Alumni Spotlight Series
Featuring Astride Jeannot-Bicknell
Community Building With, Not For
Wednesday, May 24, 2023 :: 12:00 Noon
Emmanuel College Alumni Relations is proud to present the Alumni Spotlight Series. This multipart series (formerly Emmanuel Together Spotlight Series) features alumni who are using their talents to make a difference.
Please join us for a virtual lunchtime talk with Astride Jeannot-Bicknell ’17 discussing “Community Building With, Not For.”
Astride Jeannot-Bicknell
Astride Jeannot-Bicknell (she/her) dares to hit diversity, equity, and inclusion issues at their root. As a (Black/ Afro-Latina) Boston native, Astride knows too well the disparate levels of access that Black and Brown families face in comparison to White communities when navigating the education system. Education is where children learn who is valuable, receive merit & discipline, and build lifelong skills. Astride’s goal is to transform the education system to proactively confront White Supremacist systems.
To do this Astride leads her consultancy, letsSTARTtogether (lets-start-together.com). There, she trains educators on racial literacy and anti-racist allyship. Astride does not shy away from the tough conversations long-ignored in the classroom, challenging people to not avoid racism and engage with race in a meaningful way.
Astride utilizes her 2020 published book, “Knowing How to Discuss Race in the Classroom: A Guide For White Teachers On How To Develop and Understand Racial Literacy” to guide White educators in uncertainty. Astride is a believer in meeting people where they are before pushing them to radically make a change. She currently follows this method as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Senior Manager at mental health company, Alma. Astride is designing, building, and implementing innovative and thoughtful DEI programming strategies for Alma’s community of mental health providers.
She is equipped with more than half a decade of consulting the public sector, and private institutions with their inclusion goals. Astride received her Masters degree from Tufts University Diversity & Inclusion Leadership graduate program.
Participation in this event is free, but a $15 donation is encouraged to the Emmanuel Fund. Zoom link to be provided to registrants upon registration.
For questions, email alumni@emmanuel.edu, or call 617-735-9771. View videos of past Emmanuel Together/Alumni Spotlight Series events »