Now that a new year is here, and our books are officially closed for FY23, it’s important to share an update on our commitments to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at A.B.L.E. Here are some highlights from our work during the 2022-2023 season:
1) Restructuring the DEI Committee
A key item of conversation was discussing how we see the DEI Committee evolving in the years to come. As we began laying out short term and longterm goals for the DEI committee, it was evident that this work underpins the broader organizational growth of ABLE from every aspect - programming, staffing, operations, partnerships, and more. So, guided by committee chair MArcela Sarmiento, we felt it important to re-evaluate the role the committee plays in the organization. At the core of this restructure is the belief that our commitments to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion should be a part of everything we do - not just siloed into one committee.
With that in mind, the board approved evolving the DEI Committee into an Advisory Council that would outline the annual DEI goals of the organization and hold us all accountable to reaching those goals. Similar to the Program Advisory Council, the DEI Council is open to the broader ABLE community and would include representation from the Board via the selection of 1 board member from each of the standing Board Committees (Governance, Finance, and Development). The Council will meet on a quarterly basis.
2) Investing in Audience Accessibility
As our ensembles returned to live performances in the FY23 season, we invested in accessibility for our audiences to ensure that everyone could feel they belong in the theatre. Our comprehensive access measures include:
Live open captioning
Dual ASL interpretation
Programs offered in multiple formats
Various sensory supports available in the theatre including fidgets, ear defenders, and sunglasses
A relaxed audience experience including a designated movement zone for audience members who need to move or be out of their seat.
Social stories for our audiences to help them know where to go and what to expect at the theatre
Flexible seating for wheelchair users so they can sit next to their companions
Mask policy to ensure that our immunocompromised community members feel safe to attend a large group event
We hope these measures can serve as a model for the Chicago artistic community of what true access looks like.
3) Community-Led Planning
In January of 2023, the Board of Directors launched a strategic planning process to build out a new long-term vision for A.B.L.E. To ensure that our plans truly meet the needs and wants of the community we serve, we invited different members of the A.B.L.E. community - actors, caregivers, volunteers, board, staff, and audience members - to join together for a Strategic Planning Visioning session. Through surveys, candid conversations, group activities and a lot of flipcharts, the group shared ideas, celebrated our strengths, and offered suggestions for improvement. With their support, we identified ways to streamline our programming. This year, that meant sunsetting our Workshop program to focus on our Ensembles and Outreach opportunities. And we committed to new priorities like setting up ensembles in different neighborhoods, working with new venue partners, and building deeper creative opportunities for longtime participants. Guided by our community, the Board is continuing to refine and draft a 10-year plan that will be shared in FY24.
4) Programming that Meets people where they are
ABLE is proud to boast a 96% retention rate for our ensemble program, but that often means that newer actors feel overwhelmed joining an already established group. This season, we launched a new level of our ensemble programs to enagage actors with different levels of experience and offer more scheduling flexibility. In the Wings is a 6 week session designed for new actors to learn foundational skills and build relationships. The In the Wings Ensemble hosts an informal sharing at their final rehearsal to showcase their favorite activities and scenes. In FY23, we welcomed 11 new participants through our In the Wings Ensembles, including two who moved into our core ensembles.
Actor Eric Williams took part in our first In the Wings ensemble in the Fall of 2022, and felt confident to join a performance ensemble in the Spring, making his stage debut as Bottom in A Midsummer NIght’s Dream.
As we returned to in-person programming, the transportation barriers facing our community became even more evident. This highlighted the importance of meeting people where they are, in their communities rather than making them come to us. Our programming team has been focused on super-charging our Outreach programs which bring ABLE’s teaching team directly to partner organizations for one-day workshops, multi-session residencies. We are exciting by the new relationships we have built this year, and laid the groundwork for several sessions in FY24.
An important aspect of of our Outreach efforts is sharing what we know with other leaders and business who are striving to make their workplace more inclusive. In FY23, A.B.L.E. expanded our professional development offerings, developing 2 new trainings. We were contracted by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events as a PD provider for the Chicago Made program. Other PD partners included Partners included Northlight Theatre, Ladder Life Insurance, and Illinois Arts Alliance.
In FY23, A.B.L.E. led 9 outreach sessions reaching 240 participants from diverse backgrounds. All Outreach sessions are co-led by A.B.L.E.’s Creative Associates - staff members with intellectual and developmental disabilities - ensuring meaningful representation.
Staff members Colleen, Katie, Lawrence, and Matt travel to present a Professional Development session at Northlight Theatre.
5) Ensuring Financial Accessibility
We continued to offer pay-what-you-can pricing for program registration and ticketing for public events. Actors can select from 3 pricing tiers - ranging from free to our regular suggested program price. Our suggested price is set at around 35% of the actual cost of running programs. For event ticketing, guests can select a pricing tier that works for them ranging from $15-$45. Ticketing is general admission to ensure that everyone can get a good seat, regardless of their ability to pay.
As we returned to in-person programming, we also expanded our Tech Assistance Initiative to include Transportation Assistance for volunteers and participants to get safely to and from rehearsals. Through the course of FY23, A.B.L.E. provided $1250 of Tech and Transportation Assistance.
Kiaran makes the ASL sign for “support” during a workshop.
Looking forward to FY24 and beyond
Some of our goals for the year ahead include:
Leading our next organization-wide diversity audit to check our progress against our benchmarks of having participants, volunteers, staff, and leadership that represents the true diversity of our city and the disability community.
Recruiting 2 new board members to fill current vacancies, with a focus on diversifying the racial makeup of our board. If you know someone who would be a good fit, please share our Board Job Description.
Continuing our commitment to audience accessibility, including revamping our website with a focus on accessibility features like image descriptions, audio descriptions, large print options, and cleaner layouts, as well as re-mastering our archives to ensure accurate open captioning on all our past productions.
Adhering to the 10 Principles of Community Centric Fundraising as we work to stabilize our budget and build long-term financial stability - ensuring that our fundraising practices are values-aligned, ethical, and equitable.
Finalizing our 5-year strategic plan with community input.
Working with new venue partners to bring our ensembles closer to home for actors, and reach new audiences.
Growing our outreach programs so we can reach more participants in the places where they are already receiving services. This will include working on a new outreach partner application process, and developing a Partner Grant toolkit to help organizations obtain the funding for our services. Longterm, with an appropriate corporate or institutional sponsor, we hope to be able to offer tiered pricing for our outreach programs so that organizations with different budget sizes.
During the past four years, we have learned so much about the needs of our community and how to better serve them, and as a result, our programs are more equitable and accessible than ever before. We are proud of our commitments like ensuring our staff earns a living wage, investing in accessibility for our audiences as well as our participants, and maintaining virtual programming to reach actors in different regions and with different sensory or transportation needs. We experienced a spike in donations at the very beginning of the pandemic that allowed us to invest in these important initiatives, increase programs, and add new staff. But ABLE’s revenue have since experienced a decline. FY22 was the first year in our organizational history that we reported less revenue overall than the year prior. In FY23, individual donations accounted for just 21% of our annual revenue as opposed to 45-50% in previous years. As with arts organizations across the country, our funding streams are unpredictable. We have questions about how to maintain this increased budget size and scope of programming.
Our leadership remains committed to these values of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, even when times are hard. That may mean that we cannot scale and grow our work as quickly as we would like. We can continue to make deep and lasting impact on the individuals we serve as we continue to work together to build more inclusive, empathetic communities.
Ensemble members recite A.B.L.E.’s traditional closing blessing before a performance. They throw their arms wide as they say “When I have it inside me, I give it away!”
