Menu
NYS PTA is honored to announce the winner of the NYS PTA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion award.
This award serves as a means to honor NYS PTA units, councils or regions that demonstrate a leadership commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through recruitment, training and retention efforts including multicultural, gender-diverse and special needs appropriate programming or events, inclusive outreach activities, or other initiatives.
This year’s region-level winner is
GENESEE VALLEY REGION
Genesee Valley Region PTA has dedicated itself to the values of diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism. The region has worked to develop a region board that is diverse, and continues to work to increase their diversity by promoting diversity in their units, working with city units to develop leaders, publishing Pick a Reading Partner videos showcasing diverse characters, and hosting events that encourage awareness of bias and the importance of including representation from all of our communities. Additionally, their region members have organized and promoted PRIDE events in the community to support LGTBQIA+ students and their families. They recognize the critical importance of having a diverse and multicultural organization that is relevant to their communities at large.
“As Region Director from Genesee Valley, I would like to thank NYS PTA for selecting our region as the recipient of this year’s NYS DEI award. We have made it a focus to ensure that ALL meant ALL, and that we were looking at things we did through a DEI lens. We are thankful and grateful for this prestigious award,” offered Genesee Valley Region Director, Tharaha Thavakumar-Slavin.
“Congratulations to Genesee Valley Region PTA for being NYS PTA’s very first region-level winner of this new and significant award,” offered NYS PTA President, Helen Hoffman. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion are principles that are essential to the pursuit of NYS PTA’s mission to Supporting Kids, Raising Awareness. I am so excited that we are able to honor our hardworking region volunteers for their tireless dedication to promoting these values.”