Sheri Schmidt

Upper School Electives Teacher

Dr. Schmidt will be teaching an elective course about racial and ethnic inequality during the 2021-22 school year. She has 30 years of experience in this field which includes roles as the coordinator of diversity education at Texas A&M University, the director of equity and social justice at the Ethel Walker School, and faculty member at the University of Massachusetts and Smith College where she taught courses about social inequality. She earned her doctorate in social justice education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with research focused on teaching about systemic racism. Dr. Schmidt has published articles about learning about racism, presented workshops for many schools and colleges, served as faculty for several educational institutes and currently co-facilitates the Equity & Inclusion Institute of The Nueva School. She lived on Oahu until the age of 8, and although she has lived in many different places since then, having had family on Hawaii Island since 1972, the Big Island has always felt like “home.” She was thrilled to finally move back to Hawaii in 2020 with her husband, Stephen Dunn, when he took on the role of Head of School at Parker. Dr. Schmidt shares, “My passion is providing supportive spaces for students to learn about systems of inequality and my goal is to empower them to work within their own spheres of influence to envision and create a more equitable future for all.”