Lift WHILE YOU Climb

“With the great privilege and responsibility of being Chandler alumni, I hope you can all lift while you climb,” Mana Nakagawa concludes her speech at the Class of 2022 Commencement this past June. Mana, a Chandler School alumna of the Class of 1999 and current Director of Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Meta, received the Distinguished Alumni Award at the ceremony. She graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in sociology, then received a master of arts in sociology and a Ph.D. in International Education Policy from Stanford University.

As accomplished a career trajectory as any distinguished alumni before her, that path was not one without its challenges. Mana had a difficult start as a Japanese-speaking student at Chandler School. While she worked harder to learn with the rest of her classmates, her teachers profoundly shaped her life from the beginning. During these critical formative years, teachers supported her. It was her first-grade teacher, Mrs. Barry, who inspired her the most. Mrs. Barry treated each student with respect regardless of color or ethnicity, as each came from a different background. Despite Mana's language barrier, teachers like Mrs. Barry also provided her with extra help so all students were lifted up to the same level of excellence.

A Japanese immigrant, Mana's mother struggled to communicate in English, but she loved volunteering whenever possible. Because the school community embraced Mana's mother with open arms, despite the language barrier, it was a transformative experience for Mana. Mana says, “I was motivated to believe in myself not only by my teachers but also by the school community, especially my classmates' parents. They became my substitute parents.”

Feeling connected to the school, Mana laid the foundation of what would be her life's work before the concept of “appreciation for diversity” was taught to her. As global director of diversity, equity and inclusion, she talks about diversity as cognitive diversity meaning all the ways humans think differently about the world. In a globally connected world, Mana states, “when solving complex problems, we need different ways of thinking to innovate.”

A major inspiration for Mana is working with Meta to connect people, and women especially, around the world and provide them an opportunity to build for themselves. Her office at Meta has a saying - “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” Mana expresses, “Pushing oneself beyond comfort zones in these uncomfortable moments is when we have some of our biggest breakthroughs.”

Receiving the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award was surreal for Mana. Her inspiring words spurred a spark not only in the women of color in the audience, but the entire graduating class. The quintessence of an alumna supporting future alumni of Chandler School, Mana is the perfect example of lifting as she climbs.