SEA is excited to welcome Monete Johnson to the team as Director of Equity and Opportunity. In this new leadership role, Johnson will work with member programs to build more inclusive and equitable environments for students and alumni, strengthen leadership pathways for staff of color, and lead efforts to increase board and staff diversity across the network.  Johnson will create spaces for dialogue on race and identity, organize anti-bias and inclusion-oriented trainings, and build and strengthen network-wide initiatives for alumni and staff of color.

“I have had the privilege to watch the SEA alumni network grow since I joined SquashBusters almost 20 years ago,” shares Johnson. “We are a community of leaders and change-makers that continues to grow stronger every day! I am most excited to be in a position at SEA that will be able to leverage the experiences and knowledge within our network to create a community that honors and supports our full selves.”

A graduate of the network’s first program, SquashBusters in Boston, Johnson earned a B.A. in Sociology and Economics at Trinity College and played on the varsity squash team. She spent a year working at SquashBusters after college before completing an M.P.P. at Rutgers University. Previously, Johnson has worked as a Research Associate at the Education Law Center and most recently served as the Assistant Director of College Advising for SEO Scholars New York. In this role, she led the development, execution, and analysis of an advising program that prepares and guides high school students through the college admissions process. Over the years, Johnson has remained active in the SEA network, volunteering with programs, helping to lead SEA’s Citizenship Tour, and bringing together alumni.

“SEA is committed to helping our member programs strengthen their programming and identify the most effective ways to empower their students,” says Tim Wyant, SEA’s Executive Director. “Investing in and focusing on DEI is a central part of this work, and in Monete we have an ideal leader. I’m excited to watch her make her mark.”

“Makes my heart sing to know Monete is coming back to SEA and urban squash as our Director of Equity and Opportunity,” says Greg Zaff, Founder & CEO of SquashBusters. “What we all are getting with Monete is one of most principled, determined, and level-headed thinkers I’ve met in my 25 years doing this important work. Monete’s journey and the woman and leader she has become embody all that we want to happen for the thousands of urban squashers following the trail she blazed long ago. Welcome home, Monete!”