Black Lives Matter
Resources on Social Justice and Racial Equality (compiled by Raquel Almazan) – Click Here
Anti-Racist Resources – Click Here
Places to Donate – Click Here
Ways to Take Action Now – Click Here
The Indie Theater Fund stands with our community of Black theater makers, participants, audiences, friends. We condemn state sanctioned murder and we demand justice for George Floyd. All four officers charged and sentenced. The violence continuously aimed at the Black community is a disgrace and a shame on all of us. We recognize we are part of the system that has created this problem and we are committed to standing with you, for you, and doing everything we can to change it. Including taking a deep look at ourselves and how we perpetuate this white supremacist system.
Our board has participated in one collective anti-racist, anti-oppression training, but we still have a long way to go in our work. We are sharing this important information in order to clarify where we are in that process so that we do not further contribute to the oppressive structures that we are determined to transform in our field.
We encourage our white participants to engage in this fight. To protest. To donate. To read. To speak up. To be in active solidarity. We’ve posted a list of places to donate above and other links that we’ve found helpful, reading materials that have been recommended to us.
We’ve always tried to provide a space where the community can come together and contribute to each other’s well being. That’s what the Fund is all about. It’s important that we live those values right now. We love and appreciate you. We are grieving with you.
BOARD IN ALPHA ORDER
Raquel Almazan (she/her – Latinx identifying – Board Pres)
Brian Berk (he/him – White identifying)
Wessam Badawi (he/him- White identifying)
Randi Berry (she/her – Jewish/White identifying – Exec Dir. of The Indie Theatre Fund and IndieSpace)
Dechelle Damien (she/her – Latina identifying)
Marty Linsky (he/him – Jewish/White identifying)
Siobhan O’Neill (she/her- White identifying)
Letter from Board President, Raquel Almazan
As always, in the Fund’s spirit of radical transparency, we want to give you details on where the Fund is on our work internally with a race forward framework. Our Board Pres Raquel Almazan explains below and how this impacted how we approached our Covid19 Rapid Relief Emergency Grant process. We are constantly assessing and we have a long way to go. Much work to do. We will keep you in the loop as we progress so you and we can hold ourselves accountable.
The Indie Theater Fund Rapid Relief Emergency Fund
Racial and Equity Lens in granting during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
We are honored to serve our community, we are responding swiftly to the needs of artists during this COVID-19 pandemic. We have received over 700 applications to our emergency fund, highlighting the immediate demands of the indie theatre community. Our funds are unrestricted and have been created to support our indie community of theaters and artists.
To date, week of June 18th, we have granted $155,000 to 403 applicants. We are still in our funding process, with a goal to fund all our eligible applicants.
For the past seven years, grants awarded to Indie Theatre Fund members have been conducted through a radically transparent lottery during the annual live event, The Big Give. In the last four years, the Fund has added to our core values of transparency, fairness, and frictionless application processes by implementing a priority for under-represented artists in an ensemble or in administration/leadership. We created an initiative inviting people of color who are leaders in our community (Ambassador program) in order to bridge connections and provide insights and consultation that were instrumental in our inclusion effort and solidifying the intentionality of serving artists of color in our community.
Prior to the current urgency assistance funding – emergency grants pre-COVID-19 pandemic- were accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed/voted on through the Board of Directors in dialogue with Executive Director Randi Berry.
With the COVID-19 grants, we were posed with new challenges – a high volume of applications, and by the speed required in evaluating and responding to applications and selecting grantees. Our board member review panel includes working theatre artists, Raquel Almazan (Latinx identifying), a former board member who identifies as a person of color and our Executive Director Randi Berry (White/Jewish identifying ) are prioritizing artists and theater venues working Off-Off-Broadway, with operating budgets under $250,000, that have urgent needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our trust based application did not require extensive labor and mandatory financial documentation on the part of the applicant: we recognized that during a state of emergency we did not want to further burden those in need.
At first we were reviewing and granting on a first come first serve basis. As applications came in, the demographics of who was applying and how much they were applying for, it became clear that we needed to adjust our evaluation process. This data deepened our awareness of how resources are available and distributed to vulnerable communities, including the inequities in the allocation of stimulus checks. In response, we have prioritized and allocated funds first to people of color, indigenous artists, artists who identify as LGBTQIA, disabled artists and immigrant artists.
As the Fund swiftly responded to the needs of our community, our choice in prioritizing vulnerable communities, while aligned with our mission of radical transparency, was not fully processed with an established anti-racist, anti- oppression lens with the entire board. Our board has yet to participate in a collective anti-racist, anti-oppression training. This processing is necessary, urgent and reflects the work we still need to address internally and externally to serve our community. We are sharing this important information in order to clarify where we are in that process so that we do not further contribute to the oppressive structures that we are determined to transform in our field.
There are several steps and processing that The Fund is committed to. The board is preparing a major transition as we contemplate a merge with our sister organization, IndieSpace http://www.indiespace.org/. As part of that merge, the board is committed to participating in anti-oppression, arts equity training to do the internal work as an organization and to gain shared values on best practices. This rigorous process will begin this year with the intention of making a positive impact in our community to ensure that vulnerable communities are sustained in the field. We intend to move together towards a theatre community that holds itself accountable with training and initiatives to be implemented in every group, organization, company and institution.
Thank you to all our applicants for taking the time to apply and sharing your story with us during this challenging time. We are honored to be with you in solidarity.
Sincerely,
In us we trust,
Raquel Almazan (she/ her/ they pronouns – Latinx identifying – President of the Board of Directors)
Supported by:
Board Members (alphabetical order):
Brian Berk (he/him – White identifying)
Wessam Badawi (he/him- White identifying)
Randi Berry (she/her – Jewish/White identifying – Exec Dir. of The Indie Theatre Fund and IndieSpace)
Dechelle Damien (she/her – Latina identifying)
Marty Linsky (he/him – Jewish/White identifying)
Siobhan O’Neill (she/her- White identifying)
