Community Board Podcast

The Diversity Council began in 1989 as Building Equality Together (BET) when the leadership of Rochester Public Schools recognized the need to combat racism and discrimination in our schools. School district staff worked with community leaders to form an independent nonprofit organization to meet this need. Since that time, the Diversity Council's focus has grown to include not only students, but also the adults who are their guides to the future. The Diversity Council's mission has also expanded to address an inclusive understanding of diversity, including ethnicity, age, socioeconomic class, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical & mental disabilities, and a myriad of other differences. Spark! workshops (formerly Prejudice Reduction Workshops), the Diversity Council's flagship program, began in 1996 with a handful of facilitators reaching students at three Rochester middle schools. By 2003, the workshops were reaching more than 15,000 students in public and private schools. In 2008, we received