WHERE WE STAND AT MVM

Dear MVM Community,

 After the recent killings of Black people in America, the nation’s attention is focused on systemic racism. My Voice Music has spent the last several weeks facilitating meetings with our teachers, board, leadership team, and other community members to hold space to process events together and to reflect on our strengths and limitations as an organization. We are proud of the work that we do, providing youth from all backgrounds with access to music and leadership opportunities. We also recognize that we have significant room to grow. Our vision for that growth is to root My Voice Music’s culture in racial justice and for all of us to commit to being the anti-racist, pro-justice leaders that we want the youth we serve to be.

Please follow this link to learn more about what equity looks like at My Voice Music and the specific actions we are taking to fight for social and racial equity. There you will find our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion statement and documents describing the specific ways we work to create equity in our programs and areas where we fall short organizationally and must grow.

I have struggled personally with sharing these documents because they are not “final” and have felt inadequate. However, the truth is they will never be “final." Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are things that live and breathe with every person and community we engage with. Therefore these are living words. They will continue to be revised and updated responsively throughout time. After conversations with our community and Equity Committee it became clear that they need to be published regardless. They provide context that can sustain dialogue and keep this important movement alive at My Voice Music well into the future.

I invite any feedback you might have after reading about the work we have ahead of us as we continue to deepen our mission: to amplify young voices and ignite self-discovery through music. In the meantime, thank you to all of you who are actively rising up to demand justice.

Sincerely,

Ian Mouser, Founder & Executive Director