Image: Carmen Herrera (1915-2022). Atacama, 2018. Acrylic on canvas. Carmen Herrera was a Cuban-born American abstract minimalist painter and sculptor.
Word of the month: Accountability
In the new year, some people embrace an ethos of "new year, new me." Making a multitude of changes immediately, however, can be daunting! Building community during the cold, darker winter months is vital to holding ourselves and others accountable to the changes and improvements we seek to make. With structured routine, we can practice collective learning, sharing resources, and taking action. Accountability is defined as, "an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions". People use "accountabilibuddies", groups, and setting individual intentions to help close gaps between our values and the actions made towards a specific outcome. Refreshing our current routine with manageable shifts can benefit the productivity of a workday, self care, and building meaningful relationships. Our current skills can enhance how energy is directed towards intentions we set for the upcoming day, month, and year. How can we build strong support systems to help us stay on track for our goals? The DEIG office is on your side and is happy to be a resource for individual and classroom learning. Stop by any of the campus' offices if you are interested in collaborating!
Happy New Year!
2026 brings new beginnings, reflection on last year's accomplishments, and looking forward to a great year ahead!
This edition of our DEIG In! Newsletter includes new artists, December highlights, and a sneak peek of the Belonging@BB&N Website!
We look forward to all the collaboration opportunities in the rest of the 2025-2026 school year!
Image: Emma Amos (1937-2020). Let Me Off Uptown, 2000. Oil and photo transfer on linen canvas, metallic paint, glitter, collage, African fabric borders. Emma Amos was an American artist, educator and activist who interrogated gender and racial inequity in the art world and in the United States through her works.
FEATURES
Belonging@BB&N: Sneak Peek
We’re excited to share a sneak peek of the long-awaited Belonging@BB&N website, which will launch for BB&N faculty and staff at the end of the month. This new connection space is designed to help adults at BB&N see themselves reflected in the community and learn more about others within our community. It includes identity-centered resources, optional faculty and staff profile pages, a confidential DEIG contact form, and ways to connect with affinity spaces. This launch represents Phase 1 of a longer-term project. At this stage, the site is intended specifically for the BB&N employee community, with the potential to grow and evolve over time. Take a look at the site below for an early preview.
Upcoming MLK Brunch
On January 19, 2026, from 10am-12pm on the Upper School Campus, all are welcome to a brunch celebrating unity, reflection, and power of love transforming our communities! About MLK Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955-1968. He led marches for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other civil rights; directed the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott; and helped organize nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. As one of the March on Washington leaders, he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech which contributed to creating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. To this day, Dr. King is still a prominent figure in racial justice movements everywhere.
LS & MS: Upstander Peer and One School Committee Workshops
In the last few months, LS and MS Upstanders attended train-the-trainer workshops about the 5Ds and how to be an upstander in our community. In December, the same students passed down their knowledge to their peers and school administration through workshops and panels. Lower School sixth grade Upstander Ambassadors presented their Upstander Intervention Workshop to fourth grade on December 3rd. On the same day, 7th and 8th Grade Student Upstander Ambassadors lead Upstander workshops for students at the Middle School where they taught their peers about the 5Ds (Direct, Delay, Delegate, Document, Distract) of bystander intervention and how to be an upstander in our community. The following week on December 15th, four students came and held a panel for the One School committee (a collaboration of campus leaders whose goal is to evolve the student and staff experiences at BB&N) to talk about their experience being an ambassador, why they decided to become one, how they use the 5D's as students.
HIGHLIGHTS
Up Next
January 1-31: Braille Literacy Month January 19: Martin Luther King Jr Day, MLK BB&N Brunch January 20: MS Diversity Steering Committee (DSC) January 27: International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Want to see more holidays? Add cultural celebrations to your calendar! Follow the instructions to subscribe to multi-faith and cultural holidays in the rest of 2025.
Inspirations
Listen: Disability Visibility, a podcast by Alice Wong Read: Pomegranate, by Helen Elaine Lee Watch: Sally, created by Cristina Costantini
This month's newsletter was curated by Alina Balseiro, DEIG Education Fellow.