Pittsburgh CLO -
Commitment To Change Statement
Today, we come to our community with a commitment to change.
Our city and country have mourned and protested the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Tony McDade -- and, in doing so, have honored the memories of countless other Black Americans killed by racist violence throughout our nation’s history.
We at Pittsburgh CLO want to state our hopes for the future and our responsibility in this moment. We are motivated to speak out, and to evolve.
We recognize theater can be a catalyst for individual, communal, educational, institutional and societal transformation. Pittsburgh CLO supports anti-racism and rejects anti-Blackness in all its forms. We believe that Black lives matter. We know that it is within our power to create offices, classrooms, rehearsal studios and stages that reflect these values. As a member of the arts community, we have always embraced diversity in our work. It’s in the very nature of who we are. But we need to do more. Need to do better. Are committed to change. Here is how.
What we’ve done:
- Created a Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) task force comprised of board members, senior leadership, staff members, artists and community experts to create a new DEAI statement and action plan for Pittsburgh CLO.
- Hosted open forums for staff members to share their thoughts on our current moment and to compile action items that directly address a renewed commitment to DEAI.
What we will do:
- Generate a DEAI statement and action plan.
- Seek outside guidance and professional development to further educate and better inform our company practices, hiring policies, projects and community partnerships.
- Promote an environment for our staff, students, artists, audiences and community that actively works against racial bias, unconscious bias, anti-blackness and discrimination in all forms.
- Further develop our education programs to serve as a catalyst for educating our youth through our hiring practices, curriculum, programming and performances.
- Improve our talent pool while increasing opportunities for and devoting resources to BIPOC artists, providing an empowering platform for voices which may have been silenced or marginalized.
We acknowledge that this commitment to change must be supported by measurable actions. We will share the action plan generated by our DEAI task force, and we ask you, our community, to hold us accountable as we do this important work.
Sincerely,
The Pittsburgh CLO