Theater Resources Unlimited May Panel via Zoom Not-for-Profit Theater in a Challenging World:  How to Survive and Thrive

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents the May Panel Not-for-Profit Theater in a Challenging World: How to Survive and Thrive on Thursday, May 21, 2020 via Zoom. Networking begins at 7pm and the panel starts at 7:30pm. Reserve a spot on the event page at https://truonline.org/events/not-for-profit-theater/ or by emailing TRUStaff1@gmail.com and you will be put on a list to receive the Zoom link.

A message from Bob Ost, executive director of TRU:
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all TRU live events are being rescheduled while we wait for the all clear. To help bridge the gap of social distancing, this panel will be held virtually via Zoom. Email TRUStaff1@gmail.com to be added to the invitation list and join our community. Stay positive, test negative, be safe!”

With guest speakers Anne Dunning, principal consultant at ARTS Action Research; Jill Garland, nonprofit management consultant; David Mallette, partner at Management Consultants for the Arts, Inc. With the current crisis we are going through, we will certainly frame this discussion in the context of recovering from COVID. Other basics we will cover: nurturing and strengthening not-for-profit theater companies: the importance of understanding the shifting environment for the not-for-profit arts … clearly defining and focusing on your unique vision and purpose … flexibility and adaptability as critical components of success … building partnerships and collaboration around shared resources as a strategy for recovery … broad-based resource building and more. Come with questions for these extremely learned panelists, some of the top advisors in the not-for-profit arts world.

Zoom room opens at 7:00pm for networking and roundtable introductions of attendees – come prepared with your best 20-second summary of who you are, and what you need. Panel starts at 7:30. Free for TRU members; pay what you can, everyone else – to keep TRU up and running (and yes, you may click the button for a free ticket). Please use the bright red reservation box on our web page, or email TRUStaff1@gmail.com to be put on the invite list. (Note: Zoom space is limited so RSVP early.)

Anne Dunning became principal consultant at ARTS Action Research in March 2004.  Her consulting practice with AAR is focused on strategic thinking, organizational development, research & evaluation and facilitation to support nonprofit arts organizations and improve their capacity to deliver on mission.  Prior to joining the AAR team, she was administrative director of the Danny Grossman Dance Company in Toronto.  She was founding chair of the Canadian Dance Assembly, chair of the board of Dance/USA, chair of the board of freeDimensional and served for twelve years on the George Cedric Metcalf Foundation’s Strategic Initiatives Advisory Committee.  She has taught for Humber College’s arts administration program and been a guest speaker at the University of Toronto and NYU.  Before becoming involved in the arts, Anne studied biology at McGill University in Montreal, where she received a BSc in ecology, evolution and behavior.  She lives in Boston and New York with her husband, Gary, president and executive director of Celebrity Series of Boston.

Jill Garland is a leading nonprofit management consultant. She is currently working with Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, The Aldrich Contemporary Museum of Art and Project for Public Spaces. Recent clients include Theatre Communications Group, Ars Nova Theatre and Clay Art Center. Strategic planning, board governance, development audits, major gift counsel and interim executive management are the tentpole services of her practice. As Vice President at DUNCH Consulting, she worked with Huntington Theatre Company, Primary Stages, Gallim Dance, Manhattan Theatre Club and School for Strings. Prior to consulting, Jill was the Chief Development Officer for City Parks Foundation and The Public Theater. At the Public, Jill led a department of 20 and raised over $18 million annually for an ambitious season that included Shakespeare in the Park and groundbreaking new work such as Hamilton and Fun Home. She was the long-time Director of Development (1996-2011) at Playwrights Horizons and led a $33 million capital campaign for its five-story building and endowment raised funds for two Pulitzer Prize winning shows I Am My Own Wife and Clybourne Park. Jill has held adjunct professor positions at NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, at Brooklyn College, and has lectured at the Julliard School, Pace University, Marymount College, and NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She is the Board President of RiverArts, an arts council serving six communities in Southern Westchester.

David Mallette joined Management Consultants for the Arts in 2005 after working for more than two decades as a performing arts administrator. Now MCA’s managing partner, his portfolio has included searches for American Conservatory Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at University of Maryland, Studio Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, The Music Center in Los Angeles, Virginia Tech’s Center for the Arts, Jacob’s Pillow, Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech, McCarter Theatre Center, and Denver Center for the Performing Arts. His planning and organizational development clients include Dallas Summer Musicals, Rockport Music, Dance/USA, Milwaukee Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Mr. Mallette’s arts management career began at Houston’s Alley Theatre as Director of Operations. Subsequently, he joined Houston Ballet as Company Manager, where he was extensively involved in new productions and touring. Mr. Mallette then became Executive Director of Fort Worth Ballet. During his 15-year tenure, the Ballet quadrupled in size through its expansion across the region and state, first as Fort Worth Dallas Ballet and then as Texas Ballet Theater, in one of the country’s rare two-city structures. He led TBT’s touring initiatives, including stops in Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., and more than forty Texas communities. Mr. Mallette is a frequent speaker and author on performing arts leadership and has written extensively on the partnership between artistic and executive directors.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is the leading network for developing theater professionals, a twenty-seven-year-old 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to help producers produce, emerging theater companies to emerge healthily and all theater professionals to understand and navigate the business of the arts. Membership includes self-producing artists as well as career producers and theater companies.
 
TRU publishes an email community newsletter of services, goods and productions; offers a Producer Development & Mentorship Program taught by prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and also presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop business skills. TRU serves writers through the TRU Vices Play Reading Series, Writer-Producer Speed Date, a Practical Playwriting Workshop, How to Write a Musical That Works and a Director-Writer Communications Lab; programs for actors include the Annual Combined Audition.
 
Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by the Montage Foundation and the Leibowitz Greenway Foundation.
 
For more information about TRU membership and programs, visit www.truonline.org.