
Kaviya Chidambaram
Broomfield High School in Broomfield, Colorado
Kaviya Chidambaram is a junior at Broomfield High School in Broomfield, Colorado. After recognizing the lack of representation in the education system as an issue that she, as a student, could change, Kaviya co-founded her school district's Diversify Our Narrative (DON) chapter. Diversify Our Narrative is a national student-led initiative that works towards equitable and anti-racist representation in our education system through curriculum change and community power. As co-director of the chapter, Kaviya helps empower students to advocate for racial justice in their community. They work to develop accountability across all school constituencies and feedback towards district-wide growth. Their chapter began by collecting petition signatures and then rallying community members to give public comments to the district board. Their chapter has since introduced anti-racist texts to their district's resource list to help ensure all students see themselves represented in their classrooms. They also conduct interviews with teachers across high schools in the district about the issues educators see in the system. They are working to collect district-wide data on student perception of equity in the current curriculum and teaching practices. This data will provide feedback to teachers on how to improve representation in their classrooms as defined by their students. By providing a student voice as a person of color in district-level conversations about education, Kaviya helps introduce new perspectives in discussions about race and identity in the classroom. Continuously reflecting with teachers, district leaders and students ensures all stakeholders are involved in creating a more equitable system. Kaviya also served as a director of communications for DON’s national team. She helped found DON’s international branch, helping students around the world set up chapters in their own districts and advising them as they work towards increasing representation and anti-racist teaching practices in their schools. Throughout her time as a communications director, Kaviya helped establish and advise over thirty district chapters. Kaviya currently serves as co-executive director of DON’s national communications council, where she supports other directors of communication in guiding the chapters they advise.