Our Commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging
We recognize that now is a powerful and invigorating moment of change. We seize this opportunity to work towards becoming an anti-racist, fully accessible, multicultural theatre that is truly welcoming to all. With the help of artists, staff, and others, both in Seattle and nationally, including the demands in We See You, White American Theatre, we are doing work to reform our policies and procedures to create change at all levels of our institution.
We understand that this work is ongoing, there is no end, no finish line to cross as we continue to learn and evolve as an organization. Being a theatre that is making an authentic effort to improve its culture requires vigilance and care. We will continue to share our steps along this journey with you in the spirit of transparency and continuous growth. Below we have listed the steps we have taken as an organization, and provided hyperlinks to more specific information and to track progress.
- Formation of the Inclusivity Working Group: The ACT Inclusivity Working Group (IWG) is a joint task force composed of multiethnic, multigenerational, and diverse members of ACT’s staff, trustees, and Core Company. The IWG seeks to advance ACT’s strategic goals of centering equity and intersectionality in its practice and purpose, fostering transparent communication, and focusing on action. This group will develop a culture at ACT where everyone can approach the work in an authentic way, and in an environment that is fully inclusive, in order to facilitate a workplace where our energy is focused on producing world-class art for and representative of our community. Key Responsibilities.
- Strategic Planning: Our strategic plan implemented in 2018 has undergone a complete redraft, based on the urgency of this moment.
- We See You, White American Theatre: We have undergone a point-by-point analysis of the We See You, White American Theatre demands and have developed a detailed action plan for institutional transformation. That work has been slow, but it has also been thorough.
- Redefining the Core Company of artists at ACT as an integral part of the reimagining of ACT’s ethical mission. The Core Company’s original purpose was to encourage an environment of artistic excellence, while creating a home for local artists to experiment and grow. The Core Company has expanded its role within the organization, and members serve as an artistic advisory council that helps to guide ACT on its path to making meaningful contemporary art. The Core Company is a group of artistic collaborators who support the mission of building community at ACT.
- Formation of the Curation Committee: Our goal is more transparency and a reduced likelihood of arbitrary decisions that favor the status quo, by adding new voices and advisors to allow the perspectives of an inclusive community to help inform the decision-makers. Our goal is to bring more diverse voices to the table in the decision-making process for all programming. We strive to define what a great play and great season is for ACT, and commit to publishing clear explanations as to how the decisions are made, the criteria, and what the steps in the process are. We commit to re-examining the gatekeeping function of the curation process and casting a wider net to include and involve new voices.
- Formation of the ACT Ethics Committee: The ACT Ethics Committee seeks to reduce harm and build trust in the creation and production of all work at ACT. The committee sets concrete actions and guidelines to create safe, anti-racist, inclusive spaces within ACT’s walls. The intent of the committee is not to censor but to actively explore areas of potential harm, to set actions to reduce and ideally prevent harm before it occurs, to establish an environment in which participants feel empowered and safe, and to ensure that building trust is baked into the way we work.