Faculty Member Receives Prestigious Leadership Award

The Manhattan Country School (MCS) awarded Michele Hatchette ’05, Westminster’s director of multicultural affairs and associate director of admissions, its “Living the Dream” Mentor Award at a celebration of the school’s 45th anniversary on May 5 at the Museum of the City of New York.
 

The prestigious award honors excellence and leadership in progressive education, arts and sciences, social and environmental justice, and community activism. Michele was one of two recipients of the award this year, which has previously been given to President Bill Clinton, Harry Belafonte, Gordon Parks, Lena Horne, Pete Seeger and others.
 

Michele, a 2001 graduate of MCS, was recognized for her role in co-founding Harlem Seeds, a nonprofit organization with the main goal of ensuring that every child learns to make the connections between the food they eat and its impact on their health. It does this by teaching kids to grow their own food in community gardens and classrooms throughout Harlem and to prepare nutritious meals. “We honor Michele for her dedication to sustainable food programs, education and improving the lives and futures of young people in urban communities,” states the program for the ceremony.
 

After serving as head prefect and graduating from Westminster in 2005, Michele earned her bachelor’s degree in international and intercultural studies at Pitzer College. While there, she worked in the Office of Black Student Affairs, helping new students with adjustment to the Claremont Colleges. In her senior year, she co-founded the student-run coalition Empowered Women of Color, which focused on bringing awareness and implementing action plans around social justice issues on campus. She also has done community-organizing work with immigrants in Southern California and Northern Spain related to increasing consciousness around workers’ rights, and she has volunteered with organizations providing resources for women immigrants. She has served internships at Booz Allen Hamilton on their diversity and inclusion teams, and at Manhattan Country School Farm. She was appointed to the Westminster School faculty in 2011.
 

“My passion for diversity and social change, working with small communities, environmental sustainability and connecting with people from all walks of life began when I was a student at MCS,” said Michele about receiving the award. “I left MCS not seeing barriers, only possibilities and opportunities. I was armed with the confidence knowing that as one individual I could actually make a difference in this world and that making a difference is a valuable thing to dedicate one’s life to.”