Join TONYC's Board of Directors!
Theatre of the Oppressed NYC is looking for collaborative, imaginative, and committed New Yorkers to join our Board of Directors! We are excited to build a team who will support us as we implement new processes that incorporate our staff and actor community in making key organizational decisions. This work has been supported by our collaboration with the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, in pursuit of one of our 2021-2024 strategic plan measures: to "transform the organizational structure to create more equitable sharing of power and decision-making."
What does it mean to join the TONYC Board? Put simply, the TONYC Board is responsible for overseeing the Executive Director, as well as making sure TONYC does what it's supposed to do and takes care of legal requirements. Joining the TONYC Board also means getting to know our community, supporting our staff and actors, and figuring out how we explore aligning our organizational practices with the principles of our work.
Participating in Theatre of the Oppressed NYC’s Board is a fantastic way to meet action-oriented artists and administrators in a creative environment! Support New York communities who are confronting systemic oppression in creating original art that fosters long-term social change.
We are looking for people who are...
- knowledgeable about running a non-profit organization, cooperative, collective, artistic space, community space, or business (and also want to learn how we do things!).
- interested in using their networks in NYC and beyond to amplify our work by audience-building, connecting us to communities, and supporting our fundraising.
- committed to supporting anti-oppression work and ready to explore how that applies to collaboration, non-profit management, and fundraising.
- ready to show up for us by attending Board meetings, performances, and events, and communicating with the TONYC staff.
- in agreement with the ideas expressed in Vu Le's piece "7 principles of community-centric boards."
Board members must have the capacity to...
- attend Board meetings (four times per year).
- attend TONYC's public events and support TONYC in fundraising.
- stay knowledgeable about TONYC's activities and governance.
There is no requirement for Board members to donate at a specific financial level to TONYC.
About TONYC:
- Our main programs focus on practicing and performing Forum Theatre. Each cycle gathers 8-12 actors who meet for 10-12 weeks. Each year, we run 13 cycles. In addition, we offer trainings, workshops, and other public programming throughout the year.
- TONYC has 12 employees, which includes six salaried staff members and six hourly facilitators. Explore our team here.
- We collaborate with the following organizations on our main programs: Ali Forney Center, Breaking Ground, Housing Works, The Fortune Society, Neighbors in Action, and Red Hook Community Justice Center. Our own troupes include Rapid Response and Escucha.
- We own our office space in Midtown Manhattan.
- We incorporated as a nonprofit in 2012, and our 2023 Budget was $850k in expenses.
If you are interested, please fill out this form. Note that responses will be shared with our community so that our staff and actors can get to know applicants. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed throughout the year.