Taproot Theatre Company Values and Accountability Statement

We Value Faith. We Respect People. We Celebrate Theatre.

Taproot Theatre Company’s three value statements have always been:We Value Faith. We Respect People. We Celebrate Theatre. These are the principles that inform how we pursue our mission to “tell stories of hope, serving the Pacific Northwest with live theatre and educational programming.” As we celebrate the unique craft of theatre arts; our faith and our identity as a Christian organization compels us to respect all people and to practice true hospitality; working to make Taproot Theatre a welcoming space for all staff, artists and audiences.

We believe that each person is created and loved by God. It is this truth that compels us to pursue the radical love exemplified by Christ. For us, this means we must engage in the difficult and uncomfortable work of facing the truth about our selfishness and our fear and impulse to diminish those who are different from us, whether based on skin color, gender, sexual orientation, creed, or other distinctions.

As an organization, we also know that this process of learning, reflecting and changing is not only the work of individuals addressing individual actions, but also requires us to examine and possibly change policies and practices that have become a part of our group work culture.

Among other things, this means that at Taproot Theatre, we seek to live out our faith by working to become an organization that is both anti-racist and multi-cultural.  Yes, we know both those terms have become buzz words, but here’s what we mean when we say them at Taproot:

• Multicultural: A multicultural organization is one that has a diverse work force and that incorporates ideas, perspectives, and “ways of doing things” that come from many different identities and backgrounds. A multicultural organization strives to go beyond merely achieving the optics of diversity. It’s possible for an organization to look diverse but not be truly listening to viewpoints from all employees and their multiple perspectives.
• Anti-Racist: This term was coined as a way of expressing the difference between a passive attitude that only focuses on not being racistand an active commitment to work against racism. A commitment to anti-racism means that, when necessary, an organization will work to change policies, practices, and behaviors that perpetuate racist ideas and actions.

These are not new values at Taproot, but they are new words that provide a deeper understanding about ways that we can continue to put into practice our core value: “We Respect People.”

We do not do this work perfectly. In fact, we fall far short. And when we fail, we pledge to seek forgiveness and reconciliation and then implement change.  As we strive to do better, we gratefully acknowledge that we cannot do this work in isolation.

This webpage is dedicated to sharing information about Taproot Theatre’s work towards becoming a faith-based arts organization that is both multi-cultural and anti-racist. It lists the resources and trainings* that we have studied as a staff, and outlines some of our immediate activities and future goals. This webpage is designed to foster accountability both inside and outside our organization. It’s a living document that will be updated periodically. We welcome your questions and your feedback.

* Note: The resources listed below are all listed with permission from the consultants or with appropriate crediting and relevant links. Taproot Theatre Company does not necessarily agree with all statements or opinions expressed in those resources.Taproot Theatre’s Commitment to Respect People

To support our core value that We Respect People, Taproot commits to:

• Learn about the ways in which our society has failed to live up to its ideals of equality, both in the past and the present.
• Listen and learn from all people to help us recognize our own blind spots and actively seek to learn from others’ experiences and perspectives.
• Apply what we learn to our work at Taproot Theatre, including the ways we treat and compensate our staff and actors.
• Hold ourselves accountable by reporting our ongoing work to be more inclusive, especially reporting this work to Taproot’s community of artists, patrons, students, and donors.

Where We Are Today

Taproot continues to take steps to expand our understanding of respect for others. We’ve implemented regular staff trainings and educational opportunities, followed by dedicated time for staff, artists, and the board of directors for discussion.

Staff Training and Education:

2024

Bystander Intervention Webinar All Taproot staff participated in a webinar hosted by the Behind-the-Scenes Mental Health Initiative. This training gave tools regarding how to positively intervene in situations of workplace harassment and/or bullying.

Self-Study Topics. Taproot staff committed to “self-study” projects to learn more about local history. Each staff person selected a resource to read/listen to and then discussed what they learned in small groups with other Taproot staff.  The topics chosen this year were, “Exploring Black Music & Black Musicians in Seattle History” and “Honoring Indigenous Stories and Storytellers.

2023

Everyday Racism and Social Identity. All Taproot staff watched the TedTalk “Are You A Non-Racist or Are You An Anti-Racist? by speaker Hank VanPutten and also completed a social identity wheel. Small group discussions reflected on power, privilege, and the actions that we as individuals can take to actively interrupt racism in our society, systems and structures.

LGBTQ+ Core Competency Training (Chapter 2) led by Facilitator Charlie Best. A review of some of the basic terminology and concepts that we learned about last year, and a guided discussion about the current state of LGBTQ+ rights and legislation right now.

Everyday Ableism and Allyship Training with Elizabeth Ralston. Elizabeth Ralston Consulting: Access Benefits Everyone.

2022

LGBTQ+ Core Competency Training. Created by the Rainbow Center in Tacoma, WA, this training is designed to provide the foundational terminology, information, and tools needed to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. (Facilitator: Charlie Best).

(divorcing) White Supremacy Culture. All Taproot staff are reading and discussing this series of readings created by Dr. Tema Okun.

2021

Operationalizing Racial Equity and Understanding Institutional Racism with Tony Nabor

Talking Back series presented by artEquity. Taproot staff and other artists in the Taproot community gathered once a month to discuss the video episodes in this series.

Taproot leadership training. #StopAsianHate: Leading Anti-Racist Efforts in Organizations with Lily Zheng.

Taproot leadership training. Decolonizing Theatre Basics with Groundwater Arts.

 Trainings prior to 2021 Listed Here.

How We Apply This to the Work of Taproot Theatre Company

Specific actions and changes in practice and policy have grown out of what we are learning. Here are a few specific examples from 2023/2024:

• Taproot Theatre’s understudy program has grown from a pilot project implemented for the health & safety of our actors, to a regular and systematic part of Taproot’s working culture—with its own budgeted line item and an ongoing organization commitment to support both actors and understudies in their healthy artistic practice

• Our staff are engaging in group learning about the Indigenous history and cultures that are specific to our area.

• We reviewed and updated our employee handbook, a process that involved the whole staff reading through the document and offering input regarding changes and updates.

• Taproot Theatre maintains a fully paid internship program, investing time, training and financial resources into the next generation of theatre leaders.

Working with the greater Seattle theatre community:

We are actively pursuing partnership within the Seattle Theatre community to share what we are learning as we seek to create a work environment that respects all people.

• Taproot Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director, Karen Lund participated in the Seattle Theatre Leaders group

• Taproot Theatre’s Literary Manager, Sonja Lowe is an active participant in the recently formed IDEA for the Arts group. The purpose of this group is to build community around Inclusion. Diversity. Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) work in the performing arts in Seattle.

Goals for the Future

Taproot has much more work to do as we seek to truly understand and live out what it means to respect all people. Here are some of the areas within our own organization that we are currently reviewing:

• Regularly evaluating hiring practices to identify ways we can expand our pool of candidates for staff and artists, in performance and production roles, across all administrative departments and at leadership levels, including the Board of Directors.

• Regularly evaluate policies and internal practices to ensure all employees are supported.

• Regularly evaluating partners, memberships, and financial practices to ensure that they align with Taproot’s value of respecting people.