First Two Theater Companies Are Certified By On Our Team's Pay Equity Standards

2nd Story and Collaboraction are the first two organizations to gain certification from On Our Team's Pay Equity Standards.

On Our Team launched the Pay Equity Standards in January 2022, as a first of its kind tool to help theater companies establish pay equity within their organization and serve as a public recognition for equitably paid theater.

"Achieving our Pay Equity Standards certification has been a goal at 2nd Story since On Our Team first announced the Standards. Not only does it show our commitment to arts workers, but the certification process was a wonderful tool in educating our Board of Directors about pay equity and transparency," said Lauren Sivak, managing director of 2nd Story.

Anthony Moseley, artistic director, speaks to Collaboraction's decision to gain certification, "At the beginning of our 26th season, as a Chicago theater focused on using our work as a catalyst for social change, Collaboraction continues to strive to grow and evolve to better serve our mission and community. Since change is inevitable and product is process, we prioritize our continued evolution as an institution to manifest an equitable environment for our work. Meeting the requirements of the Pay Equity Standards is a milestone in our institutional growth as a company committed to envisioning a healthier and more sustainable future for our industry."

The Pay Equity Standards were developed to address increasing calls for equity and the current arts and culture sector needs. The arts and culture industry added $919.7 billion to the nation's GDP in 2019 and the industry includes 5.2 million workers with a total compensation of $447 million, according to a report by the NEA released in 2021. Yet, as a UNESCO study from 2019 titled Culture & Working Conditions for Artists stated, "the largest subsidy for the arts comes not from governments, patrons or the private sector, but from artists themselves in the form of unpaid or underpaid labour."

"Collaboraction's perspective is that we may not have created these inequitable systems that follow the history of hundreds of years of colonialism, classism, patriarchy, and racism, but we have a responsibility to do what we can to dismantle these flawed systems. We will not perpetuate the "scarcity model" that has plagued our industry. We will embrace the possibility that our work environment can be as plentiful as our creativity and imagination. We respect and value the time and life energy of everyone in our community," says Moseley.

Calls for a more fair and equitable industry have become more urgent than ever as the theater industry navigates the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, continued calls for diversity and access within the industry, and labor shortages. The Pay Equity Standards were developed out of hundreds of hours of interviews with producers and theater company executives, and feedback from artists, staff, and leaders of theater companies of all sizes across the country.

Designed as a checklist, the Pay Equity Standards lay out a path to establishing equitable pay using a three-pronged approach to pay equity: Transparency, Working Conditions, and Accountability.

Inspired by the organic and fair trade food labels, theater companies that opt in and meet all certification requirements will be granted use of the Pay Equity Standards badge. The recognizable badge will allow audience members to make informed consumption choices and support art that is made in a way that aligns with their values. Theater workers can make decisions on where to seek employment based on which organizations have become certified. Certification may also be used by foundations to ensure that their funds are going to organizations that center equity.

Based on a 2019 report from the NEA titled Artists and Other Cultural Workers: A Statistical Portrait, between 2012-2016 "roughly 34 percent of all artists were self-employed." Theater workers often are not protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act as contract workers or freelance artists. The current precarity of arts workers is not conducive to a thriving arts sector.

Sivak adds, "At 2nd Story, conversations about pay equity are woven into a larger conversation of care for arts workers. Our goal is to move from a minimum wage to a living wage to a thriving wage. It will take time to get there, but we envision an arts sector that is as equitable as it is exceptional."

Any theater company based in the USA can submit to be certified for the Pay Equity Standards at www.onourteam.org. The submission portal will be open for 2022 certification through August 31, 2022. Certification for 2023 will begin September 1, 2022. Certification must happen each calendar year in order to retain use of the badge and remain in good standing with the Pay Equity Standards.

"We are thrilled to see industry leaders committed to creating positive change for arts workers in the theater industry. I hope that 2nd Story and Collaboraction's commitments to pay equity inspire other leaders to take these crucial steps towards living out their diversity, equity, inclusion, and access statements," says On Our Team co-founder Theresa Ham.

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