CTFA VALUES

The Childrens Theatre Foundation of America believes that our future success, resiliency, and sustainability relies on placing equity at the center of every aspect of what we do. We define equity as a collaborative, continual process to ensure fair access to all.

CTFA challenges and supports theatre artists to achieve excellence and equity in service to young people.

We Value:
  • Children and Youth
  • The Art of Theatre
  • Excellence
  • Innovation
  • Equity
  • Diversity
  • Inclusion

Engage Explore Empower

CTFA Equity/Diversity/Inclusion (EDI) Statement:
The Childrens Theatre Foundation of America (CTFA) recognizes the existence of institutional and structural racism in the field of theatre for and with youth. We are committed to dismantling these existing structures within CTFA and to offer resources and support to the field to do the same.

The Foundation will support theatre artists and organizations that have been historically marginalized and socially, politically, and economically excluded, as well as those whose work addresses past and current injustices.
“If CTFA is to effectively serve the artists and the audiences of today and of the future, we must do so with more than optimism and good intentions. We need to mindfully address how our world, our art, and our communities have changed and how we need to change to meet these challenges.” — Suzan Zeder
In its path to this work, CTFA commits to the following during 2021:
Governance
—Commit to a board composition goal of majority of members of color as well as representatives from historically marginalized groups by 2024.
—Redesign the CTFA board member recruitment and onboarding process and adjust term limits and officer terms.
—Adopt ongoing equity training for all trustees at annual board meeting.
Grants
—Develop standard processes for panel reviewers across grants, create a system to track equity in grantmaking, and standardize reporting across all awards.
—Update guidelines to reflect inclusive language and embrace criteria that advances equity.
—Engage non-board members on grant committees.
Partnerships
—Co-sponsor ReImagine: New Plays in TYA. The project is designed to support the development and visibility of new works for young audiences by BIPOC playwrights and engage the TYA community in conversation about how we, as a field and individual organizations, can dismantle systems and structures that create inequities in new play development processes.
This statement will be reviewed and updated annually.