independent school sector. A journalist by training, she has written for NAIS’ Independent School Magazine on crisis communications (Winter 2019) and the "Black at" movement (Winter 2021).
She is a trustee of Grace Church School, a JK-12 school in New York City, and was on the board of Stevens Cooperative School in Hoboken, NJ, for 13 years, spending six years as chair. Her consulting firm, Jan Abernathy Strategic Communications, provides communications and DEI counsel for educational institutions and non-profits.
3:10 - What didn't work for Jan? Podcasting!
4:38 - "If you're going to bite off more than you can chew, make sure you've thought about the workflows."
6:20 - The importance of looking outside your market (and industry) to brainstorm ideas
9:30 - What diversity is and what it isn't
12:14 - Diversity is a nuanced discussion
13:19 - "You can't sleep on it"
14:10 - Navigating the challenge of communicating DEI work
15:15 - You may have to catch up before you can communicate
16:09 - Aspirations and pitfalls
16:35 - There is no elevator pitch for DEI work
17:57 - Partnering with your school's DEI practitioner
21:35 - When you see something, say something
23:15 - What your students understand about diversity
26:05 - What Niche data is saying about how parents value student and teacher diversity
27:25 - Your loudest families may not be representative of how your community feels about diversity work
29:17 - How Millennials and Gen Xers differ on diversity
30:55 - "Sometimes a question is just a question."
31:22 - What to do when a crisis hits
35:44 - The communications director as a calming presence during a crisis
37:45 - You can't be all business when something goes wrong
39:25 - Have a plan and empower your communications leaders to take action
40:15 - The right way to partner with a crisis communications firm
41:16 - Effective school communicators must know how to navigate a crisis
45:04 - Tips for school leaders who are new to DEI work
48:00 - "If you don't understand the discipline, it's that much harder to communicate about it."
Show notes are available on the Enrollment Insights Blog at niche.bz/podcast.
In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you'll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.
