Philip McAdoo, (he/him) brings over 15 years of experience as diversity, equity and inclusion practitioner and educator. He is the former Vice President of DEI at Earthjustice, an environmental law organization. Before founding his own consulting firm, he served as the Director of Equity, Justice, and Community at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. Among his many accomplishments there: he increased hiring and retention of staff of color; he evaluated years of graduate and alumni data to inform and create initiatives to support students; he spearheaded a professional development initiative for faculty and staff as well as an annual program for students and their families to foster understanding around race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and socio-economic diversity; he developed and implemented new transgender, nonconforming, and recruitment policies; and he created a Native American education and equity program, engaging Michelle Obama in the project.
As an openly gay educator, he has specialized in character development, particularly from the perspective of diversity and inclusion. He has written numerous articles on DEI and has recently published a new book, Independent Queers: LGBTQ Educators in Independent Schools Speak Out. He is also the author of a children’s book, Every Child Deserves.
As an LGBTQ activist, Philip has worked tirelessly to combat homophobia in his personal and professional life by fiercely advocating for himself, his family, and the rights of LGBTQ youth, families, and educators as well. He joined Rep. John Lewis to advocate in support of Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which would lower some of the barriers faced by same-sex couples who want to adopt children from foster care, as Philip and his partner Sean did.
He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in communications studies. He holds an MA in transformative leadership from The California Institute of Integral Studies and earned his Doctor of Education from The University of Pennsylvania in the Graduate School of Education. Philip was a 1989 “original” Coca-Cola Scholar, performed in the Broadway productions of The Lion King and Rent and in readings of The Book of Mormon and Wicked. Philip has his partner, Sean, Zaden, their son, and dogs Bartley and Dobby.