Ours to Do: Accountability Report (The First 30 Days)

Artwork by Sarah Greenman.

Artwork by Sarah Greenman.

 

“What if accountability wasn’t scary? It will never be easy or comfortable, but what if it wasn’t scary? What if our own accountability wasn’t something we ran from, but something we ran towards and desired, appreciated, held as sacred? What if we cherished opportunities to take accountability as precious opportunities to practice liberation? To practice love? To practice the kinds of people, elders-to-be, and souls we want to be? To practice that which we can only practice in real time? After all, we can only practice courage when we are afraid. We can only practice taking accountability when we have wronged or harmed or hurt. Practice yields the sharpest analysis.”

- Mia Mingus, “Dreaming Accountability”

ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT (The First 30 Days)

In August of 2020, we shared what is Ours To Do, and announced an intentional pause to disrupt the urgency cycle of our programs, examine and dismantle hierarchical structures, and offer space for some much-needed learning and implementation as individuals and as an organization. We are now 30 days in, and are opening up about how we arrived at this work, what we are doing, and where we are going in what we hope will be a continued journey of transparency and community accountability for years to come. 

At the start of 2020 Statera initiated an internal Pathways Listening Tour to identify access needs and necessary structural changes for our team. Among some of the celebration points we heard were the positive thrust and focus of our work together, the multiple points of rich community, opportunities to support each other through our programs, and the commitment to learning and inquiry around our own practices. Among some of the expressed pain points throughout the team were exhaustion, too little compensation, and too many hours, which prompted us to cancel our 2020 Conference to make space to address these issues. As the effects of COVID-19 and the rising social justice movement became clearer, we continued to hold precious space for our team members, where the lack of team intersectionality, amplification vs. tokenization, and an overall yearning for balance were ongoing and pressing topics of examination.  

Many of those issues were emphasized again in a formal call-to-action from Minita Gandhi, former Co-director of Mentorship, to “do better.” We are grateful to Minita for sharing her expressed experience, which also brought to light important points of inquiry around our reliance on volunteerism, clear and reasonable scope of work, and a call for accountability; all of which are in full alignment with Statera’s current work and how we plan to emerge from our intentional pause in the program and production cycles. We are committed.

We identified three main working spaces for this 90-day period: 

  • Mentorship 

  • EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Training and Practices

  • Organizational Structure & Communications

 
OursToDo1_30%2B%25281%2529.jpg
 

Statera initiates thoughtful pause; individual and small group EDI training and learning;
research for team EDI training; internal listening tour continues

Mentorship:

  • Completion of the 2020 cycle, August 31st

    • Individual mentor/mentee and Regional Coordinator (RC) conversations

    • RC Listening Tour scheduled (4 sessions, first week of September)

  • Continued Pathways Tour with Statera Team & Ambassadors (our internal practice of mentorship)


EDI Training & Practices 

This work is two-fold. It is work that we are doing together as an organization, as well as on an individual level. Below is a non-exhaustive list of who we have been learning from thus far (June, July & August). We are including links to their powerful work, because we would love for you to have a chance to engage with them as well! 

As an organization we are learning from:

  • Statera’s Virtual Member Meet-Up: Anti-racist Resources for Theatremakers, Leah Harris

  • Journey Theatre Project - Courageous Conversations 

  • Amplified or Tokenized:  Candid Guide to Creating Inclusive Campaigns w/Meaning & Impact, Gia Goodrich

  • UDEMY Courses

    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Ulysses Smith

    • How to Lead Through Diversity & Inclusion, Illumio Learning

    • Diversity & Inclusion, Sai Acuity Institute of Learning

    • Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Essentials, Skills Boosters for a Better Workplace

  • ELEVATE Conference - Swaim Strategies

As individuals we are learning from:


Organizational Structure & Communications

  • All team members began logging hours 

  • Instituting hallway moments for the team (optional Winedown Wednesday or Tea & Talk, etc.)

  • Collective Learning

    • Flock learning channel established for resource sharing

    • Book club established to begin in September

  • Transparency

    • Communications sharing (group ideating & internal sharing before all public releases)

    • Scheduling Team retreat for September

  • Continued interrogation and challenging of hierarchical structure by inviting full team participation in key decision points.

 

 
OursToDo1_30+%282%29.jpg
 

Statera expands the listening tour to community-based leaders and
stakeholders; Statera begins team and Board EDI training and learning

Mentorship

  • RC Listening Tour (first week of September)


EDI

  • Book Club Begins with Statera Team, Board, & Ambassadors - we are collectively reading EMERGENT STRATEGY, by adrienne maree brown

  • Identify full Team and Board EDI Training


ORG Structure & Communications

  • Implement Director autonomy 

  • Interrogate pay & power structures

  • Implement twice-monthly team ideating & accountability meetings


There will be much more detail to come as we navigate the next 30 days. Deepest gratitude to Statera Ambassadors for your continued commitment to Statera's mission. Thank you to Statera Mentorship Regional Coordinators for your insights and wisdom as community leaders. Thank you to the Statera Team past and present for your trust and patience as we do the hard and necessary work to bring Statera’s practices and operations into full alignment with Statera’s mission to create pathways that bring women into full and equal participation in the arts. 

Your Questions

Thank you to everyone from inside the organization as well as outside who are asking questions, offering insight, and ideating with us during this time of powerful culture shift. We do not have all the answers, nor will we pretend that we do. We are a small and heart-centered organization that is committed to the work at hand. The questions below have arisen in one-on-one conversations with the Statera community, and we will continue to include this series in future accountability posts. We welcome them.

Q: What is your current pay structure for team members?

A: We were founded as an all-volunteer organization. In January of 2019, we began offering stipends for the first time to our Directors and Executive Team. Our three executive team members are currently receiving part-time stipends and our Program Director stipends doubled at the beginning of 2020. We are only 18 months into our first attempt at paying ourselves. Our Regional Coordinators for Mentorship, Ambassadors, and mentors and mentees in the current program are all volunteers. Also beginning in 2019, we committed to covering previously prohibitive Conference costs of travel, accommodations, and food for all internal team members. 

Q: Your organization is founded by white women. What are your plans to transition leadership to include women of color?

A: Our goal is that the work and future of StateraArts be led by leadership representing the many intersections of the Statera community. Since we are not financially sound and our pay structure does not fully support a full time Executive Director salary, we have no way to equitably transition to BIWOC (Black, Indiginous, Womxn of Color) leadership. We would never want to hamstring incoming leadership with the same set of challenges and no ability to support their sustainability in the position. We are working towards that goal with our past and current grant cycle and are currently restructuring the entire leadership and team model to make this a reality.

Separately, groundwork was laid over the past year for Sarah Greenman (Creative Director from 2015-2018 and Operations Director from 2019-2020) to step away from her position this summer. News of Sarah’s departure was included in our August newsletter. Sabrina Cofield (Statera Ambassador from 2017-2019) was hired last year to serve in an executive capacity as Development Director.

Want to join Statera as an accountability partner in this journey? Feel free to share resources, EDI training options, or feedback at: [email protected].

You can also follow the #StateraAccountability hashtag on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

 

“What if accountability wasn’t scary? Take a breath and let that sink in for a second.”

-Mia Mingus

Creating pathways for Women in The Arts

[email protected]