The Berkeley Electronic Arts and Technology Scholars (BEATS) program was created with the goal of inspiring young students of color to pursue music outside of the classroom. Founder Dexter Griffin was motivated to establish BEATS after observing the lack of diversity in his Berkeley High School Jazz classes.

The mission of BEATS is to create an elementary to high school pipeline for young musicians of color via individualized mentorship & hands-on learning.

Students from select Berkeley Unified School District schools participate in weekly after-school instruction in beat-making and creative songwriting. For their capstone project, BEATS students write an original composition and use GarageBand software to bring it to life.