ABOUT TEARING DOWN THE WALLS
Southeastern Conference on Race and Leadership
in Independent Schools.
June 19-21, 2026
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.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: 2026
Roderick Jemison
What's it like to be in charge, and how did I get here?
Roderick D. Jemison is an accomplished educational leader with more than three decades of experience in independent and international schools. He currently serves as Principal of Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, where he provides visionary leadership for a historic Jesuit institution serving over 1,600 students, championing academic excellence, faculty development, and initiatives that advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Previously, he spent a decade as Founding Head of School at United World College ISAK Japan, where he successfully led the school’s transition into the global UWC network, implemented the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, managed a $10 million budget, and raised $3.5 million annually to support operations and financial aid.
Earlier in his career, he held multiple leadership roles at La Jolla Country Day School, including Upper School Director and Dean of Students, while also teaching English and leading innovative programs in student leadership and community engagement. A dedicated educator, coach, and advocate for inclusive school communities, Mr. Jemison holds a master’s degree in literature from Tennessee State University and a bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College.
Frances Cutler Hahn
When prejudice goes unchecked: A conversation with a Holocaust survivor
Frances Cutler Hahn was born Fanny Lindenberg Kahane on March 16, 1938, in Paris, France. Her parents, Schlomo Zalman Kahane and Cyla Lindenberg, came to Paris in 1936 from Poland. When Fanny was three, her parents placed her in a children’s home prior to their own arrests. Cyla Kahane was deported on Convoy 11 from Drancy to Auschwitz in 1942, where she perished. After her father was warned that Fanny would soon be deported, he moved her to live with a Catholic family on a farm, where she remained until the end of the war. At the end of the war, Schlomo Kahane died in a hospital of tuberculosis. Fanny moved to several orphanages before immigrating to the United States with the assistance of HIAS, where she was adopted.
Joanne Beauvoir Brown
No more "DEI" -- now what? Maintaining the vision
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.
David Whitfield
Yes, I coach, but I love teaching history and literature: Managing the stereotypes of black male faculty in southern independent schools (Panel discussion)
David Whitfield holds a Master's degree in Social Science from the University of Chicago and a Master of Liberal Arts and Science from Vanderbilt University. He specializes in fostering intercultural and interracial discourse through the study of history, literature, and film.
During his career, Whitfield has authored curriculum, chaired academic departments, coached ball teams, and served on curriculum and SAIS accreditation committees. His work includes co-founding and presiding as executive director over Time to Rise Inc., which operates summer academic enrichment programs at Montgomery Bell Academy, Harpeth Hall, The Ensworth School, and Harding Academy.
He is the founder of Race Talk, a parent-education program that fosters healthy dialogue among independent school parents. Whitfield serves as founder and president of Tearing Down the Walls Southeast, a two-day race and leadership conference for independent school students. He also served as the president of the United Nations Nashville chapter.
Whitfield is currently the Director of Community Engagement and Inclusion at Ensworth School. He has taught courses in African-American literature, British Literature, Russian Literature, and the Civil Rights Movement.
Dr. Dina Marks
Neurodiversity in 2026: Identifying biases and developing strategies to support all students
Dina Marks is an English teacher at Ensworth School in Nashville, Tennessee, where she has taught grades 9–12 since 2006. She primarily teaches ninth grade but has also developed and taught a wide range of upper-level electives, including Greek Drama, Counterculture Literature, Heroes and Villains, Arthurian Legend, Rites of Passage, Women's Literature, and Literary Journalism. Her classroom work centers on skills-based education, helping students grow as analytical readers, thoughtful writers, and confident communicators.
Dina is particularly passionate about innovating student-led, student-centered discussion models that move beyond traditional formats to promote authentic dialogue, intellectual risk-taking, and shared inquiry. She regularly presents on discussion methodology, visualization strategies for reading comprehension, and interdisciplinary approaches to literacy instruction.
In recent years, Dina has focused on integrating AI thoughtfully and responsibly into the English classroom. Her work explores how generative AI can support student metacognition, drafting and revision processes, and differentiated instruction—while maintaining rigor, integrity, and critical thinking. She has an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Trevecca Nazarene University, where her research examines innovation, leadership, and the future of teaching and learning in independent schools.
Mary Catherine Bradshaw
Managing Red and Blue in the Classroom
Mary Catherine Bradshaw is a veteran educator who has taught in independent, public, magnet and charter schools since 1978. Currently teaching English at Ensworth in Nashville, TN, she has previously taught high school in Athens, Greece, Nashville, and Atlanta. Her experience working with diverse student populations challenged her to think about teaching for inclusion and equity in multiple environments. In the 1990s and early 2000s, she also taught undergraduate and graduate students entering the teaching profession through both Vanderbilt University and Belmont University. In that role, she focused on the challenges of teaching and teacher education. At the high school level, she has taught multiple levels of both English and history, ranging from below-level readers to Advanced Placement classes and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme classes.
Her belief that student skill levels are the first facet of diversity to impact the student’s experience and the classroom has informed every aspect of her teaching. Her passion for transdisciplinary teaching grounded in skills and her opportunities to teach in multiple settings have uniquely positioned her and required her to navigate controversy and controversial ideas in and out of the classroom in both independent and public schools internationally and locally. She will share what she has learned and provide a framework for consideration, balance and reflection in our current politically charged, divided, changing, and challenged classrooms.
Brigida Derrick, Isbel Salgueiro, Albert Nascimento
Beyond the headlines: Latinx in independent schools
Originally from Caracas, Brigida Pérez Derrick has dedicated 32 years to teaching Spanish and sharing her passion for language and culture with students of all ages. Throughout her career, she has taught kindergarten through 12th grade at Battle Ground Academy, Father Ryan High School, Poughkeepsie Day School, and currently at Harding Academy in Nashville.
Over the course of her career, she has served as a department chair, cross country coach, and track coach, while also remaining deeply committed to creating inclusive and engaging learning environments. She currently serves as co-chair of Harding Academy’s Bridge Builders committee, which focuses on celebrating the unique backgrounds and experiences within the school community while helping to plan assemblies, programs, and initiatives that foster belonging and connection.
In addition, Brigida served as the Director of Time to Rise at Harding Academy, a program that supports underserved English Language Learner (ELL) students and families from the Nashville area through academic enrichment, mentorship, and community engagement opportunities.
As a native Spanish speaker from Venezuela, Brigida brings authentic cultural perspectives into her classroom and strives to inspire students not only to learn the Spanish language, but also to appreciate and respect cultures different from their own.
Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Isbel graduated from Florida International University with a B.A. in English. Shortly after graduation, Isbel began teaching fourth grade at an International Baccalaureate school and quickly discovered her passion for interdisciplinary teaching. She returned to Florida International University and earned her M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction.
Having served as a teacher and curriculum coordinator at different institutions in Miami, Isbel joined Visible Thinking South Florida, a professional learning community connecting educators passionate about thinking in South Florida. Empowered by knowledge and community, Isbel presented in several Visible Thinking conferences and participated in the Harvard Graduate School of Education Project Zero Classroom in 2019. Isbel relocated to Nashville in 2022 to join Harding Academy as the eighth-grade English teacher. Since 2023, Isbel has been an active participant of the Educators’ Cooperative and is serving as a member of the advisory committee as of January 2025.
Albert D. Nascimento is an educator, mentor, and equity practitioner who was raised in Brazil before immigrating to the United States, where he attended a New England boarding school and later graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in American Studies. Over the past 12 years, he has worked in independent schools as a humanities teacher, class dean, dean of students, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging leader, serving in roles including Director of Equity and Inclusion and Director of Multicultural Affairs. His work focuses on partnering with school communities to examine systems and structures, support identity development and student leadership, facilitate affinity and resource groups, and lead professional development and consultation for students, faculty, administrators, and trustees. He also designs student-centered curriculum and creates spaces for dialogue, reflection, and growth.
Albert holds a Master’s degree in Educational Policy, Organization and Leadership from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He believes deeply in the power of growth mindset and helping individuals become comfortable with discomfort as part of meaningful learning and community building. He identifies as multiracial and uses he/him/his pronouns.
The Hip Hop Originators
The birth and rise of hip hop
REGISTRATION: 2026
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 or for professional development should fill out this form.
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 20, attendees are welcome to attend all three days of the conference.
PICTURES FROM
PAST CONFERENCES
