www.SheryllinWhite.com
Copyright ©2021 - Sheryllin White. All rights reserved.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION STATEMENT
STEWARDSHIP
As an African American woman, I have witnessed and experienced the marginalization of myself, people who look like me, as well as other people of color, and the broad stroke of the discriminatory pen; this has been a motivating factor in the microcosm and the diversity of the trajectory of my life’s pursuits. It has been those hurdles, bumps, and bruises that have altered and changed my life’s path and redirected my course. I have faced discrimination and seen its implications within far too many life experiences. And, yet, we rise!
My life has been a wondrous work-in-process, work-in-progress, and this self-discovery will continue throughout my life’s lateral and ascending steps, stages, opportunities, accomplishments, and growth. I live within a continuous paradigm shift of learning, growing, analyzing, questioning, exposure, and discernment. Academically, socially, culturally, and professionally, I have stepped into various arenas that have exposed me to the richness of the diversities that dwell within each gamut of the competitive pool of students, applicants, faculty, staff, employees, customers, or stakeholders.
My life’s mission began as a quest for ascertaining: What are my life’s passions, desires, beliefs, opinions, perspectives, goals, and aspirations? What do I want, need, and desire? What is the greatness that I am supposed to attribute to my community, country, and the world? How much can I learn to make myself a catalyst for change? Then, as I discovered my passions, my life became directed within my intentional focus: to share God’s love with myself and with others, to appreciate that my life is about stewardship, and to engage in creating a world filled with diversity, inclusion, and equity opportunities, advantages, empathy, fairness, a level playing field for all that desire to experience the greatness that the universe has created for all to enjoy and to thrive within its vastness.
My life has been about the values integral to my passionate pursuits of respect, accountability, integrity, service, and excellence.
My values for diversity, inclusion and equity awareness began within the experiences of my childhood and my mother’s upbringing and values that have guided me along a mission to catalyze change.
THE CULTIVATION OF MY VALUES, MORES, BELIEFS,
PERSPECTIVES, AND OPINIONS
REGARDING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion awareness was an integral aspect of how my mother, a former educator and counselor, trained and empowered her daughters to experience and contribute to our life, living, and community.
It was a constant and continuous education that began from her formative years growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana, her freshman year in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at Southern University in 1961, and her activism in the, now, historical sit-ins and marches that were taking place at that time within her life. Soon afterward, she moved to attend Compton College until she was formally admitted to the University of California, Los Angeles where she received her bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences. My mother continued her graduate-level studies by obtaining master’s degrees in education and counseling at California State University, Los Angeles.
My mother’s life and experiences exposed her to the disparities that exist, from her Southern academic experiences, during the historical challenges of segregated and integrated communities, and her move to educate and influence the academic training and experiences of students within the city of Los Angeles in the state of California. It garnered how she would consciously choose to educate her daughters.
My mother served as an educator and counselor with the Los Angeles Unified School District for over thirty years.
My mother’s career as an educator was a family endeavor. She encouraged my siblings and me to donate our time within the inner-city schools where she taught to expose the children to the vastly different educational advantages that my siblings and I experienced throughout the education that we received from schools within affluent neighborhoods and the extracurricular activities that my family engaged in our hobbies and passions.
From my childhood to adulthood, within the inner-city schools where my mother was an educator, my siblings and I often volunteered and taught art, music theory, mathematics tutoring, reading awareness, science experiments, current events, and girl scout badge experiences and training. Also, we provided exposure to the concepts of international cultural identities, farming and how things grow, boating skills, swimming, and its importance, national travel, international travel, and college and university awareness.
As a public school educator and school counselor, my mother knew the importance of exposure to diversity, inclusion, and equity. She invested in her daughters through numerous experiences and exposure to find ways to balance the playing field for our life choices and decisions.
During my junior high school through my graduate-level years of study and beyond, my mother opened our childhood home to international high school and university students. My mother desired for her daughters to have a global perspective, awareness, and understanding.
At the dinner table and throughout our camping excursions, the conversations with our exchange students broadened our perspectives, opinions, identity, knowledgeability, and understanding about racism, sexism, harassment, and retaliation that were taking place around the world. It was to enrich our perspectives about the opportunities, advances, experiences, and passions existing beyond the scope of the community and national perspectives. It was to model and mold our desire for continuously learning and our quest for self-discovery.
The international cultural opinions, values, and perspectives that enhanced our parental home were from Japan, Thailand, Germany, and Spain. Each experience with the international students was vastly different. Through each program, the students were from varying political, religious, and economic aspects of the countries’ culture.
Within my childhood home, we hosted cousins, friends, and other distant relatives. My family was affected by my maternal and paternal great-grandparents’ lineage.
Throughout my life, the national influences were from the diversity of opinions, beliefs, and perspectives from the richness of my large extended kinfolk community, the kinfolk churches, church camps, girl scout camps, camping excursions, family reunions, our schools, and neighborhood community. My extended family is located throughout the United States and very diverse. It is a thriving rainbow coalition of perspectives, opinions, beliefs, cultures, and ethnicities. And to enrich my multicultural awareness, the neighborhood where I grew up was multicultural with diverse cultural perspectives, opinions, and beliefs.
The collectivity of my experiences was empowering, enlightening and impactful on the trajectory of my life.
MY PAST …
Consciously, throughout my life, I have searched for knowledge, awareness, understanding, self-discovery, and ways to build my skills and talents.
Within my past and my present, the academic institutions that I attended or where I worked, as well as the businesses where employed, including the companies I founded, have broadened my perspectives, enlightened my worldview, demonstrated my diversity/equity/inclusion experiences, and empowered me to strategically appreciate my knowledgeability and creativity to catalyze diversity/equity/inclusion changes. I desire for a diverse, equitable, and inclusive world to thrive and embrace.
I have attended schools and universities and served as an educator within school districts that encompass a vast array of communities from culturally, socially, economically, ethnically, religiously, and philosophically diverse perspectives, opinions, and identities.
MY EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
My educational background includes a Master of Science degree in Educational Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences. I have completed over sixty graduate-level units in Educational Administration courses, forty graduate-level units in Business Administration courses, fifty-seven graduate-level units in Education, and twenty-one graduate-level units in African and African American Studies. I have completed over one hundred eighty graduate-level units and one hundred ninety-eight undergraduate-level units to enhance my exceptionalism, wisdom, perspectives, expertise, skills, talents, and understanding. I have invested a wealth of time self-learning, developing, and building my computer technologies, communications, and writing skills.
Also, I have completed fifty-seven (57) graduate-level units in Education to obtain the Professional Clear Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. The completed graduate-level education courses were entitled: foundation in educational practice; health education for teachers; curriculum and instruction 1 & 2; student teaching 1 & 2; exceptional children in the classroom; human development and learning; computer-based technology in the classroom; methodology for language development in the first and second language; the methodology for language arts; and the teaching of reading.
At the University of California, Irvine, my obtained bachelor’s degree was a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences with extensive courses to train me in multicultural, equity, diversity, and inclusion awareness within society.
My K thru 12 academic experiences include Pacific Palisades High School, Paul Revere Junior High, Corinne Seeds Elementary School (UCLA Lab School), and Twenty-Fourth Street Elementary School.
MY PAST RESEARCH & STUDIES IN DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Within my academic educational pursuits, I have attended large universities, an historically black university (HBCU), a private catholic college, and a community college. I witnessed the perplexities of how many institutions handle or do not handle diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. I have seen what works and what does not work.
My academic past includes attending the following colleges and universities: University of Southern California, National University, Clark Atlanta University, College of Notre Dame (Notre Dame de Namur University), Santa Monica College, and the University of California, Irvine. I have attended these schools at different levels of my academic studies, either undergraduate-level or graduate-level. And there were specific academic courses that assisted in my Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Awareness.
At the University of Southern California, I took the below listed graduate-level courses that specifically assisted in my academic training in diversity, equity and inclusion:
At National University, I took the below listed graduate-level courses that specifically assisted in my academic training in diversity, equity and inclusion:
MBA - Graduate-level DEI courses -
M.S. Ed. Adm. - Graduate-level DEI courses -
Professional Clear Multiple Subject Teaching Credential -
Graduate-level DEI courses -
At Clark Atlanta University, I took the below listed graduate-level courses that specifically assisted in my academic training in diversity, equity and inclusion:
PAST EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES:
Throughout my professional career, I have engaged in extracurricular activities to serve as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion catalyst for change, including:
Summer Youth Employment & Training Program -
Site-Administrator/ Instructor - Summer 1997
During the academic school year from 1995 to 1996, as an employee with the Lynwood Unified School District, I led and served within the following Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) extracurricular activities:
Reception Coordinator - 1996
Chairperson - School-Site Standard English Program(SEP)
Coordinator - 4th-6th Grade Science Fair
Co-Chairperson - Asian Pacific Awareness Week Assembly
Coordinator - X-Track End-of-Year Field Trip
During the academic school years from 1991 to 1994, as a graduate-level student at Clark Atlanta University, I led and served within the following Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) extracurricular activities:
Graduate Student - African American Studies
Founder/ President - African World Studies Association
Director of Female Housing - Upward Bound Program
Volunteer Instructor - Freshman Orientation Program
During the academic school year from 1987 to 1991, as an employee with the Los Angeles Unified School District, I served within the following Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) extracurricular activities:
Faculty Chairperson
At-Risk Camp Facilitator
ESL Instructor
Founder/ Instructor - Umoja Club
During the academic school year from 1984 to 1987, as a graduate-level student with the University of California, Irvine, I served and led within the following Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) extracurricular activities:
President & Co-Founder - Ladies Academic Careers
Chairperson - Black Awards Banquet
TEACHING:
As a former elementary school educator, there is something powerful about serving as a teacher within the public education system for over eight years and additional years with special projects and programs serving students from 14 to 21 years old within diverse (cultural, social, and economic) backgrounds, their parents, and stakeholders, my expertise in human capital management, diversity and inclusion awareness, communications skills (oral, written, and presentation), community relations, leadership, project and program development, strategic planning, coaching, teaching, training, motivating, encouraging, building enthusiasm, and empowering others, and my skills became honed and perfected. Those past academic institutions and programs are a microcosm of what exists within communities, organizations, businesses, colleges, and universities.
Often, this acquired expertise surpasses the adult level human capital training skills because the K-12th student and parent stakeholders are ungoverned by the prospect of receiving a personal income; the value of an exceptional educational program is intrinsic. The measure of an educator’s successes with their stakeholders are conducive to rallying the interest, passions, and desires of students, many of whom do not realize the importance of their academic studies, nor appreciate the lessons taught to them, nor have they developed skills and talents to exercise the restraints of maintaining professionalism, decorum, dedication, and passion throughout each day. I was highly successful at motivating, encouraging, leading, and managing the students, staff, parents, faculty, administrators, human resources, and all stakeholders to contribute effectively to the community, schools, and the districts.
Within the three School Districts where I was formerly employed, I worked with disadvantaged students and students from affluent families. I became well aware of the disparities between the two academic extreme polarities. My previous teaching experiences included working as an elementary school teacher within the Los Angeles Unified School District at Shenandoah Street Elementary School and Twenty-Fourth Street Elementary School; I served as an elementary school teacher within the Lynwood Unified School District at Will Rogers Elementary School. And I worked as an Instructional Assistant with the Beverly Hills Unified School District’s Continuation High School. Also, I served as a substitute teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Lynwood Unified School District.
As an educator, for each student, I designed, developed, and implemented curriculum and instruction programs and projects using various learning modalities/styles; engaged in pedagogies that addressed educationally disadvantaged individualized learning programs. I cultivated diversity, inclusion, equity, and multicultural awareness; taught knowledge about their cultural history and heritage; encouraged passion pursuits; mediated conflicts; empathized with struggles; accommodated students with additional equity experiences; leveled out students’ faced imbalances; and enriched the opportunities for broadening the scope on what is accomplishable.
As a teacher within inner-city schools with disadvantaged and diverse students, I strategically planned and presented instructional materials to elementary school students; composed reports, parent letters, lesson plans, multicultural instructional units, curriculum, and other correspondence; created classroom policies, procedures, and guidelines; advocated and advised students and their parents; handled diverse and conflicting students’ needs; managed and provided support to monitor compliance with the district and state; engaged in strategic oversight; planned community outreach and engagement activities; oriented, trained and assisted in the evaluation of the performance of assistants, volunteers, and new teachers; and demonstrated working knowledge of K-12 public school system, research, and educational policy.
Also, I provided updates to administrators and parents; led in a fair, equitable, and courteous manner with personal and professional integrity; maintained confidentiality and performed effectively in a fast-paced environment; and handled multiple projects simultaneously and met deadlines and timeframes.
As a public school educator, I learned and demonstrated the diversity, equity, and inclusion aspects of teaching within the following engagements and activities:
PROPERTY MANAGER JOB
As a property manager, I learned and demonstrated the diversity, equity, and inclusion aspects of housing and tenant selection and contract agreements, within the following engagements and activities:
MY PRESENT …
MY WEBSITE …
SHERYLLINWHITE.COM and Sheryllin White Publishing
Sheryllin White Publishing is a company on a growth ascension with projects in the works that I am bringing to fruition. “As we publish, we desire that you stay connected to ensure that you are abreast of what we are doing next.”
I, Sheryllin White, created the Sheryllin White Publishing business and the SheryllinWhite.com website to share my wealth of knowledge and expertise with others. I love curling up with a good book, writing, self-publishing, creating and designing jewelry, watching YouTube computer technology skill-building videos, photography, painting, building my website/social media platforms, exploring the wonders of my environment, and holding court with my exceptional gift for storytelling. As an intuitive, introspective, and extrovert, as well as a well-educated, adventurous, and spontaneous outdoors-person, my hobbies include talking, writing, self-publishing, storytelling, and motivating the youth of my extended kinfolk community, as well as all interested parties.
The SheryllinWhite.com and Sheryllin White Publishing began as an activist action to share information with my extended kinfolk community’s youth, university students, those within their professional pursuits and/or considering their passions, as well as those determining how to transition and transform their lives.
I encourage my kinfolk to strategically plan how to best align their academic and professional life intentions with their passions, interest, desires, purpose, skills, and talents. I enjoy advising the kinfolk students and their parents on an individual basis regarding academic and career issues, strategic planning for their success, job search methods, resume preparations, internships, job placement, and related matters.
Both entities were created from the perspective of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Awareness, “To create a ‘portal’ for creating intuitive thought, stimulating world changes, exposing others to opinions and perspectives that vary from their own and/or support what they have always believed.”
We invite others, as well, to “Come to Sheryllin White Publishing to find some answers to your questions, to listen for some solutions, to change yourself into your best self, to find a sounding board for healing, to invest in your community, and the improvement of the human conditions.”
Sheryllin White Publishing encourages all to, “Climb right out of the box of complacency, routine, stagnation, mediocracy, … and live your life differently! Create within you a better passion-filled life where you believe that you are on your best Godly purposed life path and journey. Your transformation may begin with college and university pursuits or getting connected to national organizations. Think Outside the Box & Run to Your Better!”
The impetus is “to create a community of writers, authors, poets, historians, essayists, artists, and other professionals who have a repertoire of successful works of creative literature, poetic expressions, historical references, medical advancements, spiritual enlightenment, advocacy, nutritional healing, visual artistry, … “ to engage in candid, lively and thoughtful criticisms: to encourage, support and empower.”
In addition, “At Sheryllin White Publishing, it is our ‘Activist Action’ to change the world: We know that it is the mindset, actions, reactions, expectations, preparation, time management skills, values, expertise, knowledge, available resources, networking, … and pure determination of the parents that will change the successfulness of each and every child from generation to generation; and, We desire to assist in parental involvement training. Sheryllin White Publishing’s Founder, Sheryllin White, has created our Parenting 100s Guide to start the process.”
It all began with my desire to catalyze changes within my massive extended kinfolk connection and has transitioned into broader opportunities to level the playing field for others through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Awareness actives and initiatives.
“As we expand, we would like for all to witness our transformation and to be an integral aspect of how we flourish. Thank you for the inspirationally supportive encouragement. We appreciate your efforts in joining us on this rise and ride! Let us all arrive at our best-desired destiny, through a journey that is wondrous, gratuitous, empowering, productive, prosperous, enlightening, healing, and successful.”
MY FUTURE FOUNDATION …
SHERYLLIN WHITE FOUNDATION
My ambition carries me forward through a passionate pursuit of philanthropy. I desire to serve as a catalyst for changing the writing careers for girls and women and, especially, those of color to broaden the scope of their proverbial “the pen is mightier than the sword.” I strongly believe in the power of the pen to catalyze change within a person’s identity, community, and the world at large. My passion is to encourage and empower the gift for gab, the chit-chat and chatter, the expressions of personal interpretation, the storytelling, the griot perspective, the oral traditions, and to have them transcribed into the written word for publication. There is an endless supply of inquisitive minds with thought-provoking analyses and interpretations awaiting the platform to publish and market their expressions that have mutualistic contributing factors to foster changes within the minds of others with parallel experiences and similar trajectories of their life’s path. As writers, there is much that we can use to teach ourselves and others when we value who we are and our story.
Writers often need benefactors that provide financial support and connections with publishers, agents, marketers, suppliers, supplies, fellowships, grants, training, and direction to excel beyond what they currently know. I see the opportunity to create mentor and mentee relationships and networking opportunities.
Today, there is great interest in stories, spoken word, poetry, and written expressions. I believe that those with passion should be allowed the opportunity to blossom, bloom, and generate substantial profit.
MY NOW …
I am a passionate, creative, and consummate learner acquiring knowledge and expertise within multifaceted genres, skills, and talents. My life objective is to share my acquired wealth-of-knowledge with others through community-relations, equity-diversity-inclusion programs and projects, educational consulting, coaching, communications (oral, presentation, and written), leadership, management, motivational speaking, presentation, writing, training, talent management, and publishing.
My academic and professional objectives are to combine my educational administration, business administration, education, history, and social sciences skills and training to broaden my knowledgeability and expertise in all of the areas and serve as a liaison between varying perspectives in providing the optimal well-instructed and well-funded educational and business programs for stakeholders - creating a better understanding of the non-profit, for-profit, community, equity, diversity, inclusion, as well as talent management synergies.
My comprehensive knowledge in varying studies, experiences, and expertise, as well as my passion for continuously learning, are an open door for creativity and understanding the role of catalyzing change in services and mindset, shifting the focus, and driving the continuous improvement of an engaged strategic community in collaboration with the insightful expertise to build a world-class business, university, and organization.
I advocate for students and the community in political, social, economic, legal, and cultural contexts with passionate excitement and commitment to the academic and career development of high school students, undergraduate-level and graduate-level students by advising students and parents on an individual basis regarding educational issues, career strategies, job search methods, resume preparations, internships, job placement, and other related matters.
I advocate for social justice and equity, as well as creating an inclusive climate and workplace culture.
I have never limited myself “to a specific what my life should look like.” I encourage myself to thrive, understanding that I am continuously self-discovering, transitioning, transforming, and sharing my wisdom and expertise with others throughout my journey.
I believe that I will provide essential leadership, management, strategic planning, and oversight in the areas of community and foundation relations, human capital management, communications (oral, written, and presentation), coaching, consulting, development, diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion for organizations, educational institutions, and businesses.
I will bring new and interestingly creative insights, ideas, perspectives, enthusiasm, strategic planning, passion, discipline, excellence, human capital management, staff development and program development, to build upon the partnerships, productive working relationships, to manage operational and project-based communications, to develop a unified communication strategy for the organization-business-university-community-diversity and inclusion-human capital management-government-civic engagement programs for both internal and external audiences, as well as to collaborate closely with organization/business/university human resources on diversity and inclusion communications, client services, partner relations, foundation relations, as well as the overall narrative, messaging, content development, and communications platforms and the evolution of an inclusive community that supports opportunities to increase the organization/business/university’s culture, experience and the diversity of the competitive pool of applicants, staff, team members, peers, leaders, administrators, and contributors that builds a more just world through arts, education, ideas, diversity, collaboration, inclusion, stakeholders, donors, civil engagement, government relations, small business and non-profit programs, and a climate where everyone thrives.
I, Sheryllin White, look forward to continuously catalyzing change in the areas of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Awareness.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION STATEMENT
Copyright © 2021 - Sheryllin White - All rights reserved.
LINKS:
- - - - -
Master of Science,
Educational Administration
National University
San Diego, CA
AND
University of Southern California
Fall 1997
AND
LAUSD - Year 1999 - $40.88/ Hourly Wages
Elementary School Teacher
- - - - -
Publications:
.
**Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright ©1993, 1994,1995,1996,
2000, 2001, 2001. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
*Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright ©1982 by
Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
FACEBOOK: SHERYLLIN WHITE PUBLISHING
Copyright © 2015 – 2022 – Sheryllin White. All rights reserved.