Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Statement and Goals

DEIA Statement and Goals

Since our inception, Women’s Voices Chorus has been committed to diversity. As a group of musicians who strive to perform music by and for women, it is part of our mission to lift up the voices of those who have long gone unheard. We have created a community that is diverse in age, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic position, and ability. However, true racial diversity has eluded us; we are a primarily White community.

Therefore, the Diversity Committee’s overarching goal is to create an environment where all singers, including singers who do not identify as White, feel truly welcome and able to belong in Women’s Voices Chorus, without disproportionate effort on the part of any individual singer.

To achieve this aim, we specify three subgoals:

• To raise awareness regarding diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in our choir
• To try to discover aspects of White culture in WVC that may seem to be self-evidently right ways of operating to the majority, but that may keep minoritized singers from feeling at home
• To suggest to the board and then help to implement adjustments that we believe will help all singers feel able to belong without disproportionate effort