​Our Commitment to Anti-Racism

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Anti-Racism is defined as the work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic, and social life.  Prospect recognizes that its founding artists, staff leadership, and board members are predominantly white, and acknowledges the long history of racist systems and white privilege within the theater industry.  We take responsibility for identifying and changing Prospect’s institutional practices that are informed by and uphold a culture of white supremacy.  We have not amplified Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artistic voices with the full strength and awareness that we can, and should.

In our ongoing journey, we have identified and taken the following actions, which we will continue to assess in an ongoing manner:

 

ARTISTIC COMMUNITY:

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• We established an advisory council of BIPOC artist members of the Prospect community, to ask for feedback, actively examine past organizational practice, and envision new practices for the future.

• We are engaging in ongoing discussion around all aspects of Prospect’s mission to develop and produce new musicals, and create expanded platforms for emerging artistic voices.

• We aim to center EDI values in our creative work and processes for new work creation and engage our community constiuents in this discussion.

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STAFF ENGAGEMENT:

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• Prospect conducted an internal audit of its past hiring practices from 2015 - 2020, to build a base of data about our staff and artist community and will continue to track this data.

• We assessed both the number of BIPOC artists and staff involved in Prospect’s programs, and compensation rates across all programs. This data informs our budgeting and planning moving forward as we continue to track these data points.

• We will research and put in place stronger avenues for recruitment, using a wider net to source candidates.

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PROGRAMMING:
 

• The work outlined above with the constituencies of Prospect’s artistic community and staff, as well as those we connect with through outreach and educational efforts, have directly impacted on Prospect’s artistic programming.

• We have an ongoing focus to amplify Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artist voices creating new musical theater, not only through developmental programs, but in fully-produced endeavors.

• We are exploring performance venues which may make the company’s work more accessible to expanded artist and audience communities, and work to assure a positive experience for BIPOC artists and audiences entering each rented space.

• We will build on Prospect’s commitment to working equitably with partner organizations and affinity groups led by BIPOC artists and change-makers.

BOARD ENGAGEMENT:
 

• We are working to expand Board membership to include greater representation from the BIPOC community.

• EDI and Anti-Racism work will be an ongoing agenda item at Board meetings, with regular check-ins on progress towards our goals.

• We will provide continued education and training opportunities for our Board.

OUTREACH AND EDUCATION:
 

• Prospect  will renew educational outreach activities to engage with more and more diverse student communities and early-career professionals.

• Prospect will examine its bespoke internship opportunities to make sure opportunities are accessible and equitable in its approach.

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Prospect acknowledges that mistakes and missteps in its Anti-Racism and EDI work will be inevitable, but we pledge to listen and learn from BIPOC members of our community as we progress in this work. We will annually review and update the above list of action items and goals.