The Department of Equity and Race Relations includes: Caprice Hollins, Psy.D., Raymond Williams, and Ilsa Govan
We network with countless other individuals and organizations to move this important work forward.
Caprice D. Hollins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She grew up in the Rainier Valley, attending John Muir, Hawthorne, and Mercer and graduated from Franklin High school. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seattle University and a doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Multicultural and Community Psychology in 1998 from Alliant International University in Los Angeles, California.
Dr. Hollins returned to Seattle in 1998 where she completed her post doc at Atlantic Street Center – a local mental health agency serving primarily youth and families of color. For the past 8 years she has facilitated workshops and taught graduate courses increasing awareness and knowledge in working with diverse ethnic populations at several local universities including Seattle Pacific University, Antioch, University of Washington and Mars Hill Graduate School. Her expertise and focus has been on working with children and families from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.
Dr. Hollins spent five years working and building relationships with students, staff and families at the African American Academy. Some of her many responsibilities included providing mental health services to students and families and classroom management support to teachers in addition to her role on the Student Intervention and Disciplinary Teams.
In October of 2004 she joined Seattle Public Schools as the Director of Equity and Race Relations where she supports the educational efforts of the District to dismantle institutional racism. Her role includes providing guidance, resources and professional development to promote cultural competence of staff; review of policy and procedures to ensure equity; promote best practices around family and community engagement and address the need for culturally relevant curriculum.
Dr. Hollins works hard to try and balance her passion and commitment for equity and raising a young family with her husband . Together they have two young children and three older step children.
Raymond Williams comes to Equity, Race and Learning Support after a long career as a science educator. Born and raised in Seattle, he taught secondary science in Seattle, Atlanta and internationally. He gained his professional development experience as an Instructional Coach with SPS. He has been involved with educational equity issues for 20 years, mentoring student groups, developing culturally relevant curriculum, providing professional development and reflecting on his own growth toward being a more racially aware citizen.
Ilsa chose to become a teacher because of her passion for social justice and desire to make schools more equitable for all children. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Education from Western Washington University and began her work in public schools as a special education teacher in Tumwater, WA. She then moved back to Seattle and began teaching 5th grade at TOPS K-8.
Ilsa decided to continue her studies at Pacific Oaks College Northwest. In order to complete her thesis, she spent a year studying effective European American teachers of African American students in three Seattle elementary schools. During this time, she also worked as a 2nd grade reading teacher at TOPS and an educational consultant for the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. She completed her Master's Degree in Human Development with an emphasis on Bicultural Development and went back to teaching full time in a 4/5th grade class at Daniel Bagley Elementary school.
In addition to her work in the classroom, Ilsa has been involved in various forms of anti-racist community organizing for the past fifteen years.