By Mary Hammers, Hillbrook writer
How do you see the world? It likely depends on your cultural lens or the environment in which you were raised. Helping Hillbrook students widen their view is one of the goals of Gulliver LaValle, the school’s new Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. His mission is to help Hillbrook become a school where all feel welcome, safe, and understood and where diversity enhances what’s best about Hillbrook.
LaValle was born in Argentina but spent most of his childhood in Ann Arbor, Michigan, so growing up he learned to straddle two worlds. He embraced the culture of Argentina with his family and identifies as Latinx, but also grew up a typical Michigan kid. He is bilingual, speaking fluent Spanish, makes a mean Milanesa (breaded steak), and loves salsa dancing.
He’s also a huge University of Michigan football fan and can hold his own at the poker table with a game of Texas Hold ‘Em.
Growing up, LaValle was a talented soccer player who was recruited to play in college. He graduated from the University of Utah Honors Program with a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology, and a minor in Spanish. He went on to get his Masters in Education and began his career coaching soccer and teaching English as a Second Language along with Social Studies. But he found his true passion when he began his work in diversity, equity, and inclusion. LaValle says diversity education builds empathy, understanding, and cultural competency in young people helping prepare them for the real world beyond Hillbrook and home. It also allows for a mix of perspectives and ideas that build a stronger community and help shape an overall identity that is multifaceted. LaValle’s work also involves creating inclusive spaces for teachers, staff, and families and helping the school community understand things from another’s perspective, be it environment, culture, or background.
This first year at Hillbrook, Gulliver plans to take the time to really get to know the community from students to staff. Among other things, he helped to teach a Reach Beyond Block on food equity this fall. This Reach Beyond Block session aimed at Middle School students looked at the ways in which the food we eat and have access to in our community is largely dependent on our zip code and socio-economic situation. LaValle is also helping to implement employee-wide protocol groups and to create affinity groups for teachers and staff who share common interests or experiences in order to help employees feel included and empowered to succeed.
LaValle is quick to smile and easy-going, perhaps in part because he shares his home with 5 boys between the ages of 11 and 19. Gulliver and his partner Shanna are a blended family, with three of their boys in the 5th grade at Hillbrook (Gavin, Sloan, and Matias). Not surprisingly, weekends are busy with the boys and their activities, but LaValle says when he has free time, he loves to spend it outside being active in nature. One of his passions is backpacking. Out of college, LaValle spent four months hiking through South America, which he said was one of the best experiences of his life because of the incredible people he met along the way. This fall, LaValle and his family will spend a week backpacking in Tahoe.