Laurie Baskin and Erica Lauren Ortiz.
NEW YORK CITY: Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the nationwide group for theatre and the writer of American Theatre, has introduced a brand new govt construction during which three administrators will function co-leaders of the group, to succeed present leaders Karena Fiorenza, interim CEO and, and LaTeshia Ellerson, interim chief development officer, who stepped in following the announcement that govt director/CEO Teresa Eyring would depart the highest spot this June. The search course of for TCG’s new management crew shall be led by Artistic Evolutions in partnership with TCG’s board, launching in July 2024.
Moreover, after 27 years at TCG, Laurie Baskin, longtime arts advocate and director of advocacy, will retire on the finish of this month, and Erica Lauren Ortiz will return to TCG as interim senior programmer, advocacy, and governance via June 2025, after beforehand serving as TCG’s director of promoting and manufacturing 2020-22. TCG’s new shared management mannequin is a part of a broader organizational realignment to adapt to important modifications within the nonprofit skilled theatre ecology, with extra bulletins to be made quickly.
Embracing the necessity for a brand new paradigm, TCG will transfer to a shared management mannequin. Three administrators will collaborate on TCG’s capabilities with the titles Co-ED: Programming Impression, Co-ED: Nationwide Engagement, and Co-ED: Operations and Enterprise Improvement. Acknowledging that each TCG and the nationwide theatre area want daring management in a number of areas past the practical capacities of anyone particular person, these three leaders will deliver their very own distinctive strengths and supply a number of factors of contact and views for all of TCG’s constituents. Extra particulars on these positions and the search course of shall be introduced after the nationwide convention.
“So as to meet the challenges and alternatives of this second of radical shift, TCG should evolve,” stated interim CEO Karena Fiorenza in a press release. “In service of that evolution, we’re thrilled that TCG’s board has dedicated to a shared govt management mannequin, impressed by our work with Artistic Evolutions and TCG’s employees. The variety of our theatre ecology and the complexity of TCG’s function inside it require an expansive construction that takes benefit of a number of modes of management and experience. To make sure that these new leaders inherit a robust group able to main in new methods, we’ll be asserting extra organizational modifications within the close to future.”
“I’m grateful for the collaborative course of with the board and employees, facilitated by Artistic Evolutions, that has led to this new management construction for TCG,” stated Harold Steward, board chair of TCG and govt director of New England Basis of the Arts, in a press release. “Now’s the time for us to be daring as a theatre ecology, letting go of what now not serves us and shifting towards methods and buildings that foster abundance for all of us. As we transfer via this transitional interval, we’re lucky to have sturdy interim management from Karena Fiorenza and LaTeshia Ellerson, who’re strategically aligning staffing and tradition to satisfy the second.”
Laurie Baskin joined TCG in 1997 and fostered key relationships with elected officers and govt department businesses whereas mobilizing the theatre area to take motion. In her advocacy management function, Laurie led many advocacy cohorts to Capitol Hill over time, together with a whole bunch of theatre individuals on the 2016 Nationwide Convention, and most just lately this April for the first-ever Theatre Week. Baskin additionally created a variety of applications, together with TCG’s Schooling Applications, teleconferences, Blue Star Theatres, and Particular Stories. She conceived and led Constructing a Nationwide TEAM: Theatre Schooling Evaluation Fashions, and, from 2013 via 2020, led TCG’s analysis. Laurie was additionally a significant contributor to the Fall Discussion board on Governance, and championed TCG’s relationship with trustees, together with the Nationwide Council for the American Theatre. Laurie has additionally served as a TCG liaison with the Performing Arts Alliance, the Cultural Advocacy Group, the League of Resident Theatres, and extra.
“It’s troublesome to think about our theatre ecology with out the numerous legislative wins for which Laurie has led the combat, together with: entry to FEMA funding for theatres; wi-fi microphone protections; sustained funding for the Nationwide Endowment for the Arts; and the inclusion of theatres within the historic ranges of COVID-19 aid funding,” stated interim chief development officer LaTeshia Ellerson in a press release. “We’re cheering Laurie on as she transitions into her well-earned retirement, and are deeply grateful to Erica’s willingness to return to TCG on this new function. We’ll be working with Erica and Laurie intently to make sure a easy transition for this important a part of TCG’s work.”
“Advocating for the theatre area for the previous 27 years has been a labor of affection and an important honor,” stated Baskin in a press release. “I’ve been impressed by the partnership and collaboration of theatre leaders from throughout the county in telling their tales to policy-makers and, collectively, we’ve had some important advocacy wins. I’m assured that TCG will keep on this important work on behalf of the complete area.”
“There couldn’t be a extra vital time to strengthen our advocacy for the theatre area, to champion entry to important assets that can enable our theaters to thrive, and to think about infrastructure that helps our artistry,” stated Ortiz. “I’m honored to serve on this new capability, and I applaud Laurie Baskin for making an unimaginable affect throughout her years of service.”
Erica Lauren Ortiz joined TCG as director of promoting in 2020 and performed a important function in navigating TCG’s response to the pandemic. Her management led to an expanded function as director of promoting and manufacturing, a job she held till leaving TCG for a management place in fairness, range, and inclusion. Along with these areas of Erica’s experience, she additionally has intensive expertise as an arts advocate, together with her service as a former member of the Nationwide Board of Administrators of the NAACP. Erica additionally led one of many advocacy cohorts to Capitol Hill in TCG’s April conveying in Washington, D.C. Erica will serve in an interim capability as TCG strikes via an govt management transition and organizational change course of.
Artistic Evolutions is a “human-centered adaptive ecosystem that creates actionable options for inventive people and organizations.” They’ve just lately pioneered new enterprise fashions and enterprise practices for a lot of cultural actions and organizations. Amongst different initiatives, this consists of new approaches to govt searches that embrace direct compensation to semifinalist and finalist candidates, partaking business panelists who take part in candidate choice and who turn into mentors to new management, detailed transition planning that covers the complete first yr, and inclusive buildings that deliver employees and board collectively in respectful and collaborative methods all through the method.
Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the nationwide group for theatre, leads for a simply and thriving theatre ecology.
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