St. Stephen’s Appoints Two Key Leadership Positions

St. Stephen’s Episcopal School Head of School Chris Gunnin has named Marsha Elliott as the school’s Director of Equity and Inclusion and Kim Garey as the first-ever Associate Head of School for Academics and Student Programs.

Elliott has served as the Interim Director of Equity and Inclusion since December 2023, after the passing of longtime and beloved DEI Director Yvonne Adams. Initially hired in August of 2023 as the school’s Associate Director of Equity and Inclusion for Student Programming, Elliott will continue the mission of the vital DEI work: to sustain and advance an inclusive community, as defined by our school’s mission statement and consistent with its core values. Elliott’s tasks are multi-layered. She will ensure that diversity is continually integrated throughout the campus and curriculum, serve as a resource to parents, students, faculty and staff, consult with the administration and staff on how to best serve a diverse population, mediate racial and cultural misperceptions and counsel and mentor students.

“I am grateful and honored for this opportunity to continue working alongside members of such a wonderful community dedicated to upholding and strengthening our foundational values of diversity, equity, and inclusion as we walk together in the transformative legacies of Bishop Hines and my friend and mentor, Yvonne Adams,” said Elliott. 

Elliott’s work as a dedicated diversity practitioner, educator and proven leader in independent schools spans over two decades. Prior to her time at St. Stephen’s, she absorbed double duty at several Houston area college preparatory schools, including the Kinkaid School and the John Cooper School, where she taught English and served as Diversity Practitioner. Elliott has a bachelor’s degree from Rice University and a master’s degree from Boston College.

“I am so grateful for the deep and meaningful work Marsha has already done on The Hill and look forward to her continued leadership,” said Head of School Chris Gunnin.

At the start of the 2024-25 academic year, St. Stephen’s Head of Upper School Kim Garey will begin her new role as the school’s first Associate Head of School for Academics and Student Programs. This marks Garey’s 30th year on The Hill, where she has excelled in a number of administrative roles including serving as Academic Dean since 1996. As head of the Upper School, Garey’s primary role has been managing the day-to-day academics and extracurricular programs, supervising faculty, overseeing student issues and engaging with parents – while also teaching, serving as a student advisor and serving as a duty administrator in the residential program.

Head of School Chris Gunnin appointed Garey to lead a variety of academic and strategic projects and oversee critical areas of school life, specifically those with a 6th through 12th-grade scope. Garey will have the opportunity to shape this new role along with the Head of School, and directly supervise and support nearly a dozen academic leaders and directors who lead faculty, the health center, counseling, outdoor education and learning services.

“I am thrilled to step into the new role,” said Garey. “With a focus on the academic program and student experience, I will have more opportunities to troubleshoot problems and strategize how to make new and better things happen for our students.”

Garey and her husband, Clay Nichols, are part of the St. Stephen’s residential community and Nichols also works on campus serving as a Leadership Giving Officer on the Advancement team. All three of their children, Wilson ’16, Riley ’19 and Cooper ’22, are St. Stephen’s alumni.