Wrangling With Why
Holding our Brown University community in care, prayer, and solidarity.
A Season of Reflection, Relationship, and Recommitment
The first snowfall of December arrived quietly, confidently, flakes crisp and full, clinging to bare tree limbs against the night sky. It was the kind of snowfall that stops you in your tracks. The kind that reminds you of majesty. Of wonder. Of why you fell in love with winter in the first place.
As families enter a season of gathering, rest, and reflection, I find myself doing the same, taking stock of a year marked by movement, milestones, and a deeper reckoning with why RIISE exists.
2025 marked meaningful milestones: our 16th Fall Boutique Recruitment Event, the 15th RIISE Martha’s Vineyard gathering, growth of the 4th Brown Butter Collective, the 12th Parent Power Conference, Season 5 of Articulating: An Independent School Podcast, RIISE parent and faculty development workshops, continued partnerships with schools committed to building cultures of belonging. Behind each moment is what matters most: empowering families and scholars navigating independent school communities with love, courage, and high expectations.
And still, much like a perfect wintry mix, I found myself searching for the original magic that inspired RIISE.
Belonging Was Never the Question
Applying and enrolling with agency helped the magic of independent schools manifest for my young scholars and our family. We knew we belonged. We knew our children had the curiosity, capacity, and readiness to meet the academic rigor at Riverdale.
So off they went, two little Kindergartners trailing behind one another into KM, Ms. Mahoney’s class (and yes, she looks just as youthful now as she did back in ’06 and ’09!).
Their capabilities were never in question. They deserved excellence—academics, resources, networks, opportunity.
What required vigilance, and eventually action, was the social and emotional labor of being “the only” and “one of a few” for far too many years. That reality kept me on edge long enough to make a promise: I would show up as often as I could, and show out whenever necessary.
But my why didn’t end there.
The Call to Action That Became RIISE
You may have heard the story, RIISE’s origin moment.
Sandy Shaller, then Head of the Lower School, once shared that he wished there were a Bible he could give Black and Brown families—a guide to help them navigate and negotiate independent school culture, particularly around voice and visibility.
Without hesitation, I jumped at the chance to author that guide.
That calling became RIISE, and later, The RIISE Roadmap™: a living, breathing resource rooted in truth, strategy, and lived experience. Not doctrine, but direction. Not assimilation, but agency.
Stillness With Intention
If RIISE has felt quieter in recent months, know this: the work never slowed—it deepened.
We’ve been in real rooms and real relationships, listening closely to RIISE DOER families, learning alongside scholars, and strengthening partnerships with school leaders and communities committed to meaningful growth and belonging. That grounding work was affirmed recently through recognition from the Westchester Chapter of the National Council of Negro Women and from Femtastic, a girl-scholar–led organization that uplifts women of color entrepreneurs.
These moments didn’t pull us away from the mission.
They sharpened it.
A Reset and a Recommitment
As we look ahead to a new year, this is a moment to level set—to renew our commitment to partnership, clarity, and courage. I often refer to this as spreading the gospel according to this Indy School OG—one who understands that silence is complicity, and that advocacy, when rooted in love and strategy, is transformational.
It is time, past time, for parents and caregivers to reactivate agency unapologetically. Not reactionary. Not reckless. But informed, strategic, and grounded in radical love.
RIISE in Real Life
In real life, RIISE has reignited a collective vision among parents and caregivers of Black and Brown scholars, one that centers academic excellence alongside empowerment, partnership, and joy.
From awareness to access, from application to enrollment,
and far beyond college acceptance letters, we remain committed to walking this journey together.
The times call for action.
The moment calls for clarity.
And the work calls for all of us.
As this year comes to a close, we wish our RIISE families, scholars, and school partners a season of rest, renewal, and reflection. May what’s ahead be met with intention, courage, and collective care.
If you’ve been waiting for a sign to reset, reengage, or recommit—
this is it.
Welcome back to RIISE.