Equity & Belonging Committee Spotlight
Photos of E&B committee members speaking at the fall singer potluck.
Name: Julia Storm she/her
Other committee members: Jess Higginbotham they/them, Sheryl Griffin she/her, Ana Huang she/her, Bird Williams (co-chair) she/her/they, Marj Boyer she/her, Ari Kraintz she/they, Cindy Bizzell she/her
Committee: Equity & Belonging
When was your committee/group created and/or when did you begin serving on your committee?
2019
What does your committee do for CWC?
E&B assists CWC in exploring issues of equity, access and belonging and becoming a multi-cultural, anti-racist organization. E&B develops educational opportunities for members based on GALA New Harmony and other resources, makes recommendations to the Board for diversifying membership and audiences, provides input on music and artistic expression with regard to equity and belonging, and seeks out opportunities to engage with BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ community organizations.
What do you do for your committee/group & what do you enjoy about it?
As co-chair I plan regular meetings, handle logistics for workshops, and work with members to set goals and develop activities. I enjoy working with everyone on the committee to take the pulse of our organization and brainstorm interactive and experiential learning activities for CWC. It takes all of us working with each other for CWC to make progress on our journey towards equity and belonging.
What is your vision for the future of your committee? Any current goals/initiatives?
We use a framework developed early on in which we cycle through phases: Educate, Open Up, Show Up, and Collaborate. We've completed a lot of internal education (and plan to continue regular offerings) and have ongoing member engagement to enhance understanding and foster belonging among our various identities. We envision a calendar of local community events held by BIPOC-led and LGBTQIA+ organizations for members to Show Up and support. Ultimately, once relationships among CWC and various organizations are strengthed, we envision Collaborating with an organization to develop an event that neither organization might have done on their own. Our next education offering will be a zoom New Harmony session with Sam Bullington on Community Engagement.
Any favorite projects, initiatives, or events related to your committee that you'd like to talk about?
We just (August 2025) completed a fantastic in-person Assessing Choral Harmony workshop led by GALA New Harmony Facilitator Sam Bullington! Forty CWC members particiapted in this workshop that featured a story-telling panel of members from diverse backgrounds, small group sessions on assessing our chorus culture, and organizing learning and affinity groups in the areas of race, neurodiversity, trans/nonbinary, and language/citizenship status. We also did some singing and sharing in circles too! We look forward to continuing this work with Sam over zoom when we explore the topic of Community Engagement in Fall 2025.