About

Update - August, 2020

August 1, 2020

Dear Milwaukee Rep Community, 

The events of the last few months have brought increased attention to the urgency of making sustainable change through equity, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) in our workplace, communities and the world. We stand in solidarity with others to eliminate racist practices in the theater industry and community. 

Today, we remain steadfast and resolute in our commitment to prioritize our ED&I work with actionable goals. We shared that the first of each month would be dedicated to informing, you, our community, on the progress of our ED&I efforts. July has been an active month with the onboarding of our chief diversity officer, hosting listening session with BIPOC artists, convening our internal teams, and finalizing our vision of success. 

As a vibrant, creative, mission-driven theater, we seek positive change with the communities we serve, our partners, and our audiences. It is through active navigation and facilitation of reciprocal conversations that we will increase our resilience and drive meaningful change.

To that end, we must hold ourselves accountable for this work. These strategies include an assessment of our current environment through an ED&I lens, training our staff, board and volunteers, developing our strategy and creating measurement tools for success. We recognize that this must be impactful and is necessary to the future of our theater. This means we are continuing the following:

  • Creating meaningful opportunities to listen and engage BIPOC stakeholders
  • Strengthening new authentic partnerships with Milwaukee’s diverse communities
  • Continuing to diversify our staff, leadership team and board of trustees
  • Providing ED&I and anti-racist training for staff, trustees and volunteers

Together, we can create a more inclusive culture and become an even stronger partner in the fight against injustice. We will stay engaged by providing a monthly update on our ED&I journey.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

Greg Oberland
President, Board of Trustees

Warren Buliox
Trustee & Chair, ED&I Committee

Mark Clements
Artistic Director

Chad Bauman
Executive Director


ED&I Update

Milwaukee Rep has committed to transparency in our journey

ED&I Vision, Principles & Case for Change
Today, we share our ED&I (Equity, Diversity & Inclusion) vision, principles, and case for change. These statements are the product of a series of discussions with staff, leadership, board members, and our consulting partner The Kaleidoscope Group. They provide the direction for all we do to create an equitable, diverse and inclusive organization. Read the statements.

Phase 2: ED&I Assessment
We have initiated an ED&I staff assessment this month which includes a survey and focus groups. The findings will help inform, along with other data, staff training recommendations and the broader ED&I strategy moving forward. Please note that the timeline for the final assessment report which was originally scheduled for the week of August 31- September 4 has been pushed back to the week of October 4. This adjustment in the timeline ensures maximum participation in focus group discussions and completion of surveys, resulting in increased outcomes.

In the month of July, we completed the following:

  • Finalized our ED&I Vision of Success & Positioning Statements
  • Designed a qualitative assessment process for the ED&I Vision and foundation in Phase I
  • Designed a Baseline Survey, launched survey and collected results
  • Held a listening session with BIPOC artists to build on ED&I planning
  • Participated in a Leading through Disruption workshop

In the month of August, we anticipate completing the following:

  • Analyze and prepare survey results to inform focus groups
  • Schedule virtual Focus Groups based on the review to date (5-8 homogeneous groups, 2 hours each, up to 4 per day)