DEI Committee January 2021 Blog

WGR DEI Committee January 2021 Blog - It’s All About Allyship

WGR’s DEI Committee kicked off 2021 by announcing that it’s theme for the year is Allyship: Showing Up for One Another!

On Tuesday, January 12th, the Committee was honored to have Ty Hallmark, Founding and Producing Artistic Director of the Ally Theatre Company, join the group for an engaging conversation on allyship, particularly as it relates to storytelling and engagement.

Ty shared her personal story of catching the “theatre bug” at a young age, and how that greatly influenced her decision to quit her steady job to accept a contracted theatre position - a move that would eventually lead her to founding the Ally Theatre Company. Ty’s journey has been influenced by the desire to connect advocacy work to the performing arts, and Ty shared her insights on how we as professionals and DEI advocates can work to become even greater allies! Ty reminded the Committee that it is vital that allyship include owning a situation for what it is and not entering into a place of denial.

Ty highlighted the role that Deepa Iyer’s “Mapping Our Roles in Social Change Ecosystem” has played in shaping her own thoughts surrounding allyship, and she invited Committee members to reflect on their own personal roles -- recognizing that roles can very much be intersectional.

As you move along in your DEI journey, how do you plan to show up for someone in 2021?

Resources for further exploration:

• Deepa Iyer, “My Role in a Social Change Ecosystem: A Mid-Year Check-In”, May 2019
• Deepa Iyer, “We saw important social activism last year. Here’s how to maintain it in 2021”, January 2021

We welcome all WGR members to join us each month at our DEI Committee Meetings! The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 9th from 11:30am - 1:00pm. For more information on WGR’s DEI Committee, please reach out to dei.wgr@gmail.com.

This month’s blog is authored by DEI Committee Chair Gamble Hayden.