ABOUT TEARING DOWN THE WALLS
Southeastern Conference on Race and Leadership
in Independent Schools.
June 21-23, 2024
Ensworth School
Nashville, TN
“Tearing Down the Walls” is a two-day race and leadership conference for independent school students in the Southeast. The purpose of the conference is to afford students from diverse racial and socio-economic backgrounds the opportunity to become leaders and bridge builders in the arena of race relations. Our vision is for students to return home emboldened to lead.
Questions? Reach out to David Whitfield (whitfieldd@ensworth.com) or
Dina Marks (marksd@ensworth.com).
Participating Schools
We would like to thank all of the schools that have participated in the Tearing Down the Walls conference over the past five years. We look forward to seeing you this summer!
Battle Ground Academy (Franklin, TN)
Baylor School (Chattanooga, TN)
Ensworth School (Nashville, TN)
Evangelical Christian School (Memphis, TN)
Father Ryan High School (Franklin, TN)
Fort Worth Country Day (Forth Worth, TX)
Harding Academy (Nashville, TN)
Harpeth Hall (Nashville, TN)
Holy Innocents' Episcopal School (Atlanta, GA)
Hutchison School (Memphis, TN)
Lipscomb University (Nashville, TN)
McCallie School (Chattanooga, TN)
Memphis University School (Memphis, TN)
Metairie Park Country Day (Metairie, LA)
Middle Tennessee Christian School (Murfreesboro, TN)
Montgomery Bell Academy (Nashville, TN)
Pace Academy (Atlanta, GA)
Pope John Paul II Preparatory School (Nashville, TN)
Providence Christian Academy (Murfreesboro, TN)
St. Andrews--Sewanee School (Sewanee, TN)
St. George's Independent School (Memphis, TN)
St. Mary's Episcopal School (Memphis, TN)
The Galloway School (Atlanta, GA)
The Lovett School (Atlanta, GA)
The Paideia School (Atlanta, GA)
The Walker School (Atlanta, GA)
The Westminster Schools (Atlanta, GA)
Trinity Valley School (Dallas--Fort Worth, TX)
University School of Nashville (Nashville, TN)
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn to see pictures from past conferences and to keep up with what our participants are doing to tear down walls in their schools and communities.
The Tearing Down the Walls conference is organized in association with the National Center for Race Amity.
SPEAKERS AND FACILITATORS: 2024
Dr. Joy DeGruy
Dr. Joy Angela DeGruy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication, a Master's degree in Social Work (MSW), a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology, and a PhD in Social Work Research.
Dr. DeGruy is a nationally and internationally renowned researcher and educator. For over two decades, she served as an Assistant Professor at Portland State University’s School of Social Work and now serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Joy DeGruy Publications Inc.
Dr. DeGruy’s research focuses on the intersection of racism, trauma, violence and American chattel slavery. She has over thirty years of practical experience as a professional in the field of social work. She conducts workshops and trainings in the areas of intergenerational/Historical
trauma, mental health, social justice, improvement strategies and evidence- based model development.
Published Works:
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Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS): America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing, (newly revised) which addresses the residual impacts of trauma on African Descendants in the Americas. This lays the groundwork for understanding how the past has influenced the present, and opens up the discussion of how we can eliminate non-productive attitudes, beliefs and adaptive behaviors and, build upon the strengths we have gained from the past to heal.
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PTSS Study Guide is designed to help individuals, groups, and organizations better understand the functional and dysfunctional attitudes and behaviors that have been transmitted to us through multiple generations. The Guide encourages and broadens the discussion and implications about the specific issues that were raised in the PTSS book and provides practical tools to help transform negative attitudes and behaviors into positive ones.
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African American Male Adolescent Respect Scale is an assessment instrument designed to broaden our understanding of the challenges facing these youth in an effort to prevent their over-representation in the justice system.
In addition to her pioneering work in the explanatory theory and book, Dr. DeGruy has developed evidence-based models for working with children, youth, and adults of color and their communities.
Kimia Ferdowsi Kline
Kimia Ferdowsi Kline earned an M.F.A. at the San Francisco Art Institute and holds a B.F.A. in painting from Washington University in St. Louis, where she was awarded a full-tuition Danforth Scholarship.
She has mounted solo exhibitions at Turn Gallery (New York), Marrow Gallery (San Francisco), The Elaine L. Jacobs Gallery at Wayne State University (Detroit) and 68 Projects (Berlin). Select group shows include Ceysson & Bénétière, The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, CANADA Gallery, PACE University, and The Drawing Center.
In 2015 she was awarded a grant and residency through the New York Foundation for the Arts. In 2018 she was honored to be nominated for a Rema Hort Mann Emerging Artist Grant. Most recently, she is thrilled to be working on a monograph with Radius Books, set to release in 2022.
Guest lectures and teaching include Yale University, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, SUNY Purchase, Lipscomb University, The Fashion Institute of Technology, Brooklyn College, Wayne State University, and Chautauqua Institute.
As a freelance curator, she consults for various private collectors and corporations.
Select press includes, The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Cultured Magazine, New American Paintings, Architectural Digest, The Harvard Advocate, Departures Magazine, & Travel + Leisure.
She splits her time between Nashville and New York.
Joanne Beauvoir Brown, J.D.
Joanne Beauvoir serves as the Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer at Pace Academy, a K-12 independent school in Atlanta, Ga. In this role, her goal is to ensure that each member of the school community can bring their whole self to Pace every single day. Born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area, she moved to Atlanta after earning her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia and Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina School of Law.
Beauvoir Brown practiced as a civil trial lawyer in metro Atlanta for 15 years before moving into independent school administration. A speaker, facilitator and trainer, she brings her professional experience to national, state and local conferences, schools and nonprofits. A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., she also serves on the board of directors for non-profit organizations.
As the daughter of Haitian immigrants and the proud mother of two sons, she leads her community in the diversity, equity and inclusion space with an ability to navigate multiple perspectives. The strong sense of belonging is what has guided Beauvoir Brown in her personal and professional journey.
Dr. Kenyetta Wynn
Dr. Kenyetta Wynn has nearly three decades of experience in education ranging from early childhood to college. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Vanderbilt University and holds a master’s degree in early childhood education and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction leadership from the University of Memphis. She has served as an administrator and classroom teacher in both independent and public schools. Currently, Dr. Wynn is the associate head of school at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School in Atlanta, Georgia where she is the acting chief academic officer. In her role as associate head of school, Dr. Wynn partners with the head of school to ensure the school’s effective operation and continued success. Concurrently, she works cooperatively with administrators, faculty, and trustees to carry out Holy Innocents’ mission and overall strategic plan. Before joining the Holy Innocents’ community, Dr. Wynn served as head of primary school at St. Francis Episcopal School in Houston, Texas, and a teacher at Ensworth School in Nashville, Tennessee. A mother of four, Dr. Wynn resides in Atlanta with her husband Donald and daughter Kimora. She enjoys cooking, reading, and playing spades.
Jim Miller
A twenty-five-year veteran of teaching English in the independent school classroom, Jim Miller has consistently sought out new voices to be heard, and new stories to be told. During his tenure at Ensworth, Jim has designed electives that offered insight into the survivors and victims of warfare, incarceration, and institutionalization, that have advocated for the power of and necessity for change, and that have sought to broaden and deepen “traditional” canons of understanding.
As an alumnus of Montgomery Bell Academy, Belmont University, and Middlebury College, and as a teacher at Battle Ground Academy Middle School and Ensworth’s Upper School, Jim is a long-experienced ally from and within predominantly white institutions, including the State of Vermont. In his spare time, Jim enjoys hiking, movies, conversation, playing with his dachshund, Heidi, and his corgi, Rosie, and not being the smartest person in the room.
SCHEDULE: 2024
Friday, June 21, 2024
Saturday, June 22, 2024
Sunday, June 23, 2024
REGISTRATION: 2024
Each school bringing students and adults pays a flat registration fee of $2000.00; this fee covers registration, programming, and food costs for all students and chaperones.
We recommend bringing six to eight students and two to four adults.
The registration fee does not include travel or hotel costs.
School administrators or representatives who are registering the school and paying for the conference.
Choose the option that fits your school (pay in part or pay in full) and "remove" the other option by changing the quantity to zero.
Students who are attending the conference with their school should fill out this form. No payment is needed, but you do need parent/guardian signatures and insurance information
Faculty and staff who are attending the conference as chaperones should fill out this form; no payment is needed.
Are you coming to the conference without students or without other members of your school?
Faculty and staff of any school may attend the conference without students at a cost of $450 per person. This includes all programming and meals, and while the bulk of programming takes place on Saturday, June 17, attendees are welcome to attend all three days of the conference.