Since 1972 Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York) has assisted member theaters in managing their companies effectively to realize their artistic visions for diverse audiences. From an initial group of 49, A.R.T./New York now supports more than 380 theaters in New York City with funding, training, space, and connections.

From 2017 to 2020, The Raben Group designed and managed the Diversify Our Organizations program, which provides a diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculum over seven months for a cohort of 10-12 member theaters. The series, facilitated by Raben staff, leads theater staff and board leadership through building the foundation of what diversity, equity, and inclusion mean to them as an institution, why its inclusion is mission-critical to their work as cultural institutions, to building a culture of inclusion, hiring practices to ensure a more diverse staff, and board nomination and rotation to bring a diverse team in at all levels. Raben also provides one-on-one coaching to each cohort member organization to help them embed diversity, equity, and inclusion into their organization. At the end of the program, institutions will have their own diversity, equity, and inclusion plans, with metrics and measurable outputs. 

We’ve also led board speed dating events for cohort members, so they can start to meet and recruit more diverse board members.

From the initial cohorts, organizations have seen transformation — from hiring processes to board recruitment.