
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
At DREAM, diversity, equity, and inclusion are a matter of mission.
From our schools to our playing fields, DREAM is committed to building a team where everyone can bring their full identity and experience to work.
That’s because representation matters—it enriches our team culture, enhances our ability to innovate, and strengthens our impact in and out of the classroom. DREAM employs staff that represent and appreciate the diversity of our majority Black and Hispanic student body, while working to ensure that our practices are equitable, welcoming, and productive. We are dedicated to creating a world where youth, especially youth of color, have permission to dream—along with the tools and opportunities to make their dreams reality.
“At DREAM, our vision is to ensure equitable outcomes for everyone in our community—including our staff, students, families, and alumni.”
- Kalila Hoggard, Chief People and Equity Officer

2024 at a glance
88%
of new, school-based hires identify as BIPOC
86%
of principals identify as BIPOC
53%
of management team members identify as BIPOC

DREAM’s long-standing commitment to DEI was formalized in 2018 with an action plan rooted in three main areas of focus:
- Maintain a Level Playing Field
- Grow and Develop Diverse Staff
- Strengthen the Student Experience
FOCUS: Maintain a Level Playing Field
DREAM’s mission to level the field for all kids informs our goal to create equal employment opportunities for and within the communities we serve. In 2020, 28% of DREAM’s school leaders, 40% of our management team, and 62% of our staff identified as BIPOC. Working to increase these percentages means regularly reviewing our talent and people practices with an equity lens, and making the necessary adjustments.
ACTIONS
- Develop and launch the DREAM Teaching Fellowship, a yearlong program to prepare DREAM Legends and part-time staff to become teachers. This aligns with DEIA curriculum updates and the CHRE framework for culturally responsive, anti-racist pedagogy.
- Launch the DREAM Alumni Council to amplify alumni voices in strategic decisions and strengthen engagement across a three-decade network. This supports Family Engagement goals by reinforcing DREAM’s values and proactive approaches.
- Enhance transparency and equity in job opportunities by sharing internal postings more frequently and ensuring staff access application information. This aligns with advancement and promotion equity goals.
- Maximize recruitment efforts to attract diverse candidates by expanding external job board use, internal referrals, and employee engagement. Include an explicit DEIA commitment in all job postings to attract applicants who share DREAM’s values.
- Reduce unconscious bias in hiring by updating selection processes and training hiring managers to minimize bias. These efforts align with DREAM’s DEI goals to improve organizational diversity and equity metrics.
- Align staff training and onboarding with DEIA priorities by developing a training map and reviewing one key staff policy using the equity protocol.
- Develop Family Engagement programming that reinforces DREAM’s values, provides educational resources, and establishes proactive and responsive strategies to engage families.
“We think about everything as an investment in a child and community. It’s important for our young people to achieve things because it’s good for the community we’re invested in. Those outcomes are not for us only—they’re indicators of well-being, inspiration, and regeneration for the community we serve.”
-Jared Francis, Managing Director of High School and Leadership Development
FOCUS: Grow and Develop Diverse Staff
DREAM strives to be a place where all staff can grow and develop, both professionally and personally. An important factor in creating this culture is frequent conversations around race, racism, power, and privilege, which better equip us all to serve our communities and support each other.
ACTIONS:
- Implement anti-racism sessions for our staff and board members.
- Conduct a six-part personal and professional development series for directors, deans, principals, chiefs, and managers that explores how racial identities inform how they lead and collaborate with others.
- Utilize the DREAM Connect sponsorship program, which pairs school leaders with senior DREAM leaders to receive coaching and advocacy.
“I educate because as a student, I’ve experienced both scarcity in Harlem and abundance in the suburbs. Until abundance is the standard for every child, our work isn’t done.”
- Quioni Phillips, DREAM Dean of Social Emotional Learning and Community
FOCUS: Strengthen the Student Experience
It’s incumbent upon us to apply an equity lens to the systems we establish and the practices that we perpetuate. It’s imperative that we review, select, and update school practices to ensure our school design does not perpetuate racism and white supremacy.

ACTIONS:
- Adapt Language Comprehension curriculum to ensure the majority of texts and topics reflect an asset-based perspective of intersectional identities and historically marginalized communities.
- Integrate DEIA-focused curriculum updates by revising K-8 ELA units through the CHRE framework, upholding a culturally responsive, anti-racist pedagogy, asset-based approach
- Ensure that the racial and cultural identities of the children in our classrooms are represented in the books they read and the toys they play with.
- Analyze curriculum units to ensure students have opportunities to explore their identities.
- Work to update our curriculum so it gives students the opportunity to look at the ways power, privilege, and justice have shaped our history, and use the skills learned in the classroom to make change in the world. See how our seniors are putting this into practice in their AP research class.