Charles Wright Academy proudly announces that Denise Riordan will be joining staff as the first-ever Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) in July 2021. 

Ms. Riordan has an extensive background in K-12 education and experience with leadership with equity and inclusion training. Most recently, she was a k-3 Spanish teacher at Seattle Country Day School where she built a new curriculum using Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling ®, a philosophy and a set of tools that teaches vocabulary in a highly comprehensible and contextualized manner. Additionally, Ms. Riordan is the co-founder and president of Engaging Across Difference, an organization that provides DEIB training, life coaching, and counseling to individuals and organizations nationally. 

While the DEIB work at CWA has been in progress for many years, stewarded by a team of DEIB coordinators, the need for a director of this work has been acknowledged for some time. “Students, faculty, staff, and CWA families will greatly benefit from the addition of a senior leader who can guide our ongoing commitment to this work,” noted Susan Rice, CWA Head of School. “Denise brings a wealth of experience both personally and professionally, and I am excited for her leadership in the DEIB work that will support CWA’s mission and vision, and further our ability to fully realize our newly adopted inclusion statement.”

Ms. Riordan holds a bachelor of arts in Spanish and Latin American studies from the College of the Holy Cross (MA) and a Master of Arts in Spanish Language and Literature from Middlebury College (VT).