In April 2025, NAIS leadership announced that it would be “pausing” the People of Color Conference (POCC) and Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC), scheduled for December 2025. Given that these conferences date back almost 40 years and have grown to serve over 10,000 independent school educators and students annually, the impact of this decision is critical to recognize.

The response to this decision was immediate: in person, by email, in group texts… participants in past POCC and SDLC Conferences were processing together, in pockets of community. Thus, Blink decided to invite participants of either conference to share their feedback about this “pause” in a collective letter.

We will send this feedback to NAIS leadership and post it here on April 28, 2025. After that date, we will continue to update this page as we receive new comments.

Thank you to everyone who has added your voice and perspective, because only you can do that. Collectively, we hope that this feedback will impel and inspire, beyond the “pause,” what might—and must—be next.