DEIB Updates

In 2022, New 42 staff and executive team solidified systems to continue to embed our DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging) work into the DNA of the organization. More recent evolutions have been led in consultation with our partner Odell Mays.

Clarity, Connection and Culture

These are the areas of focus for New 42’s DEIB work as we round out 2023. We continue to work in consultation with our partner Odell Mays, who meets with the New 42 Executive Team, Senior Staff, DEIB Facilitation Team, Co-Chairs of the three Working Groups (Accessibility, Culture, and Language & Learning) and the Board of Directors on a regular basis. The consistency of work and gathering is furthering progress and helping to align the different parts of the organization around shared goals. Our aim is to get to the point where we are not separating out our DEIB work from the rest of our work. It will just be a natural part of what we do.

The DEIB Facilitation Team

Led by Lindsey Buller Maliekel, Vice President of Education & Public Engagement, Amanda Sellers, Group Sales & Audience Development Manager, and Vincent Taylor, Director of IT, Cyber Security and Infrastructure, the DEIB Facilitation Team has been in operation for a full season now. Their leadership has gone a long way to greater interdepartmental and inter-working group communication. The monthly meetings that they lead are open to all staff, and recently have included guest speakers Maria Porto and the GIVE Team. 

Accomplishments of note since the last update:

• Established multi-tiered professional development opportunities for all staff
• Rounded out interdepartmental audience development project planning with consultant Bryan Joseph Lee and moving now into implementation 
• Formally announced a partnership with New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
• Tested a digital accessibility widget on the New 42 Studios website
• Expanded the accessibility tools we provide for patrons including noise cancellation headphones, polarized sunglasses for patrons with light sensitivities, and an account for the New Victory on AViewFromMySeat.com to crowdsource audience photos which can be helpful to patrons trying to decide on seating
• Created a system for and released a staff directory
• Identified progress on incorporating Anti Racism and Social Justice into New Victory Education pillars and presented feedback collected from the New Victory Teaching Artist ensemble
• Incorporated GIVE learnings into lesson plans and other content throughout the year, including sharing verbal and visual agendas at the top of every New Victory Education workshop and ensuring that lesson plans were written with inclusion embedded as opposed to offering modifications for accessibility
• Completed three sessions of Trauma-Informed practices training from the Bartol Foundation with Education and Engagement Teams and Teaching Artists

Please reach out if you’d like to engage or discuss the work with us.

With appreciation for our colleagues’ work and dedication,

Russell Granet, President & CEO
Mary Rose Lloyd, Artistic Director
Courtney J. Boddie, Vice President, Education & School Engagement
Elizabeth Cashour, Vice President, Development
Lauren Fitzgerald, Vice President, Marketing & Communications
Wendy Hutton, Vice President, Administration
Lindsey Buller Maliekel, Vice President, Education & Public Engagement
Michele Pagnotta, Vice President, Finance

In 2022, New 42 staff and executive team solidified systems to continue to embed our DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging) work into the DNA of the organization. More recent evolutions have been led in consultation with our partner Odell Mays.

DEIB Task Force

To note, we evolved the structure of our DEIB work to clarify decision making and encourage participation throughout the New 42 community, allowing staff members to participate in a manner that suits them. This updated structure places the emphasis on action items being accomplished and more effectively communicated throughout the organization. The change also defines the executive team’s accountability for the pace and depth of future implementations.

The original six working subcommittees led by employees from all parts of the organization are now one DEIB Task Force open to all employees. The Task Force meets monthly and is led by a Facilitation Team composed of three staff members representing diverse identities, experiences and positions in the organization. The Facilitation Team coordinates the agendas of the monthly Task Force meetings and meets regularly with three working groups—Culture, Accessibility, and Language & Learning—as well as the executive team, to shepherd institutional DEIB changes and organizational progress overall.

Organizational Goal and Objectives

• Build a culture of ongoing learning and discourse within New 42
• Center people of color, communities of color and historically marginalized voices internally and externally within New 42
• Ensure our business practices align with our DEIB goals
• Create assessment and accountability measures to evaluate change

Key Projects and Strategies

A notable project related to the objective of ongoing learning and discourse is the company-wide exploration of GIVE. Created by ArtsConnection, Community-Word Project, and New Victory, GIVE is a set of free resources that support Teaching Artists, Teachers, Arts Specialists, School Administrators, Community Artists and more.

GIVE provides a framework for inclusive education and engagement by supporting the building of liberated learning environments and vibrant arts experiences within classroom settings. This workshop series was initiated by the Accessibility working group and is curated with the support of the Learning & Language working group, Odell Mays and the executive team.

The goal of the series is to leverage GIVE as a resource for our New 42 business practices internally and with New 42 constituents – artists, renters, donors, audiences and beyond. Designed to support New 42 staff in the various business areas and departments (Finance, Development, Operations, Production, Artistic Programming, Facilities, Ticket Services, Administration, Marketing/Comms, IT, Education/Front of House, etc.), the workshop leads participants through drafting their own inquiry questions about their respective work in relation to the intersectionality of ableism, DEIB and inclusive practices.

Below are a few more key projects and strategies the organization has prioritized:

• Lifted the minimum gift requirement to serve on our Board
• Revamped job posting templates to include a statement about commitment to institutional DEIB work and company culture
• Increased representation of persons of color on the Board of Directors to six individuals of 29
• Increased representation of persons of color on staff, including senior management and the executive team. Currently 36% of New 42 leadership identify as persons of color. We have 96 full time staff, of the 88 who self-identified, 50% identify as persons of color.
• Integrated land acknowledgement practices into our internal and external communications
• Expanded the accessibility web page to include a broader definition of the term “accessibility” and acknowledge the intersectionality of accessibility and anti-racism
• Launched interdepartmental audience development and community engagement project to align departmental objectives, review ticket accessibility programs, and integrate with DEIB work
• Conducting an organization-wide review to seek suggestions and solutions regarding our extensive ADA self-assessment

Odell Mays is also working specifically with the New 42 Board, Senior Staff and New Victory Teaching Artists on continuing training to support moving our DEIB work forward.

Our North Star is to realize and make true and sustainable New 42’s core value of “inclusive community” to lead an organization in which every employee, audience member and artist is respected and belongs, and to acknowledge and create intersectionality in our work. Please reach out if you’d like to engage or discuss the work with us.

With appreciation for our colleagues’ work and dedication,

Russell Granet, President & CEO
Mary Rose Lloyd, Artistic Director
Wendy Hutton, Vice President, Administration
Elizabeth Cashour, Vice President, Development
Courtney J. Boddie, Vice President, Education & School Engagement
Lindsey Buller Maliekel, Vice President, Education & Public Engagement
Michele Pagnotta, Vice President, Finance
Lauren Fitzgerald, Vice President, Marketing & Communications

As New 42 stepped into the new year, we took a moment to reflect on the organization’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) work over the last year, and goals and plans for the year ahead. We recently shared some updates on the work of New 42’s EDI Subcommittees with you, and thought it would be helpful to get a brief glimpse into some of the work happening day-to-day at New 42. Below, please find a few highlights of recent updates and ongoing plans from some leaders of New 42’s administrative and artistic departments.

Artistic Programming Department

The Artistic Programming Department created LabWorks Launch as a pilot program to identify a BIPOC LabWorks artist to present onstage at the New Victory Theater, and provide artist funds, space, and project and career advice from the Artistic Programming team. Three BIPOC Artistic Programming Advisors have also been added to the Artistic Programming team in a pilot year-long engagement.

Development Department

The Development Department is focusing on the usage of asset-based language, and possible training and resources that will help them offer more transparency regarding New 42’s programs and the diverse communities they serve. Current department goals include creating events for BIPOC theatergoing families, reaching new communities in partnership with group sales in future seasons, and researching anti-racist trainings for Development teams.

Education / School Engagement Department

School Engagement has been expanding education content to build a larger resource for NYC schools to engage in social and racial justice activism through arts curriculum units, including “Speak Up, Act Out: Celebrating Juneteenth, Inspired by Lorraine Hansberry Initiative.” The department is currently revising its Teaching Artist recruitment to be a more equitable process. The department’s goals for the next year include reviewing Teaching Artist onboarding, training and benefits offered. School Engagement will also focus on aligning the Artistic Programming and Education Departments’ EDI efforts and equity training.

Education / Family & Youth Engagement Department

New Victory’s Bring Your Family program will relaunch this year and serve communities who historically have been excluded from performing arts experiences; BIPOC Teaching Artists will be ensured opportunities to work on all shows; and land acknowledgments will be included in all Arts Break blog posts. A few of the department’s goals for the coming year include creating and distributing Family Engagement content for multilingual patrons, and discerning how we are identifying and partnering with outside organizations through a lens of equity and inclusion.

Marketing & Communications Department

The Marketing and Communications Department completed a three-year EDI plan for their department. Their goals include increasing the percentage of BIPOC audiences by 10% annually, as well as a 10% annual increase in BIPOC led vendor partners. They also aim to double attendance of Sensory Friendly performances and double the views for online sign-interpreted performances.

Office of the President & CEO

The Office of the President & CEO has gathered information to evaluate whether the organization needs more or different EDI consultants beyond last year’s partnership. The organization recently engaged with a second consultant who will help offer training and guidance for leadership. The department’s other major goal is to increase engagement of the Board of Directors with EDI work. The Board will be filling out an EDI survey prepared by the outside consultant followed by a series of workshops.

Operations Department

The Operations Department has worked internally towards increased transparency around decision-making, and engaging in challenging conversations about staff dynamics and equity across departments. Inspired by the work of Black Theater United’s New Deal for Broadway, the Operations Department is working towards creating a studio rental structure that is kinder to BIPOC artists, as well as working towards increasing the number of minority-owned business vendor and contractor relationships.

Production Department

The Production Department made progress in creating more reasonable tech schedules, including moving away from 10-out-of-12s, budgeting shows appropriately, and increasing transparency in decision-making within the department, as well as deepening their relationship with the Roundabout Theatrical Workforce Development Program. In 2022, they are working towards less reliance on big-box and online marketplaces, and creating opportunities for recent college grads that missed out on hands-on learning over the pandemic.

We hope this helps offer a little bit of insight into the organization’s ongoing dedication to this important work internally and externally. We are committed to ensuring that extraordinary performing arts experiences are a part of everyone’s lives from the earliest years onwards, and that our organization and its programs are a true reflection of New York City in all of its diversity.

With great appreciation,
New 42 Progress Subcommittee Members, in collaboration with New 42 Departments

Current Progress Subcommittee members:
Travis Bell, Senior Manager of Duke and Studio Production, co-chair
Allyson Leyenberger, Senior Manager, Institutional Giving, co-chair
Sam Eckmann, Box Office Sales & Ticketing Manager
Lauren Fitzgerald, Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Gwen Ober, Development Associate, Institutional Giving
Amber Shavers, Chief of Staff
Heidi Stallings, New Victory Teaching Artist

We, the members of New 42’s EDI Language Subcommittee, are pleased to share a long-overdue update on the organization’s EDI work. In December 2020, New 42 reported on our ongoing anti-racism work, which included our definitions of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and our nine areas of focus. That update also introduced the New 42 EDI subcommittees, who steer our anti-racism work, and who are the subject of today’s update.

Each EDI subcommittee has members that represent different professional areas and perspectives across New 42; Teaching Artists, executive team members and staff at all levels serve on each subcommittee. Everyone, from every department within the organization, is offered the opportunity to participate and lead on the committee of their choice. Currently, the six EDI subcommittees have 45 members—34 of New 42’s 73 full-time staff members and 12 of the 50 New Victory Teaching Artists are serving on the subcommittees. Put another way, 47% of full-time staff and 24% of Teaching Artists have a hand in steering our organization’s EDI work.

In the months leading up to the creation of the subcommittees, personal experiences of staff shone a spotlight on how some of the ways that we work do not live up to our values. It was clear that individuals across the institution deserved a seat at the table and that a change in approach was needed.

Like many institutions, New 42 is organized into distinct departments, each engaged in a specific aspect of the business. But the need for increased equity, diversity and inclusion at New 42 is not just confined to the boundaries of each department—this work must happen everywhere at once, from backstage to the classroom to the office of the President. The subcommittee structure is intended to cut across departments and encourage dialogue among staff members who might not normally collaborate with one another. The hope is that progress by cross-pollination of ideas and experiences, and forward momentum by widespread participation, will result.

Our goal is to continue to make New 42’s EDI subcommittees collaborative, non-hierarchical and change-oriented communities that strive to center BIPOC and other traditionally-marginalized voices, and promote equitable change throughout the institution.

Put frankly, we underestimated how long it would take to get the subcommittees up and rolling. Our approach to anti-racism and EDI work, which continues to expand the deeper we dive into it, is a collaborative effort to gather and represent multiple voices and perspectives. To counter a top-down approach where a decision is made by a small number of people and then enacted by the whole, we took time and care to establish working relationships, and define objectives and action plans within each group. That process is ongoing. We continue to learn what works and what doesn’t work, and grow as new collaborative teams.

For us, the Language Subcommittee, it has been slow and steady, with a fair amount of confusion, bursts of progress and some bumps along the way. Some notable ongoing collaborations in our group include a Development assistant and a Digital Services director working with Human Resources to update New 42’s Equal Opportunity Employment statement to increase transparency and inclusion on all New 42 job postings; and an Operations executive and a Development manager studying “asset-based” language techniques.

Each subcommittees’ experiences have been different. We asked the subcommittees to share what they have been working on over the past ten months, and how the approach has been working. Here’s what they had to say, in their own words:

Accessibility Subcommittee

The Accessibility Subcommittee is focused on dismantling barriers to entry and systems of gatekeeping at New 42. We are working with the Human Resources Department to ensure the organization reaches a diverse pool of job candidates and are planning to focus next on creating a more inclusive, intentional space of belonging for Black, Indigenous, People of Color, people with disabilities and other underrepresented communities at New 42, the New Victory and New 42 Studios.

Culture Subcommittee

The Culture Subcommittee is working on re-imagining how the New 42 culture can be more equitable and inclusive and has been assessing our current practices around affinity spaces. We are feeling great after finally getting new executive leadership on our subcommittee and look forward to moving our focus beyond affinity groups.

Learning Subcommittee

The Learning Subcommittee is creating a digital hub for staff members to share and request professional development and training opportunities, and will advocate for, propose, and support EDI-focused training sessions for all staff members.

Partnership Subcommittee

The Partnership Subcommittee has hired and collaborated with our EDI consultants from The Glasgow Group. Since February, we have hosted three All Staff racial equity sessions, two Teaching Artist Ensemble trainings, and one training with the Anti-Racism Task Force of the Board of Directors, with additional sessions to be scheduled soon. To date, the subcommittees have been effective in forming new and deeper relationships between staff members who might not otherwise have the opportunity to collaborate. Moving forward, we hope for improved communication between subcommittees, and transparent executive action toward material change in organizational policies and procedures.

The Progress Subcommittee will release the next New 42 update, which will report on the EDI work in the subcommittees and across all departments thus far, including its progression, challenges and impact.

Meanwhile, our work continues.

Thank you for reading, and until next time,
The Language Subcommittee, in collaboration with the New 42 EDI Subcommittees

Current Language Subcommittee members:
Mia Sommese, Education Programs Manager, co-chair
Blanca Vivancos, New Victory Teaching Artist, co-chair
Jessica Baker Vodoor, Vice President, Operations
Alberto Denis, New Victory Teaching Artist
Michelle Elliott, Senior Manager, Institutional Giving
Lilaia Kairis, Director of Digital Services
Zack Ramadan, Senior Manager, Creative Content
Amanda Sellers, Assistant to the Vice President, Development