Barcelona SAE is honored to have been selected as the 2022 GoAbroad Innovation Award Recipient for Innovation in Diversity!
In 2020, to combat performative action around diversity, equity, and inclusion, Barcelona SAE created the TODOS (The Outcomes-Based Diversity Outreach Strategy) Sounding Board, in support of our existing TODOS Diversity Initiative. We wanted to explore dynamic ways that continue to hold ourselves accountable to our partners and the international education community by “pulling back the curtain” on our diversity initiatives and approaches. The TODOS Sounding Board consists of Barcelona SAE partners and institutions seeking professional development, who are generally not in senior-level positions (purposely) and are interested in actively working to dismantle systems and structures that support discrimination and bias of all forms in International Education. The board is asked to review the three Ds:
- DISCUSSION: Each member is asked to contribute to the monthly/quarterly topic relating to a current D/E/I issue Barcelona SAE would like to solve.
- DIRECTION: Each member is asked to contribute to measurable goals that help guide our overall Barcelona SAE TODOS roadmap.
- DEVELOPMENT: Each member contributes and promotes one TODOS webinar that includes a topic we all agree is overlooked or highlights a gap for the greater International Education Community at no cost to anyone.
Last year, we organized three webinars and three follow-up community discussions on the following topics. You can view all of the webinar recordings here:
- TODOS Webinar Series: Addressing Racism Head-On – What to do About Racism Onsite, Even in Our Own Programs
- TODOS Community Discussion: Keeping Anti-Racism Alive and Relevant when We’re Frustrated
- TODOS Webinar Series: Leading with Pride – Spotlighting the Global LGBTQ+ Community in International Education
- TODOS Community Discussion: Gay and Tired – Burnout for the Queer IE Community
- TODOS Webinar Series: We Are All Biased, Now What? Collaborative Approaches to Facing and Combating Our Unconscious Biases
Through this guided discussion, nearly 400 international educators worldwide discussed how they could make themselves accountable for creating more equity and access in International Education.
Through the TODOS Sounding Board, we have to be able to critically review all of our practices, from our course offerings to our application, scholarships, and even the location of our offices. Today, we have increased our identity-based course offerings, and included more inclusiveness in our application to support students with disabilities and students needing emotional support. We also added in more inclusive cultural activities like touring the Ravel neighborhood in Barcelona, which is primarily made of immigrant communities.