Alumni
ITALIA CONTI HAS SEEN MANY FAMOUS FACES AND SUCCESSFUL PERFORMERS PASS THROUGH IT'S DOORS IN OUR 109 YEAR HISTORY.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
ITALIA CONTI IS DEDICATED TO CREATING A WARM AND
WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY INCLUSIVE OF RACE, ETHNICITY, NATIONAL ORIGIN, CULTURE, LANGUAGE, GENDER AND GENDER EXPRESSION, SEXUALITY, RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL BELIEFS, AGE, AND ABILITY. ITALIA CONTI HAS A ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY FOR ANY FORM OF DISCRIMINATION.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION AT ITALIA CONTI
We know that diversity leads to greater creativity so we’re committed to ensuring our workforce and student body reflect the diverse make-up of modern society. We strive to provide high quality training that is accessible, appropriate, and enabling. To effectively support implementation and monitoring of policies and practices, Italia Conti makes use of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committees (EDICs) which consist of staff, students, and alumnx and a staff Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Steering Group (EDIS); these committees feed into the various Quality Boards and directly to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
BLACK LIVES MATTER / RACE
Following the June 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, there was a demand that Drama Schools respond by reflecting on their processes and practices regarding Race.
EDIC meetings were held separately by the Acting Programme and Musical Theatre & Dance Programme/Courses. Both faculties were tasked with drawing up programme/course specific action plans that would be published and managed by the local Programme/Course Management Teams. The SLT attended both of the above meetings and held separate talks with Programme Management Teams, advisors, and prominent industry figures to form a clear picture of Italia Conti-wide and business changes that are needed in order to support all Italia Conti stakeholders, in particular our Ethnic Minority staff, students and alumni.
Following the success of the Race Action plans, we have now created an EDI Action Plan; this plan seeks to address issues across a wide range of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion issues and for protected characteristics and people.
WE BELIEVE
- Diversity is important for enriching training.
- Staff and students need to be safe and welcome and feel safe and welcome.
- Overt and systemic discrimination must be ended.
- ‘Black-lives’ matter not just ‘Black-faces’ on stage and screen; we value culture and history not just perception.
- People of the Global Majority should have the opportunity to undertake/study Ethnic Minority roles/practitioners during their training.
- Our students are talented, work hard and deserve their successes. No Person of Colour should have these successes limited or attributed to skin colour.
- BLACK LIVES MATTER
WE ARE COMMITTED TO
- Encouraging conversations and debate about race in and around the training.
- Increasing outreach to low-participation groups but with a focus on Ethnic Minorities.
- Continuing to support applications by those facing social-economic barriers.
- Developing our curriculum and improving delivery to be more inclusive of the needs of our Ethnic Minority students.
- Engaging with educators and early career advisors to ensure that People of the Global Majority believe that training and a career in the performing arts is possible.
- Working to increase the diversity of staff, particularly those in teaching and pastoral care positions.
- Delivering training for staff and students on unconscious bias and microaggression.
- LISTENING. DOING MORE.
OUR ACTION PLAN
FURTHER INFORMATION
Access & Widening Participation Policy
For further information, please contact HR Manager, Tim Rounding at Tim.Rounding@ItaliaConti.co.uk.