St. Catherine’s is pleased to announce that Tish Lyte Canady has accepted the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion position and will start on July 1. The School started a national search for the position in the fall. Canady emerged as the favorite following virtual meetings with students, faculty, staff and the search committee. 

     Interim Head of School Lila Lohr and Incoming Head of School Cindy Trask headed up the Search Committee in conjunction with Carney & Sandoe Associates. 

     “Beyond her impressive real-world experience spanning secondary school and college levels and all types of students and families, it is Tish’s people-centered approach to the work that has won us over,”  Lohr and Trask said in a communication to the St. Catherine’s Community. 

     She currently serves as the Associate Dean and Director of Diversity and Access at The College of William & Mary, a position she has held since 2018. Prior to that role, Canady explored the other side of college admissions as Associate Director of College Counseling at Cape Henry Collegiate (2014-2017), a PK-Grade 12 coed school in Virginia Beach, where she chaired the Diversity and Inclusivity Faculty Committee, participated in admissions to create a more diverse student body and created programming for faculty and staff on issues related to prejudice, privilege and inclusion. From 2008-2014, she was Assistant/Sr. Assistant Dean and Director of Multicultural Recruitment at William & Mary and was Assistant Director of Multicultural Recruitment at Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine in Ohio for one year. 

     Canady graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations and Advertising and a Masters of Science in Human Development and Leadership with an emphasis in Higher Education from Murray State University in Kentucky. 

     Although the interviews were all done virtually, Canady said has visited St. Catherine’s on several occasions in her earlier admissions role at William & Mary.

     “My goal for St. Catherine’s is to sustain that energy and to make sure the original promises of this institution hold true for all of the people that it now serves and will serve in the future,” Canady said. “I am thrilled to bring all that I know to St. Catherine’s School, and the possibilities are exhilarating to imagine — let’s continue the good work together.”