Spence In Conversation

Head of School Felicia Wilks invites four remarkable seniors to sit down and share their perspective on the year. As they prepare for the next chapter in their academic lives, Felicia asks what they're taking with them from their time at Spence and what is inspiring them as they leave the red doors.

Felicia Wilks and renowned legal scholar Kenji Yoshino explore how educators and parents can cultivate critical thinking and thoughtful discernment in an era shaped by rapidly evolving technology, ubiquitous access to information, and deepening intellectual and political differences.A leading voice in constitutional and anti-discrimination law, Yoshino is also the author of several influential books addressing today’s most urgent legal and social challenges. He is the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU and the director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. His latest book, How Equality Wins: A New Vision for an Inclusive America, is a hopeful call to action for creating a fairer society.

Felicia Wilks talks to one of the most influential women in finance, Katie Koch, about the power of women’s voice and leadership. They discuss how Katie got her start in investing, cultivated her career, and continues to draw from her humanities education to solve complex investing challenges. Together, they explore topics including academic and professional pathways for young women, career ambitions and parenting, and the transformative impact of more women building, managing and contributing wealth today.

Zoe Hitzig '11 is a published poet, an economist, a fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, and a researcher at the forefront of artificial intelligence. She joins Felicia Wilks for a wide-ranging conversation on what it means to engage in a constant cycle of inquiry during an age of rapid technological development. Together, they discuss how Zoe's multidisciplinary background informs her scholarship and her poetry, how students should think about AI and agency, and the one poem that has had the most profound impact on Zoe's intellectual journey.  

The start of the school year inspires new hopes and aspirations in all of us. In our back-to-school episode, Felicia Wilks and award-winning author Jennifer Wallace talk about setting up students for healthy success, navigating the complexities of parenting today, and finding better balance. 

Head of School Felicia Wilks shares the conversation with students from the lower, middle, and upper schools, as well as three teachers, as they reflect on an incredible year of learning and growth that stretches to all corners of Spence.