As far back as she can remember, Mary Taylor-Lewis has always felt a strong need to make others feel included.

“In Girl Scouts, I could feel when someone was left out and wanted them to not feel bad,” she said.

Coming from Elgin, Illinois, about 45 minutes northwest of Chicago, family, a sense of community, hard work and togetherness were all ingrained in her from a young age. Mary grew up in a neighborhood filled with other kids and block parties. The local public schools were minutes away. Her parents met working at a non-profit for youth. Her mom still works for a school district and her dad is a school bus driver. She remembers Sunday family drives to the city to visit her grandmother.

“I have fond memories of growing up -- nothing was perfect, but my parents worked really hard to support my brother and me,” Mary said.

So it seems fitting that Mary, who has been a part of the Westover community since 2018  working in the Rasin Center for Global Justice as the Director of Diversity and Inclusion, is now in an enhanced position to continue to use her talents, voice and passions as Westover’s Chief Strategic Inclusion Officer, working to continue Westover’s efforts in realizing its goal to be an equitable, inclusive, and diverse institution that celebrates and supports all community members.

“Reflecting on my journey I absolutely see my love for working with young people as something both of my parents were passionate about as well,” she said. “I’ve always been interested in helping people from different backgrounds connect with one another and understand each other and the world around them in a new way.”

Mary, who graduated from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities with a BA in Communication Studies, spent her college years participating in and leading service learning, leadership and relationship development trips, events and summer camps with “Students Today Leaders Forever,” an organization that encouraged high school and college-age students to become catalysts for positive change.

I can mobilize, support, encourage, but it takes a collective effort, no matter what size the effort, to really make change happen across an institution.

“The high school leadership camp brought together students from across the Chicago area, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. I co-led it for three years when I was in college and saw how much those high schoolers could learn about themselves and about students whose races, ethnicities, nationalities, religions, ways of growing up and being in the world were very different from theirs,” Mary said. “It was so powerful and absolutely fueled my foundational passion for working with young people.”

After graduation, Mary spent a year with AmeriCorps as a client advocate in Cincinnati,  then worked at a youth non-profit in Detroit. After those experiences, her enthusiasm and fire for helping adolescents was still very much alive.

“I knew two things: I was still passionate about helping students and young people better know themselves, and connecting them to build more in relationship to those who are different from them,” she said.

From there, Mary landed at the University of Michigan, where she worked in academic multicultural affairs, while also receiving her Masters Degree, focusing on Diversity and Social Justice in Higher Education. It was there where she was exposed to the possibilities of organizational diversity, equity and inclusion work and opportunities for involvement. Ready to take the next career steps, and be closer to her (now) husband in Connecticut, Mary was drawn to Westover as it checked the box of what she was searching for.

“I knew the work I wanted had to be with young people or students, and I wanted to move into a role that would allow me to work with others to affect change on many levels,” she said. “After I saw the Westover posting I was immediately excited. I loved the fact that it was a smaller community, the students seemed encouraged to pursue what they wanted, and I was excited to see many important and collaborative programs under one office - the Rasin Center For Global Justice.”

Since 2018, Mary has had an integral role in working with students, listening and helping center the programming at Westover on the students’ needs.

“I never personally think about my impact as one, because strategic inclusion work is never the result of just one person's actions; its many many hands,” Mary said. “I can mobilize, support, encourage, but it takes a collective effort, no matter what size the effort, to really make change happen across an institution.” 

A year like no other, 2020 has been a time of embracing many unknowns, while also making important changes. This summer, Westover, like many independent schools, heard the voices of Black students and alumnae become amplified around the important matters of social justice, equity, and antiracism. Part of Westover’s immediate call to action was the decision to create the role of Chief Strategic Inclusion Officer.

As an administrator on the Senior Team, Mary serves as the institutional leader in the design and implementation of programs that promote awareness, community understanding and change in policy and practice around issues of diversity, identity, and social justice. Some of her goals this year include continuing to listen,learn, amplify the voices and needs of students, and collaboratively lead with urgency toward Westover’s goals of equity, inclusion, and antiracism on multiple levels of the organization.

“I work with stakeholders throughout the school to realize our DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) goals together,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the Diversity Climate Assessment we are doing as a community over the next couple of weeks because it will help fine tune the places we already know where we can do better, and give a sense of what is working well across all constituent groups, in order to effectively and strategically plan for the future We are also working with the Black Students who shared their List of Demands with us in the Summer in order to both meet and exceed what they named. We have a lot of exciting plans to come.”

Like her life-long passion for helping others, Mary has always been drawn to the important work she is doing now.

“Living in the United States as a Black woman, a biracial woman has meant that my life’s tapestry, woven by my ancestors, is inextricably linked to social justice, equity, antiracism, equality, a fight for belonging,” Mary said. “I have always inherently been drawn to spaces that convene, and spaces for young people to grow and lead. I don’t see social justice, diversity, equity, etc. as tough subjects; it’s like telling a story. I think of experiences I had growing up -- mission trips to D.C. to work with people experiencing homelessness, and to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa; taking opportunities to learn as much as I can about experiences outside my own. I attribute it very much to those who lived before me, whom I never met, but whose lives and fight guide the work.”

Outside of Westover, Mary who lives in New Haven, enjoys staying active, catching up with friends, walks with her husband, cooking, and cuddling with her cat, Sweet Potato.

“I hope (my friends) would describe me as loyal, loving, and caring,” she said. “Hardworking and nurturing. And probably a crazy cat lady; I’m fine with that!”

In September at Westover's Convocation held virtually, Mary was named the recipient of the Margret Love Stevens’ 49 Award for Moral and Ethical Education. Mary said she was touched and it was an energizing way to kick-off an important year like no other.

“It was an absolute surprise and honor to be recognized in this way by my colleagues,” she said. “While strategic inclusion work, antiracist work, takes a collective, it can be challenging to navigate many priorities at one time, because it's also personal work for all involved. Being recognized by my peers was a lovely reminder that there are supports all around to see a Westover come to fruition that hasn’t yet emerged.”