University of California

About UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley hosted a fantastic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion content-focused event last week for Latinx high school students, highlighting their Puente Project on campus. They had an esteemed keynote speaker, Dolores Huerta, and over 1100 attendees! 

The Puente conference was promoted primarily through the Puente team to Puente schools.  The Puente schools host this 9th & 10th grade conference every year for the students that are a part of their special program.

Event Background

The strategy of pivoting this impactful conference to a virtual event and portraying the campus feel during every session, even in the virtual capacity, showcases the diversity, accessibility and support of the UC Berkeley community. This was clearly demonstrated through the Post Event Surveys that were completed through Conduit after each session. Over 600 students gave feedback to UC Berkeley and the Puente Conference. When asked how they felt about the event overall, 84.8% of the students rated it “Very Good” or “Excellent”.

The Results

UC Berkeley and the Puente Conference demonstrate how crucial virtual events are to accessibility and DEI initiatives. Creating engaging and meaningful content for younger students allows UC Berkeley to reach a whole new class of students while staying true to its mission and branding. This overwhelming success of the pivot to a virtual conference is a testament to the work that was done between the UC Berkeley faculty and staff as well as the members of the Conduit team that helped bring the event to life.