On Wednesday, Sept. 14, Menlo’s Chief of Institutional Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Keith Wheeler hosted the School’s first-ever Equity Diversity Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) Strategic Plan Kickoff. The event, which you can watch on the video below, provided an opportunity to learn about the School’s EDIB strategic priorities and hear from featured speaker, Dr. Claude Steele. Dr. Steele is an American social psychologist and a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. He is best known for his work on stereotype threat and its application to minority student academic performance, summarized in his bestselling book, Whistling Vivaldi. 

From intersectionality to underperformance phenomenon, Keith Wheeler sat down with Dr. Steele for a fireside chat to discuss some of the themes Dr. Steele explores in his book. 

“We need to work on building trust, and that may be every bit as important as efforts to reduce prejudice,” shared Dr. Steele. “The real challenge in making a diverse community work is understanding the significance and the importance of building that trust; it has to be there.”

Watch the full video below.