Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Introduction Berklee Resources and Support Valencia Campus Resources, Support and Engagement Initiatives Equity and Title IX Policies and Processes
 

Introduction

In full alignment and collaboration with the Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Berklee’s campus in Boston, the mission of our team in Valencia is to foster a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable community where all of our members can reach their full potential. We acknowledge the inherent dignity and value of each person, and work toward establishing a community where all our members are free from discrimination, harassment, and sexual violence. We achieve our mission through the engagement and empowerment of all members of our community. We coordinate our efforts across the institution through education, programming, resource development and provision, and policy and process implementation.

At the Valencia campus, the Student Affairs, Diversity and Inclusion team supports the Berklee community through education, community-building programming, and resources to promote inclusion. Additionally, our aim is to offer a global perspective that acknowledges the reality and challenges of communities around the world.

The Equity team in Valencia supports the Berklee community by administering the Equity Policy and Process, offering resources, support, and reporting options to address harassment, discrimination, or sexual misconduct, and educating the community on prevention of and response to these issues. 

Institutional and Strategic Engagement

Institutional and Strategic Engagement

The Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion works in partnership with institutional leaders and key stakeholders to advance Berklee’s strategic priorities regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion. The scope of this work is inclusive of the multiple learning environments at Berklee, including the Valencia campus, and reflects ongoing efforts to address and improve the climate, systems, and practices within our community.

Many challenges lie ahead in all areas. We believe that increased diversity will support our strategic objective of attracting the highest-quality students, faculty, and staff to Berklee. To accomplish this, we must create a welcoming and supportive multicultural atmosphere for all members of our community. This focus is not the work of any one individual or office; it is the work of everyone. In this spirit, we will encourage a campus-wide climate of respect, openness, and awareness that celebrates and values our diversity.

Framework for Progress

Framework for Progress

“In a racist society, it is not enough to be nonracist, we must be antiracist.”

— ANGELA Y. DAVIS

Please read this statement from Berklee’s Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on anti-Black sentiment, bias, discrimination, oppression, and the need to combat these behaviors within our communities.

Berklee Resources and Support

Use this section of our website, organized alphabetically, to find the diversity and inclusion resources and support you need at Berklee in Valencia.

Accessibility

Accessibility: Berklee is committed to providing all members of the community equal access to campus properties, services, and resources. 

Updating Your Preferred Name, Gender Identity, and Gender Pronouns

Updating Your Preferred Name, Gender Identity, and Gender Pronouns

Black Lives Matter Capsule

Black Lives Matter Capsule: The Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has developed an online platform with resources, prompts, questions, and discussion guides for self reflection and to encourage conversation with other community members. We urge you to engage with these materials, deepen your understanding of Black history, and consider your personal commitment to defending Black lives, confronting racism, and creating sustainable positive change.

Cultural and Religious Observances

Cultural and Religious Observances

Diversity and Inclusion Resources and Services Guide

Diversity and Inclusion Resources and Services Guide

Equity and Title IX Resources

Equity and Title IX Resources: At the Valencia campus, the equity policy is supported by Valencia's equity leadership team. Community members can consult flowcharts that explain how Berklee addresses equity reports, the support and reporting options available for community members, and whether an incident is equity related or not. Please review our frequently asked questions for more information on Berklee’s Equity Policy and Process. If you have a question you would like to see answered, please email the equity team.

Trans* Resources and Support

Trans* Resources and Support: We have developed several resources to help ensure that our trans community members are safe and supported, and encourage you to become familiar with this information.

Resources for White people who want to begin (or continue) their journey of understanding Whiteness.

Additionally, for White people who want to begin (or continue) their journey of understanding Whiteness and White supremacy, please read:

Other Library Diversity and Inclusion Collections

  • Black Lives Matter Guide: This guide includes resources on how to become an advocate for change.
  • Diversity and Inclusion Collection: This collection has diverse intellectual approaches, incorporating not only sociological and historical writings, but various literary genres that can complement academic research. The library has expanded to include a wide-ranging collection of novels, short stories, poetry, music biographies, memoirs, and other literary works that speak to the issues surrounding these important topics. Not only are issues of race, gender, and class included in the collection, but stories of disability and heritage as well. 
  • Diversity in Showbusiness: Acting Beyond Stereotypes 
  • Spanish Language and Culture Resource Guide: This resource guide aims to provide a historical and cultural overview of the Valencia experience. All materials have been carefully selected and recommended by staff and faculty from the Spanish campus, and they should help increase the cultural understanding of Spain.

The International Student Experience Resource Guide: This guide aims to provide resources for inspiration, research, and intercultural learning geared towards international students.

Valencia Campus Resources, Support and Engagement

Through a number of curricular and cocurricular sessions and experts, the Student Affairs, Diversity and Inclusion team in Valencia offers regular critical-thinking opportunities to review and analyze a myriad of topics relating to diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability in the music industry worldwide. Check out the following archives for a selection of sessions and resources:

Off-campus resources and engagement: There are a number of Spanish organizations that offer support, information, and community-building and engagement opportunities around specific topics.

Addressing social injustice and discrimination based on race (listed alphabetically)

Addressing social injustice and discrimination based on race

  • Afrofeminas: An online community that gives a voice and visibility to Afro-descendant/Black women in Spain. 
  • Fundación Secretariado Gitano: An organization working towards achieving the full citizenship of Roma people, improving their living conditions, promoting equal treatment, and preventing all forms of discrimination. 
  • International Decade for People of African Descent: An organization that aims to celebrate the important contributions of people of African descent worldwide; advance social justice and inclusion policies; eradicate racism and intolerance; promote human rights; and assist in creating better, more prosperous communities in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
  • Intersect Madrid: A grassroots organisation aiming to open up the discussion on issues of social injustice and discrimination in formal education. 
  • Melanin Madrid: A community of POC helping members relocate to Spain through community, consulting, and digital resources.
  • Movimiento por la Paz, Comunidad Valenciana: An NGO that works for human rights, democratic governance, and equality and solidarity between peoples.
  • SOS Racismo: A federation of associations in defense of human rights, focusing on the fight against racism and xenophobia. 
  • United Minds: A Valencia-based bookstore specializing in African culture and literature.

Supporting gender identity and expression (listed alphabetically)

Supporting gender identity and expression

Women in Music: The industry's leading nonprofit working to advance the awareness, equality, diversity, heritage, opportunities, and cultural aspects of women in the musical arts.

Providing accessibility information (listed alphabetically)

Providing accessibility information

  • ONCE: Services for the visually impaired

Tur4all: Accessible traveling in Spain (iPhone/Android app)

Other useful resources

Other useful resources

  • Diversity Abroad Guide to Spain: This guide includes a historic overview, scholarship information, health and safety tips, and identity-specific resources to help students prepare for their global experience in Spain. 
  • Diversity Abroad Network: A leading membership organization that inspires and supports educators, policy makers, industry professionals, and other stakeholders in leveraging global educational programs to support the academic success, interpersonal development, and career readiness of students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. 

Initiatives

A number of curricular and cocurricular opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at the Valencia campus have been designed for the purpose of creating experiential learning opportunities that enhance students’ sense of agency and social responsibility as it relates to their artistry and its place in today’s society.

Funding opportunities

Diversity and Inclusion Grants have been designed to help and support students with ideas for events, projects, programs, and initiatives that reflect and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion for the Berklee community.
Through these grants, the Office of Student Affairs, Diversity and Inclusion at the Valencia campus provides financial, logistical and organizational support to help student ideas become a reality. Core themes to focus on when applying for a grant should include access and equity, community engagement, community learning and development, and expanding outlooks.

Certificate for Community Engagement and Leadership

This non-credit certificate is awarded by the Office of Student Affairs, Diversity and Inclusion to students who, during their time at Berklee’s Valencia campus, show a strong commitment to social justice, community outreach and engagement, diversity, inclusion, social responsibility, and careers through their participation in one of the official cocurricular programs offered on our campus (i.e., Student Advisory Board, UN’s Senior Ambassador Program for Sustainable Development Goals, Women in Music, student clubs, diversity grant awardees among others).

Past programs and initiatives

United Nations Senior Ambassador Program for Sustainable Development Goals

This is an opportunity for students to make a positive impact in our and their communities by developing a project that furthers one or more of the 17 sustainable developments goals established by the UN as their agenda for 2030. Senior ambassadors sponsor this agenda and promote the cultural diversity dialogue by making use of their creativity.
Projects include the following:

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Shifting the Conversations

Established during the academic year 2016–2017, these series aim to provide a safe space to unpack and discuss complex social issues affecting the way we navigate today’s world, while offering alternatives to bring people closer together.

A highlighted event of this series was “Shifting the Conversation: Towards Balance in Music”: a powerful debate featuring a panel of industry professionals held on our campus in March 2017. This event was a collaboration with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Fund with the aim of raising awareness about gender inequalities within the music industry and come up with ideas for change.

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Women in Music

Women in Music Berklee is a collaboration between the nonprofit organization Women in Music and Berklee College of Music. It provides a number of seminars, concerts, and conversation series to raise awareness about Women in Music’s mission within Berklee Valencia’s student body and the local community.

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She Knows Tech

She Knows Tech has brought a number of female tech specialists to our campus to offer workshops and guidance on specific technology-related topics.  The objective is to attract women into the field of music technology and to provide female references within the music tech industry to all our student body.

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Collaboration with YMCA Valencia

IAMM! (I Am a Musical Mosaic) started as an afternoon workshop series for children from the YMCA in Valencia. The goal was to have kids explore their identity through music and express it through learning basic audio manipulation, poetry, and recording. This collaboration is now continued in the form of a concert led by the YMCA, in which Berklee students prepare and mentor children to gain confidence to perform on a stage in front of a crowd of strangers. This concert has now become a recurring event that celebrates the international day of tolerance and continuously features similar mentorship by Berklee students.

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Valencia Film Orchestra

The Valencia Film Orchestra was established by 66 musicians from Berklee Valencia and Conservatorio Superior de Música to perform a family concert featuring the greatest soundtracks of all time. The main objective was to raise funds for Fundación FUVANE, a local organization working with children with cerebral palsy.

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Boundless Music

Boundless Music started as a student club in fall 2017 and evolved into a diversity grant project: a cultural concert series to showcase and promote the diversity of Berklee artists. The widely attended Race, Culture, and Music event on campus generated a great deal of conversation and progress within the Berklee Valencia community.

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Previous Initiatives

A Chance to Dream

A Chance to Dream was both a panel and a concert that took place at the Universitat Politècnica de València and at Veles e Vents. The purpose was to coach and motivate attendees to follow their dreams and use their power within music to promote social change.

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The Indo Flamenco Concert

The Indo Flamenco Concert emerged from a student’s desire to contemplate the Spanish flamenco roots brought to us from Rajasthan, India.  This charity concert raised funds for two important foundations: Fundación FUVANE and Fundación Vicente Ferrer.

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Fill the Void

Fill the Void was an event that aimed to create a safe, diverse space for students and the community to come together and bring awareness to mental health and its connection to art and artistry. All benefits collected from donations went to the local organization Associació Nexe.

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Kilómetro Cero

Kilómetro Cero, a student-led event, brought together artists, farmers, and residents of Valencia to promote local consumption and to connect music with sustainable and ecological activities.

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Sofar Sounds

Sofar Sounds is a series of secret pop-up concerts in private locations, fostering a warm community of diverse musicians and performers.

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SAAVE Valencia

SAAVE Valencia (Student Allies in Anti-Violence Education) is a Berklee community that strives to be a safe space in which all narratives are celebrated. 

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HeForShe

Berklee joined forces with UN Women’s HeForShe campaign, a worldwide solidarity movement that seeks to engage men and boys as advocates and agents of change in favor of gender equality and to bring consciousness and awareness that gender equality is not only a women’s issue, but a human rights issue that needs to be addressed at all levels. As part of this special collaboration, members of the Berklee community shared what gender equality means to them via a #BerkleeHeForShe photo booth and met regularly to discuss how men and women might experience gender equality differently. Berklee’s contribution to the HeForShe campaign culminated in the first Mediterranean Roots Festival (Festival Raíces del Mediterráneo), organized jointly by Berklee’s Mediterranean Music Institute and the Valencia campus to celebrate the musical heritage of the Mediterranean area and its influences and fusions. A part of the two-day festival honored this campaign in a concert featuring Mexican singer and UN Women spokesperson Magos Herrera offering a Mediterranean jazz night with the Berklee Mediterranean Ensemble and Valencian alto saxophonist Perico Sambeat, in the presence of HeForShe representatives.

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Berklee's Women Empower Symposium

The Berklee Women’s Empower Symposium aims to strengthen the Berklee College of Music community while providing the student body access to diverse female role models in the entertainment, media, and music businesses.

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Women in Conducting

Women and Conducting aims to shed light on and raise awareness of the unbalanced presence of women in the world of conducting, and to discuss strategies and initiatives that could contribute to the elimination of the glass ceilings that exist on leadership positions in contemporary music spheres, from classical music to music direction, orchestration, and film scoring. 

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Equity and Title IX Policies and Processes

Berklee—which includes Berklee College of Music, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Berklee Valencia, Berklee NYC, and Berklee Online—is a diverse community of individuals with different life experiences, viewpoints, and belief systems. A welcoming and inclusive culture is essential to maintaining Berklee’s role as a leader in music education, and Berklee highly values the dynamic environment that results when students, faculty, administrators, and staff from diverse backgrounds come together to learn, live, and work.

The Equity and Title IX Policies prohibit acts of discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct, including, but not limited to, sexual assault or harassment, domestic/dating violence, and stalking. Such acts undermine Berklee’s community values and are strictly prohibited. These policies and the institution’s commitment to fostering a safe, supportive, and diverse climate are a fundamental part of a Berklee community where all can study, live, and work together in an environment of equal opportunity, inclusiveness, and mutual respect.

All community members are encouraged to contact the Equity Office to report any instances of potential violations of either the Equity or the Title IX Policy and receive additional information, options, and supportive measures.

Reporting does not obligate any community member to participate under either policy.

We ask that you refer to Berklee’s Equity and Title IX Policies and Processes for comprehensive information on these important policies.

Valencia Equity Leadership Team

At the Valencia campus, the equity policy is supported by the Valencia equity leadership team:

    Simone Pilon

    Valencia Campus Deputy
    Dean of Academic Affairs
    spilon@berklee.edu
    +34 963332802 Ext. 3405

    Clara Barberá

    Director of Student Affairs, Diversity, and Inclusion (students)
    cbarbera@berklee.edu
    +34 963332802 Ext. 3403

    Esteban Lull Rios

    Senior Coordinator of Human Resources (faculty/staff)
    elull@berklee.edu
    +34 963332802 Ext. 3432

    Martina Naretto

    Senior Coordinator for Academic Assessment, Records, and Registrar Services (students)
    mnaretto@berklee.edu
    +34 963332802 Ext. 3467

    Antonio Muñoz Ballester

    Student Affairs Administration Coordinator (students)
    amunoz6@berklee.edu
    +34 963332802 Ext. 3469

Members of the community may consult flowcharts that explain how Berklee addresses equity reports, the support and reporting options available for community members, and whether an incident is equity related or not. Please review our frequently asked questions for more information on Berklee’s Equity Policy and Process. If you have a question you would like to see answered, please email the equity team.

You can also download the Sexual Assault: Your Rights and Options brochure for specific information on the Valencia environment.

Off-campus resources for students in Valencia include Pathways to Safety International.