TCG Co-Executive Director: National Operations and Business Development

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CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: NATIONAL OPERATIONS AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FULL-TIME HYBRID POSITIONSHARED LEADERSHIP WITH TWO COLLEAGUES PLEASE APPLY BY August 26, 2024 CreativeEvolutions.com/TCG TCG.org Theatre Communications Group in 2024 Theatre Communications Group (TCG) leads for a just and thriving theatre ecology. This expansive approach to the development, advancement, and health of theatre in the United States requires a flexible and responsive approach to our changing world, and the collaboration of thousands of theatre artists, arts leaders, and partners across many sectors. In this rapidly shifting world, TCG has responded by shifting our leadership structure to reflect the diverse needs and expertise needed to adapt to our shared ecology to lead forward. This is reflected in our new shared leadership structure, where the staff will be supported by three equal Co-Executive Directors: One for National Engagement, one for National and Global Programming, and one for National Operations and Business Development. It is also reflected in the new expectation that these Co-Executive Directors will have term limits. Each will be engaged on an initial three to five year term, with the potential to renew for one additional term. At most, we expect these leaders to serve in these roles for 10 years, and then make room for different people who are best positioned to serve the needs of TCG and the theatre artists of tomorrow. With this structure, developing new leadership both within the TCG staff and across the field will be a continued priority for the organization, and opportunities for new leadership of the organization will be available regularly. To transition into this structure, the board of TCG has taken a considered approach by combining a national search for one role (Co-Executive Director: National Operations and Business Development) and promoting the two other Co-Executive Directors from within. As of July 22, 2024, the Co-Executive Director: National and Global Programming will be Emilya Cachapero (previously Director of Grantmaking Programs) and the Co-Executive Director: National Engagement will be LaTeshia Ellerson (previously Interim Chief Growth Officer). With these two promotions, TCG will be able to carry forward institutional knowledge and build on existing relationships, while also lifting up both Emilya and LaTeshia to bring forward new ideas and approaches that they have been developing at TCG over time. The deep experience and specific approaches of Emilya and LaTeshia also provide a clear team that the third Co-Executive Director will be able to join at the end of this hiring process. The journey so far… Since its founding in 1961, TCG’s constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 750 Member Theatres and Affiliate organizations and over 3,000 Individual Members. TCG reaches over one million students, audience members, and theatre professionals each year through its programs and services and offers networking and knowledge-building opportunities through research, communications, and events, including the bi-annual National Conference, one of the largest nationwide gatherings of theatre people. TCG awards grants and scholarships to theatre companies and individual artists, advocates on the federal level, and through the Global Theater Initiative serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute. TCG is North America’s largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature, with 21 Pulitzer Prizes for Drama on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine (now back in print) and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. TCG is currently led by a board of 10 national leaders, chaired by New England Foundation for the Arts Executive Director Harold Steward. Through a recent restructuring and adjustment, the staff now consists of a hybrid staff of 28, with assorted partners and external contractors in some areas. TCG operates currently on an annual budget for FY 25 of $6.7 million. Values: What do we mean by lead, just, and thriving?Lead: For TCG, to LEAD (for) is a statement of intention and accountability. It reflects the organization’s commitment to modeling and advocating for the structural, cultural, and equitable environments that a just and thriving theatre ecology requires. Distinguishing to lead “for” versus solely to “lead,” TCG recognizes its communal role in this ambition. Listening was noted as a key quality of leadership, as well as actively assessing and acting in ways that the organization can have impact. Just: JUST specifically names TCG’s equity-based values. It is one of the adjectives that explicitly describes the type of theatre ecology that TCG will advance. TCG believes that a better world for the theatre requires greater equity, visibility, and funding.Thriving: TCG envisions a THRIVING theatre ecology that has the investments, commitments, and participants it needs to create, produce, and present diverse stories;encourage, engage, and financially sustain theatre makers and practitioners; abundantly serve multifaceted communities;advance values and practices of equity and justice; andsustain theatre as a viable industry. What We Are Looking for in Our New Co-Executive Director All three of our new Co-Executive Directors will need to hold a core belief in collaborative work, and to see themselves as supporters and connectors with the rest of the TCG team. While each will bring specific ideas, vision, and energy to their roles, they will embrace collective responsibility for TCG’s service to the field and for the care and investment in TCG’s people. They will all prioritize the ‘communications’ part of the name of the organization as an essential daily priority, both internally and externally. For the Co-Executive Director: National Operations and Business Development, their primary super-strength will be as a brilliant systems designer for both technical and human parts of the organization. They will have a highly detail-oriented mind and the ability to make clear and efficient decisions around priorities and allocation of resources. They will be an expert planner who can also adapt to new circumstances and situations quickly and orchestrate complicated shifts in process with a diverse and largely remote team. They will also be creative in their approach, able to envision and execute on new opportunities for earned revenue at TCG. Their experience with operational and business systems will also provide the opportunity to strengthen TCG’s day-to-day, and re-invent TCG in various areas to model anti-oppressive business practices. Human Expectations and Personal Values We expect our Co-Executive Directors to be very different from one another, but we do expect them to unify around the present and aspirational values of the TCG team. In a Co-Executive Director structure, where the three individuals have equal shares of power and authority in the organization, each Co-Executive Director needs an appreciation for the benefits of co-leadership and an eagerness to support one another while feeling confident and clear in their responsibilities on the team. A spirit of humility and grace to know when to lean into their perspective and when to make space for others’ expertise is the bedrock of how we hope TCG will function going forward. They will operate from a joyful place of optimism about a better future (for tomorrow or ten years from now), while appreciating that they are responsible for one moment in a much longer story. This appreciation will mesh well with their passion for training and mentoring others. They will see their work in building TCG to include building the knowledge, relationships, confidence, and enthusiasm of members of the team (or others in the field) who will be at TCG even after their term(s) complete. Their team orientation and emphasis on listening will allow them to design and develop better operations or opportunities for TCG, and will provide a fertile space for input and challenges to the status quo from staff, board, or other TCG constituents. They will not see these challenges as threatening, but instead as a healthy and integral part of growth and progress. Paired with this, they will remain deeply aware that holding hierarchical authority and power can lead to diminished empathy, and so they will make efforts with the other Co-Executive Directors, staff, and board, to regularly re-ground themselves in compassion, and how their actions impact the realities and vulnerabilities of the people who make up TCG and the theatre ecology. Co-Executive Director Roles and Structures TCG has spent extensive time discussing and exploring the structure for three Co-Executive Directors. Since two of the three Co-Executive Director's are internal promotions, the third Co-Executive Director will complement and enhance the capabilities of the existing leaders. Because TCG will be collectively led by three individuals, no single person needs to be outstanding in all areas, as long as the team of three collectively are exceptional in all the capabilities TCG needs to fulfill its purpose and support its people. While this opportunity statement includes a draft of how responsibilities will be shared at the outset, TCG anticipates that the three leaders will continue to evolve and refine their roles during the first year of their collaboration, and in an ongoing way through their entire terms of service. The following responsibilities will be shared among all three Co-Executive Directors: Strategy and VisionAll three Co-Executive Directors will be responsible for collaborating on a unified, cross-functional, and adaptive strategy and vision for TCG in partnership with staff and Board. Staff Culture and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion All three Co-Executive Directors will commit collectively to following and supporting a set of core cultural behaviors for TCG as set out in TCG’s values. Together the three Co-Executive Director's will ensure that all of TCG’s communications and programming align with these values. All three should be people who have deeply examined their own biases, learned and lived anti-racist practices, and are able to both lead and learn in this area. (Note that EDI-specific programming for the field will be held as a specific programming responsibility.) Public Engagement All three Co-Executive Directors will be great communicators, comfortable speaking publicly as well as engaging one-on-one with TCG’s many community members. They will also be excellent listeners, able to engage deeply with TCG’s constituents by listening fully, building trust, and working to heal past harm. Specific opportunities to represent TCG at conferences and other engagements will be shared strategically among the three Co-Executive Director's as well as with other appropriate staff and board representatives. Managing a Budget that Enacts TCG’s Values Believing that budgets are moral documents that express an organization’s values, the three Co-Executive Directors will work together to develop an annual budget that enacts TCG’s values while reflecting fiscal realities. The three Co-Executive Directors will also all: Report to and participate in annual collective evaluations with each other and the boardCollaborate deeply with the Board and other staff leadership at twice yearly full-day strategy sessions, and in between as appropriate Bring a diverse set of empowered perspectives into leadership, giving more weight and strength to TCG initiatives by removing the ‘one voice’ structure. Embrace having great strengths in some areas, and supporting other Co-Executive Directors with strengths in other areas Operate in a way where they can step in for one another on short-term basis when life happens TCG is now hiring for the Co-Executive Director: National Operations and Business Development. The Co-Executive Director: National Operations and Business Development will serve as one of three co-equal leaders sharing executive leadership of TCG. The primary role of the Co-Executive Director: National Operations and Business Development will be to develop and support systems and processes for a diverse and largely remote team, including envisioning and launching new earned revenue opportunities. Specific responsibilities for the Co-Executive Director: National Operations and Business Development include:Primary leadership around TCG's overall business model, including envisioning and exploring new approaches to supporting the mission of a national service organization.Design, oversee and improve TCG systems for People & Culture/Human Resources, Information Technology, Financial Management, and general operations.Develop approaches to understanding and illuminating organizational capacity (human, financial, temporal, and relational) to aid in prioritization and decision making.Lead internal communications and coordination between functional areas, including between the board and staff. Manage the annual budgeting process and oversee day-to-day finances in partnership with ArtsFMS and the other two Co-Executive Directors Support TCG’s publishing arms (AT Magazine, TCG Books, and Advertising) jointly with the other Co-Executive Directors, with a particular orientation towards effective operations in the current environment and developing new earned revenue opportunities Design and improve current and potential earned revenue systems and opportunitiesLead and coordinate the work of TCG’s operations departments, including specifically: Finance and AdministrationPeople & CultureInformation TechnologyContracts and Legal Oversight For Reference: The Co-Executive Director: National and Global Programming (Emilya Cachapero) will serve as one of three co-equal leaders sharing executive leadership of TCG. The primary role of the Co-Executive Director: National and Global Programming will be to develop programs and services that serve the field and advance TCG’s vision of a just and thriving ecology. Specific responsibilities for the Co-Executive Director: National and Global Programming include:Engage strategically with the changing realities in the theater ecosystem and guide all TCG programming areas to effectively work together to address short-term and long-term needs of the field. Determine when new programs, tools, or strengths need to be invested in at TCG, and when needs or impact can be better addressed through partnerships or sunsetting TCG activities to allow resources for other focuses. Guide TCG’s advocacy work including both legislative advocacy and other advocacy methods developed with the field.Work with TCG staff to understand, build on, and reinvent as needed current collaborative programming structures. Lead and coordinate all TCG programs, including those that originate outside the programming d

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