SIT names Social Justice Education Specialist
Publication Date: June 20, 2019
Publication Location: Brattleboro, Vermont
Contact: Kate Casa, Director of Communications | [email protected]
BRATTLEBORO, Vermont – School for International Training has hired New York-based diversity and inclusion educator Sonny Singh to fill the newly created role of Social Justice Education Specialist. Singh will serve as the primary liaison with SIT program leaders worldwide to address student group dynamics, intercultural communication, and equity, diversity and inclusion. SIT operates more than 80 undergraduate study abroad programs through SIT Study Abroad and 11 graduate MA programs in the U.S. and abroad through SIT Graduate Institute.
“This position supports faculty and staff across the world in their understanding of our student body and their changing needs,” said Dr. Sophia Howlett, president of SIT.
Singh has a master’s degree in social justice education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has worked as an organizer and educator in New York. Although new to this position, he is not new to SIT.
As launch coordinator for SIT’s International Honors Program Cities in the 21st Century, Singh has worked with students about to embark on SIT’s International Honors Program. These programs take students to three continents over the course of a semester, so positive group dynamics are essential to their success. “It’s important to develop a productive and safe space for students, but also a space where students and staff can hold each other accountable around having an anti-oppressive, socially just environment,” Singh said.
As Social Justice Education Specialist, Singh will help SIT faculty and staff around the world develop the same type of dynamics. “The challenges that come up in our programs related to race, gender, class, sexuality, disability are really important and really urgent,” said Singh. “It’s exciting to work at an institution that is prioritizing these issues, and to be thinking proactively about how we can best equip our staff to push forward racial and gender justice on our programs.”