Belonging, Equity, Accessibility, Diversity

First Stage continues to reflect and work towards addressing the question: what kind of future do we want to co-author with our community and our young people? We are aware that we are a part of an industry that continues to struggle with, systemic problems and are committed to:

• Examining our choices and our systems thoroughly.
• Acceptance, accountability, transparency, and patience.
• Keeping our eyes fully open.
• Listening closely to our community and young people.
• Choosing the path that is necessary to move forward in a meaningful way.
• Acknowledging our missteps of the past and recognizing that access is only the beginning.
• Assessing what we are giving young people access to as we work to build the foundation for necessary change.
• Meeting department by department to examine existing practices and policies and craft necessary changes that will move First Stage forward in its BEAD Journey. The movement forward is necessary to live up to our mission — our heart:
  • To create theater experiences for young people and their families that entertains, enlightens, provokes thought and connects deeply with our rich and complex community.
  • To be a gathering place for our community to come together for a shared theater experience that resonates for all.
  • To be recognized by our peers, our community, and artists around the nation as a welcoming, invigorating, and vital place for the creation of theater that speaks to our global community.
  • To serve young people and their families we pledge to listen more deeply than ever because you must truly be the co-authors of our future.

This is a journey. Not the end of the story. We invite you to a part of the ongoing growth at First Stage, forming a stronger story. Without the collective, there is no community. Help us collectively embrace a brighter future and with your help we’ll write a new story for First Stage and for our community.

• We believe in a lifetime commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, justice, and antiracism and in making space for and prioritizing all marginalized voices.
• We believe in shifting our current practices to deeply diversify our board, staff, artists, partnerships, productions, programs, and teams. We believe that collaboration of diverse voices in our organizational discussions creates more successful, meaningful work and that diverse voices across First Stage’s community should carry equal weight in all levels of decision making: Institutional, Programmatic, Artistic, Governance, and Fiscal.
• We believe in being good stewards of First Stage’s resources and in using our funding to further our equitable practices. 
• We believe that continually investing in an authentic, healthy and lasting relationship with Milwaukee’s diverse community will spark collaborative action towards creating a socially just society in Milwaukee and beyond.

Ongoing Initiatives

• Establish accessibility, inclusion, and diversity partners to guide BEAD initiatives.
• Organize Transportation Assistance program through in-kind and/or subsidized community support.
• Explore workforce development opportunities for internships/externships, skill sharing, and volunteer opportunities to cultivate local artists.
• Work with staff to improve work life balance and promote wellness.

2024-2025: accessibility goals

First Stage wants all people to have access to its productions and programming. Making First Stage more accessible for all individuals is at the core of our BEAD initiatives for 2024-2025. Our action items for the year are:

• Launch Access for All Program to remove barriers and systems that prevent participation in First Stage Education, Academy, and Production programing and classes.
• Customized satellite programs to meet the inclusion needs of participants and sites.
• Standardizing HR practices.
• Ensure financial transparency for equity and inclusion practices.
• Formalize feedback practices.

2023-2024

Welcoming and belonging is very important to First Stage. It is vital all participants know First Stage is committed to meeting their equitable and inclusion needs and creating a welcoming environment where belonging is maintained. Here are the action items from the year. We have:

• Incorporated youth representatives and their voices into First Stage’s equity and inclusive practices. First Stage’s Student Advisory Board has been instrumental in making sure First Stage’s community of young people are at the center of our BEAD initiatives this year.
• Returned to in-person curtain speeches for a more personal touch and greater connection to our audiences.
• Enhanced and upgraded First Stage’s audition practices for adults and young performers to include information that can assist First Stage in being more equitable in our audition process and casting decisions.
• Improved and implemented strategies and helpful tips for young performers and their guardians as it relates to their costume fitting needs.
• Continue to encourage effective and appropriate usage of pronouns when addressing others in our written and verbal communication practices. 

2022-2023

• We decided to change our name from EDIJ (Equity Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice) to BEAD (Belonging, Equity, Accessibility, and Diversity). The BEAD committee exists to ensure equity, belonging, and inclusion are present throughout First Stage’s organizational culture. As we continue to reflect on our process, we are learning more about how to ensure that inclusion is happening at the First Stage. This has resulted in us making the adjustment to add belonging and accessibility.  We are committed to creating a welcoming environment and ensuring all people have access to our programming and productions. Although the letter “J” for social justice is no longer part of our acronym, social justice is always part of our ongoing process. 
• Implemented a BEAD Representative to be a resource to address any questions and/ or inclusion concerns that may arise during the rehearsal and performance process.
• Adjustments were made in our weekly BEAD meeting process to ensure that BEAD concerns connected to individual and/or department responsibility were addressed in a timely manner. The purpose was to ensure that we do not lose sight of our BEAD mission of inclusion throughout First Stage’s organization.
• We are in continuous exploration of working through ensuring our organizational culture is welcoming and promotes belonging and accessibility for all.
• By intentionally reflecting our community in the stories we tell, voices we uplift, and the teams we assemble to tell those stories, First Stage believes that we have the greatest impact on the young people and families we serve. For our six 2022-2023 season's mainstage productions, 46% of our Creative Teams identified as BIPOC, 57% of our professional adult actors identified as BIPOC, and 48% of our young performers identified as BIPOC.
• We are moving forward in our journey of shared leadership by expanding our artistic team to include members from the various pillars of the organization to ensure that more voices from different backgrounds and experiences are part of our artistic process.

2021-2022

• Incorporated BEAD into our onboarding process. The BEAD committee in collaboration with the artistic and production teams worked on making changes to the onboarding process by evaluating and assessing the effectiveness of our onboarding procedure.
• The information obtained from our onboarding process review resulted in First Stage omitting language that can be viewed as insensitive in on-boarding paperwork and other on-boarding practices.
• The BEAD committee, in collaboration with department directors and department managers, led First Stage individual departments in writing their BEAD vision and mission statements to bring their BEAD journey into view.
• The BEAD committee, in collaboration with department directors and department mangers led First Stage individual departments in identifying and writing their strategic action that can help their individual departments actualize their BEAD vision and mission statements.
• Updated and edited our strategic plan to include necessary changes needed to implement First Stage’s BEAD journey.

2020-2021 

• In response to statements made both locally and nationally by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) theatre artists, the committee completed the initial draft of First Stage’s BEAD Strategic Plan in November 2020.  The plan currently lays out the BEAD values First Stage holds as a company and sets goals for advancing these values. The committee continued to work through their strategic plan draft with the staff and Board of Directors and began to develop departmental action plans as a next step.
  • Statement from BIPOC artists in Milwaukee, August 2020
  • Statement from We See You, White American Theatre, June 2020
• In February 2021, BIPOC in TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) released Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Futures for Theatre for Young Audiences: An Interactive Guide. This guide has been shared with the company, and First Stage has made the pledge to work through the document as an organization.  
• In July 2021, First Stage appointed Samantha D. Montgomery as its Artistic Inclusion and Community Engagement Director. Read First Stage's announcement on this newly created position. Samantha leads First Stage’s cross-departmental BEAD team while acting as a resource, guide and strategic planner. She also helps First Stage continue its journey to become a fully inclusive, equitable and just community, one that values a diversity of perspectives, traditions, ideas, and contributions.

2019-2020

• We engaged Social Current (formerly known as Alliance for Strong Families and Communities) for guidance in our BEAD work, as well as for trainings at committee, staff and board level. 
• We formed a cross-departmental BEAD committee to develop and advance a strategic plan as well as help guide individual work and education. The committee is comprised of staff members from all levels of the company, including upper management, and is working with the support of the Board of Directors.