As part of its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Board of Directors of Musicopia and Musicopia Dance, formerly Dancing Classrooms Philly, adopted this Charter on June 14, 2022, establishing a framework for supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion in its composition, governance structure, and strategic planning.

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1. Our organizations - Musicopia and Musicopia Dance - are committed to fostering and maintaining an environment where diversity, equity, and inclusion are fully integrated into everything we do for the benefit of our staff, teaching artists, volunteers, and the students and families that we serve. We prioritize our understanding of the complexities and intricacies of diversity, equity, and inclusion within our organizations to inform our approach to programming arts education and building community. We believe that this guides how we advance our work, support our students and families, and increase our social impact.

2. We believe that diversity is the wide range of identities, ideas, perspectives, experiences, values, and differences that enrich our organizations. We will promote the diversity of Musicopia/Musicopia Dance program participants, teaching artists, staff, and Board membership – particularly in the areas of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, language, religion, and socioeconomic background.

3. We believe that equity is the fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people, where we strive to eliminate barriers that prevent the full participation of individuals and groups that are, at times, disadvantaged because of their identities. And we believe that inclusion is the act of creating an environment in which any individual or group will be welcomed, embraced, respected, supported and valued as full participants in our efforts to create an intentional culture that fosters feelings of belonging and honors our cultural differences. We will take actions to ensure that all individuals within our organizations are treated fairly and equally, challenging stereotypes and implicit bias. We will work to include all voices and viewpoints and provide platforms for their expression.

4. To this end, the Board will designate one member from each of its standing committees (Development and Marketing, Finance, Governance, and Programming) to a Champion of these values. In this role, each Champion will:

a. Ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion is prioritized in the committee’s discussions and initiatives.

b. Be accountable for certain initiatives, metric tracking, and surveys as may be established by the Board and/or the committee.

c. Serve as a liaison between the committee and the staff so that each can provide advice and support to the other on initiatives and can keep each other informed regarding these activities.

d. At least two times a year, meet with the other Champions and designated representatives from the staff to discuss potential collaboration and alignment regarding the initiatives being performed by the committees and staff.

5. At each Board meeting on a rotating basis, one of the Champions and a designated staff member will present a summary and update of the initiatives in progress by the committees and the organization.

6. The Board will ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion goals are considered and adopted as part of organization’s strategic planning process in accordance with SMART standards (specific, measurable, achievable or attainable, relevant, and time measured or time-bound).