Matthew Oakland

The Lick-Wilmerding High School community welcomes Matthew Oakland as the Director of Student Inclusion and new addition to the recently created diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) department.

Despite their last name, Oakland was born and raised in Sacramento where they still call home. “I’m a big, big Kings fan, which feels like an identity marker, especially out here where I get a lot of flack for it,” he said.

Before arriving at LWHS, Oakland worked at the Nueva School where he taught the Social Emotional Learning program and later became the Director of Social Justice for the upper school. In both of these roles, they were able to enrich their passion for DEI work, one that he discovered while studying African American and Latin American studies in college at Princeton University and are excited to continue to pursue at Lick-Wilmerding.

Oakland also looks forward to the personal student interactions that they will be able to have as part of their position. “I’m just excited and enjoy getting to know brilliant teenagers and to hear all of the ideas and thoughts and trajectories that you can all think of,” they said. “When it comes to engaging with students, the love comes from the depth of conversations that we can have, of getting to know each other, of supporting someone.”

Outside of LWHS, Oakland loves to cook and listen to music, and he is often the first person who friends reach out to when a new album drops. As an avid “hobbyist,” he is also interested in everything from learning new languages to the possibility of earning a pilot’s license.

Despite their many interests, their passions ultimately tie back to art, “Art is what propels my soul in the world,” they said. “I’m inspired by what people find beautiful and what art brings them to life.”

Oakland would like the LWHS community to know that his door is always open and welcomes students to come visit them in the Administration wing. “Feel free to come by withmusic recommendations, food recommendations, art recommendations, places to be,” they said. “Come by if you just want to chat, I’m always open to that, those [conversations] make my day.”

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Senai Wilks

Senai Wilks is a senior and co-Editor in Chief for the Paper Tiger. While not writing for the Tiger, Senai enjoys reading, listening to music, and visiting local museums.

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