OUR STORY
Zoë Jenkins, Founder
DICCE, which stands for diversity, inclusion, cultural competency, and equity, is an initiative founded out of something missing in our education system: diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, and accurate history curriculum. After an incident with students using the n-word at her school and noticing neither she nor the school had the resources to educate her peers, our founder Zoë started working on DICCE with the goal of creating accessible training, curriculum, and guides. After securing support from Civics Unplugged through their Civics 2030 initiative and partnering with the Office of Diversity of University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, DICCE went from a dream to a concrete idea. According to Pew Research Center, Generation Z will be the most diverse generation in American history, with nearly half being racial and ethnic minorities. Generation Z is also growing up in a society that is reckoning with inequities perpetuated by an unjust history and is at an irreversible turning point, whether that be with climate change, criminal justice, or education reform. If we want to affect equitable change, Generation Z needs to be educated in anti-racism and co-liberation, which is exactly what DICCE plans to do!
Meet The Team
Zoë Jenkins
Zoë (she/her) is a high school senior from Lexington, KY who loves to play with her dogs and play the piano.
Jasmine Lewis
Jasmine (she/her) is from and goes to school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and is a scholar, a writer, a musician, a cultivator of art and culture, and a vessel for social change.
Iris Wu
Iris (she/her) is from Fairfax, Virginia, and studies at the University of Virginia. She shares a birthday with the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor!
Lyne Odhiambo
Lyne (they/her) lives in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a high school senior who wishes they could waterbend, but will settle for watercoloring in their free time.
MacKenzie Fisher
MacKenzie (she/her), is a junior in high school from South Carolina. Her favorite book is Brotopia by Emily Chang.
Elena Ashburn
Elena (she/her) is a high school junior in high school. As a military child, she has lived and traveled all over the world, and currently lives in Florida. She loves crafting, theatre, music, writing, and her dog, Lucy.
Our Advisors
Kendriana Price
Kendriana (she/her) serves as the Inclusion and Diversity Program Coordinator in the Office of Diversity in the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
Maddy Allison
Maddy (she/her) lives in New York. A fun fact about her is that she once registered over 1,000 people to vote via happy birthday emails!
Verta Maloney
Verta (she/her) is all love with appropriate doses of rage. It is Verta’s hope that in every encounter, Black, Indigenous, and folks of color will leave seen, heard, healed, and loved.