I.D.E.A. Committee Description & Purpose

The Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Accessibility (I.D.E.A.) Committee is a cross-functional committee that values equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility as guiding organizational principles.

We seek to reflect and embrace our community and to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment in which artists, audiences, students, staff and volunteers of all backgrounds learn, collaborate, and participate for the benefit of all. The work of the I.D.E.A. Committee directly supports PNB’s mission to inspire, engage, and educate through dance. Diversity and diverse perspectives advance PNB’s ability to achieve new standards of excellence in every aspect of its organization. PNB seeks to build a fully-inclusive, anti-racist, multicultural organization, creating space for shifting perspectives that reflect our industry’s continual evolution.

The I.D.E.A. Committee is dedicated to:

• Building PNB artist, board, faculty, staff, student, and volunteer awareness about issues relating to race and other forms of diversity.
• Promoting learning opportunities for all artists, board, faculty, staff, and students around equity, race, and other forms of diversity, and inclusion.
• Integrating equity learning and work throughout all facets of the organization.
• Filtering PNB’s programs, practices, and policies through a lens that is sensitive to issues around equity, race other forms of diversity, accessibility, and inclusion.
• Developing and implementing an annual I.D.E.A. Action Plan.
• Centering underrepresented perspectives across the organization through community collaboration and professional consultation.
• Cultivating authentic relationships and engagement with under-invited communities in our work outside of PNB.
• Inviting feedback relating to I.D.E.A. work from artists, board, faculty, staff, student and families, volunteers, audiences, and community partners.
• Ensuring our artistic output is reflective of our community.
• Maintaining public transparency by I.D.E.A. Committee updates and statements to our website and annual report.

The I.D.E.A. Committee is comprised of 40+ individuals whose roles span a wide array of PNB departments and whose identities represent many categories of diversity (e.g. race, ability, age, gender, heritage, and language). Membership is elective and participants may join via invitation by or request of the committee co-leads. While participation in the committee is open to all PNB employees and board members, new membership will be subject to the availability of open seats on the committee. Acceptance of new members will be determined by the co-leads. Careful consideration will be given to retaining a committee composition that balances both representation from many areas of the organization and diverse backgrounds of membership. New members will be asked to participate in a brief meeting with co-leads to discuss goals for joining the committee.

The committee is co-led by two members who are appointed by PNB leadership, identified here as “Executive Sponsors”. The co-leads’ responsibilities entail: regular communication with Executive Sponsors, balancing of committee goals and workload, driving implementation of and monitoring I.D.E.A. Action Plan, determining meeting agendas, hosting meetings, managing committee participation, and handling/mitigating issues.

The committee is supported by a member who serves as the I.D.E.A. Committee Administrative Liaison. The Administrative Liaison’s responsibilities include attending meetings with Executive Sponsors and co-leads, communicating meeting agendas and minutes to members, and tracking membership.

Co-leads, Administrative Liaison and committee members’ term lengths extend for a duration of two years. Terms are renewable and may be consecutive. Co-leads will assist Executive Sponsors with identifying, nurturing and onboarding successive co-leads.

Onboarding of new members will include a brief meeting with co-leads to ascertain areas of interest within I.D.E.A. work and to determine placement within I.D.E.A. Action Plan Sub-Committees and/or a specific responsibility (e.g. act as liaison to a departmental unit within PNB). Co-leads will provide a brief overview of the I.D.E.A. Committee’s purpose, scope and objectives and will review the charter and the current I.D.E.A. plan.

New members are asked to familiarize themselves with the committee’s current and past projects and with committee operations. New members may be paired with veteran members in order to support their transition into the committee.

• Co-leads and Administrative Liaison will provide agendas to all members in advance of meetings that articulate any items that need to be reviewed pre-meeting. Co-leads will discuss the agenda at the top of each meeting and raise any emergent issues.
• Members will prioritize attendance of all committee meetings. If any member is unable to attend more than 50% of scheduled meetings (committee-wide meetings or Sub-Committee meetings), the co-leads reserve the right to request that the member step down to provide room for another individual to join the committee.
• Members will participate in evolving community agreements.
• Members will actively engage in committee work by participating on Sub-Committees to carry out I.D.E.A. Action Plan items.
• Members will develop and maintain a high level of personal accountability for individual continued education and knowledge of equity, diversity and inclusion. Members will prioritize training opportunities made available to the I.D.E.A. Committee.
• Members will act as ambassadors of equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in all facets of professional life.

Full-committee meetings will take place monthly for a duration of approximately 1.5 hours. Monthly meeting dates will be communicated to members no later than the end of August of each year. Sub-Committee meetings’ frequency and meeting times will be determined by Sub-Committee members. Additional meetings may be called if training opportunities or extenuating circumstances arise. Meetings may take place in-person or on a virtual platform, such as Zoom.

• Agendas will be created for monthly committee meetings.
• Information (e.g. agendas, meeting minutes, materials) will be disseminated to the committee via e-mail for transparency and clarity.
• Designated individuals will serve as liaisons for departmental units within PNB. These members will provide the committee with feedback from the departmental units as appropriate.
• Committee decisions and activities will be communicated via the I.D.E.A. monthly e-newsletter that will be distributed internally to PNB stakeholders (artists, board, faculty, and staff). Highlights of the I.D.E.A. Committee’s work will be shared externally to students and families via the monthly PNB School “Family Update” e-newsletter. Information about the I.D.E.A. Committee’s work will also be available on the PNB website.

PNB’s budget includes a line item for I.D.E.A. Committee work. Allowable expenses include but are not limited to: costs related to training of PNB artists, board, faculty and staff; stipends for hosting of meetings; fees for consultants and guest speakers; and other mutually agreed upon expenditures. All expenses must be approved by the Executive Sponsors.

A priority for the committee includes supporting the Revenue Team in identifying and securing grant funding to financially assist in the implementation of short-term and long-term I.D.E.A. plans. Executive Sponsors will communicate with the Revenue Team regarding funding goals. Co-leads and/or I.D.E.A. members will provide talking points, accomplishments and other content to be utilized by Revenue Team for the purpose of creating grant proposals for funders.

The I.D.E.A. Committee acknowledges that this charter is a living document that will be continually updated in response to the committee’s work. This charter is subject to review and edit at any time.

*Credit given to the Seattle Center Change Team for charter format, I.D.E.A.s and content.*

Governance Sub-Committee

The Governance Sub-Committee is comprised of two executive sponsors, two co-leads, and an administrative liaison. The Governance Sub-Committee provides oversight for the committee’s membership, structure, scope, operations, processes, and intra-committee communication. Additional responsibilities include drafting of committee documents (ie. charter, action plans, website content, committee statements, and other official committee business) and provision of support for PNB’s Revenue Team’s I.D.E.A.-related grant proposals.

Communications Sub-Committee

The Communications Sub-Committee is comprised of two co-leads and seven members. The Communications Sub-Committee is responsible for disseminating the work of the I.D.E.A. Committee internally within PNB via a monthly I.D.E.A. Newsletter, to PNB School families through updates in PNB Family monthly e-mails, and externally to PNB constituents through PNB’s monthly High Pointes e-newsletter. Additional oversight includes ensuring I.D.E.A. updates as standing agenda items at all PNB board and staff meetings, monitoring and refining I.D.E.A. content shared on PNB’s website, and providing support for other I.D.E.A. Sub-Committees’ communication needs.

Training Sub-Committee

The Training Sub-Committee is comprised of one lead and four members. The Training Sub-Committee oversees all aspects training of racial equity training for all PNB employee groups, board members, and PNB School Professional Division students. These responsibilities include analyzing budgeting and staffing structure, scheduling training sessions, tracking trainee attendance, training facilitators, creating/updating facilitator training manuals, and carrying out trainings.

Community Engagement Sub-Committee  

The Community Engagement Sub-Committee is comprised of two co-leads and thirteen members. The Community Engagement Sub-Committee is responsible for engagement within the internal PNB community, within the greater Seattle community with a focus upon under-invited members, and within the national dance community. Specific oversight includes the provision of support for PNB’s organization-wide Black affinity group, the building and nurturing of Seattle-area community partnerships, and development of connections with I.D.E.A. committees in dance organizations across the US.

Committee Engagement Sub-Committee 

The Committee Engagement Sub-Committee is comprised of one lead and three members. The Committee Engagement Sub-Committee is responsible for the planning and facilitation of quarterly team-bonding events and I.D.E.A.-focused continuing education for all committee members. Additionally, the Committee Engagement Sub-Committee oversees the development and monitoring of a Media Club, which makes current I.D.E.A.-related literature and digital resources accessible to the entire PNB organization.