Equity, Diversity, Inclusion

Personal commitment to creating art that reflects the world we live in:

I love theater. It is a universal expression of love that transcends the physical and communicates more through silence than through word. It connects us to stories we didn't know were about us and wakes us up a little more each time we experience it. It is the intimacy and the grandness of it that reminds us that this human life is really just a collection of efforts to create space for the "and"... to foster balance in everything that we do, live, and say. Our work in this industry impacts the evolution of our communities. That evolution requires diverse representation behind the table, under the lights, and in the conference room, even if it's on Zoom!

I commit to my vision for a thriving arts community by walking the walk in every aspect of my life. This means consistent culturally competent language, including gender neutral terms for addressing groups and young folks who are questioning their gender identities; actively procuring diverse representation on every team; unlearning, listening, and deconstructing systems that marginalize or oppress; nurturing community appreciation of the arts; brainstorming with all kinds of brains; talking about hard things, and raising questions that keep communities curious.

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Highlighted efforts to evolve and empower:

I have been immersed in efforts to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in theater long before 2020. I am a white person who grew up in an upper-middle class family with access to healthcare, excellent education, and abundant extracurriculars. I continue to recognize my privilege and also appreciate that I was tuned in to diversity discrepancies from a very young age. As an undiagnosed neurodivergent child, I had little awareness or filter for my blunt speech, and was always stating what I thought to be obvious when family members made racist or misogynistic remarks: that’s wrong, you shouldn’t say that, that’s not right. I would get in trouble for talking back but quite literally couldn’t comprehend why I saw the world so differently than the grownups around me. At age 16, I convinced my high school’s football team to audition for the production of Anything Goes that I was choreographing. Beside the rest of our drama and chorus students, we ended up with the most unique cast of different body sizes, racial representations, and sexual identities the community had ever seen. In my mid-twenties, I began writing about ableism and sizeism within our industry and inspired national change within the dancewear community, the education circuit, and multiple parenting resources. I am a conscious community member within Hawai’i culture and I’ve proudly advocated for accessible arts opportunities there for the past decade. As a creative, I didn’t cast a Belle of Hawaiian descent or an Asian Buddy the Elf for the PR buzz. I chose these folks because they deserved accessibility to principle roles and because stories need to be told in a way that ensures our audiences have an opportunity to see themselves reflected onstage. During my time as a leader on the Big Island, I trained fellow artists to utilize culturally competent language, reduce cultural appropriation of Hawaiian culture, and adapt their teaching practices to support the needs of families with financial or geographical limitations. I also spent ample time campaigning for fair treatment of those artists, securing competitive compensation packages and proper acknowledgement of their artistic contributions. I continue to advocate for diverse hiring practices within the industry and believe it's crucial to staff and cast people who are neurodiverse or have disabilities, such as myself. Folks like us are able to hold important space for team members with social or performance anxieties, unique communication styles, or challenges navigating personal trauma and grief.

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Hawai’i Arts Advocate

I've spent the last eight years building and leading performing arts programs on the rural Big Island of Hawai'i, where arts education is sparse and extremely inaccessible. Hawai'i is a multicultural state with a tourism-based economy. The state capital is located on one island (O'ahu) while six others (the seventh is strictly a military base) rely on the decisions made there to financially support their island's residents. The "outer island" schools lack the resources to offer in-school performing arts programs such as high school musicals, instrumental music education, or after school electives. Therefore, almost every arts program on the Big Island requires participants to pay tuition and as a direct result, grassroots efforts often fizzle out due to lack of funding, trained staff, or a roster of students that can afford to take classes. Additionally, it is a constant challenge to reach and physically transport children to the few arts facilities that exist on island. When I arrived in Kona in 2013, still charged with NYC energy and unbridled passion, it took me ample time to adjust to the flow of the Big Island. People are so busy hustling to stay afloat, as the cost of living is deemed the highest in the US, that bringing new projects to life requires Ironman levels of stamina. It's not for lack of enthusiasm within the community; there is simply an energetic scarcity when a community is living in survival mode. I learned that to live on the most isolated land mass on earth, it takes a combined effort to mālama ka ʻāina - care for the land and its people. To live there, it is our responsibility, our kuleana, to also serve. With that understanding, I took my vision for a thriving arts community in Kona and I mounted projects, programs, and productions that affirmed what I knew was possible for our island arts scene. These monumental efforts connected me with the most emotionally intelligent youth and teens I've ever worked with as well as dedicated grownups and eager local businesses willing to support any effort that empowers keiki (children). Backed by colleagues, kupuna, and legislative support, I developed four different organizations on the west side of the Big Island that provided jobs, education, and production opportunities for hundreds of families, both local and visiting. The curiosity that we cultivated led to multi-organizational collaborations, more live performance than ever before, and new conversations within the DOE about providing arts programs in public schools.

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COVID-19 Pivot Queen

During my time in Hawai'i pre-pandemic, I learned that pivoting was necessary to sustain a life in arts leadership. Through humbling growing pains and phenomenal successes, I've evolved into an innovative, resourceful leader. That essential evolution equipped me with the tools to care for a terrified community during the pandemic. When tourists stopped coming, so did the financial flow, and once again, I got creative. I structured all new COVID-safe educational opportunities for Kona that were accompanied by abundant scholarship availability. The network of folks that I built over my decade in the Pacific stepped up for my students when I came to them asking for financial support, and every student at Trusty Tap & Vocal that needed aid received it for two years straight. I feel confident asking for what I need and that strength has served my artistic efforts time and time again. I work extremely well under pressure and can extend grace to my team under the most challenging circumstances, which has led to a life full of abundant connection and support across our industry. It is with this support that I continue to make "art, [which] in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos". This Sondheim sentiment grounds me whenever I start to lose sight of the vision, on those days when the pandemic gets the best of me. It reminds me that every artistic endeavor has to start somewhere, and it's the courage to attempt that keeps us kinetic.

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