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W e typically have about <br />10% students and 4-5% people of color. <br />Has your <br />organization <br />undergone any <br />Diversity, Equity, and <br />Inclusion (DEI) <br />training? If so, <br />please explain. If not, <br />please explain any <br />barriers that have <br />prevented you from <br />receiving this <br />training. <br />Yes. Five of our Board members, including our Artistic Director, have <br />recently taken advantage of <br />OCAC’s DEI training series. Our President and our Director for <br />Membership have also previously <br />received DEI training through their workplaces. W e will certainly take back <br />the ideas we have discussed <br />in our OCAC training for strategic planning at our annual Board retreat this <br />summer. <br />In keeping with VOICES’ values of diversity and community inclusion, at <br />our July 2022 Board retreat, the <br />VOICES Board committed to assess our policies and procedures and make <br />them as welcoming as <br />possible. The Board reviewed feedback from member surveys and <br />research that several Board <br />members conducted on making choirs - historically Eurocentric and <br />gendered spaces - more inclusive <br />and welcoming for all people. Since fall 2022, we have offered preferred <br />pronoun stickers for singers to <br />apply to their name tags. Sections are referred to as “tenors and basses” <br />or “sopranos and altos” rather <br />than “men” or “women” so that singers are addressed by their voice part <br />and not by gender. The <br />concert dress policy has recently been updated to allow singers to choose <br />non-gendered concert black <br />attire that aligns with their own gender expression and physical comfort. In <br />addition to these new <br />measures, VOICES is committed to ensuring accessibility for people with <br />disabilities. Our concert <br />venues are accessible. Our newest Board member has mobility limitations <br />and is leading our efforts to <br />assess and improve in this area, including better communication in the <br />FAQs on our website. <br />One of the most valuable tools that VOICES has to enrich the community is <br />through our repertoire <br />selections. Exposing singers and audience members to music from a <br />variety of cultural backgrounds <br />and musical styles invites a deeper appreciation for the rich diversity found <br />in the world of choral music. <br />Studying and performing pieces by lesser-known composers from <br />marginalized backgrounds recognizes <br />and elevates these artists as important musical contributors. <br />W e frequently feature artists from underrepresented communities in our <br />concerts to participate in <br />concerts as featured artists, in part to demonstrate to our audience our <br />commitment to diversity and <br />inclusion. Recent guest artists include W est African percussionist Bashir <br />Shakur at the December 2022 <br />concert and African-American soloist Khydijah W iley at the Summer Voices <br />2022 concert. <br />Two underrepresented and under-resourced populations that VOICES is <br />DocuSign Envelope ID: A1431915-7C4E-420D-8962-502090AC2D53