This Call for Submissions is now closed.
Deadline: April 6, 2021
Generator recognizes that producing is a creative practice. We reject the binary that separates “boring, efficient office worker” from “passionate, clueless creative” and embrace the exciting, fertile and collaborative space where arts management and live performance meet. We prioritize applications from folks from equity-seeking groups, including those who identify as Indigenous, Black, People of Colour, Trans, Nonbinary, Queer, Disabled and intersections of those identities. We enthusiastically invite submissions from individuals from a diversity of performing arts practices.
Strategic Advisors
As Generator looks to the next chapter of our work building the capacity and resilience of the independent performance sector, we will be engaging a paid advisory body. We’re seeking Strategic Advisors who are experienced and active producers and community members, with close ties to Toronto’s performing arts scene. These advisors will help inform Generator’s next transformation. This transformation will include a leadership transition, governance review, and ongoing development of online community resources.
Who Should Apply?
We are looking for savvy, awesome humans who have some experience producing live performance, have strong networks in the local performance ecology, and know a few things about ethical and sustainable producing practices—especially the kind that don’t demand that artists plug every leak with self-exploitation. We are committed to bringing a strong lens of racial justice to the organization’s strategic direction, and are prioritizing IBPOC artist producers who can bring their living and learned experience to guide Generator’s support of the next generation of independent performance-makers.
About Generator
Generator is a mentoring, teaching, and innovation incubator that expands the skills, tools, and competencies of independent artists, producers and leaders. Our current suite of programs includes Artist Producer Training, ArtistProducerResource.com, Resident Companies and Company Collaborators, and Financial Literacy.
Generator was founded as STAF (Small Theatre Administrative Facility) in 1991, and has existed in the current model since 2015. For more information, please refer to the History and About pages on our website. You may also be interested in our Work Culture, Programs, and Annual Reports.
Context: Generator Now
After four years under the leadership of Lead Producer Kristina Lemieux, Generator is looking towards the next phase of our operations. Generator’s programs have evolved through iteration; the organization has grown into a vital resource and connector for the Toronto performance sector, and our online tools have expanded substantially (they are currently accessed by 12,000 artist producers each year across Canada and internationally). After carefully cultivating the seedling organization into its current manifestation and growing a community around it, Kristina plans to transition out of her role in the Summer of 2021.
Generator has also more recently been called on to take a critical look at our role in upholding white supremacy culture and values in our operations and programs. In August 2020, we engaged facilitator Zainab Amadahy to review recent iterations of our training programs and operations through the lens of racial justice. Feedback emphasized two important points: i) a firm belief in the valuable impact Generator’s programs can have on independent artists’ careers and well-being, and ii) the urgent need to reevaluate our programs and operations through a lens of racial equity in order to fully embody our values of anti-oppression and care. More information on this process, including a public version of the report, is available here.
As we look toward Generator’s future, the board and leadership are committed to implementing recommendations developed from the feedback offered by our communities. We are forming this paid strategic advisory body to integrate input from experienced and active artist producers, prioritizing IBPOC producers and other members of equity-seeking groups.
The Role of the Strategic Advisors
We are looking to hire five advisors to work with us for 30-35 hours of consultation paid at a rate of $50/hr, spread throughout 2021.
Advisors will participate in 5-6 bimonthly steering meetings as well as targeted ideation and brainstorming sessions focused on:
Priorities and process for the leadership transition (~3 hrs with Board and Leadership)
Reviewing, revising and reorganizing our online producing wiki ArtistProducerResource.com (~10 hrs with Leadership and Staff)
Expanding our network of guest facilitators for our Artist Producer Training program (~2 hrs with Staff and Leadership)
Developing a governance model to better represent the performance community’s needs. (~10 hrs with Board and Leadership)
Advisors will be asked to invoice Generator as independent contractors.
Dates
Attendance on Zoom will be required on the following dates (all times EDT):
Interviews: Sunday, April 18
Orientation Weekend: Friday, April 30, 6-8pm and Saturday, May 1, 11am-4pm
Monthly Meetings: 6:30-8:30pm on May 20, June 17, and July 15 (these are all Thursdays—additional dates will be determined as a group after this point)
Between May 2-May 19, there will be 3-6 hours of self-directed reading and learning related to governance and ArtistProducerResource.com.
Can’t make some of the dates? We recognize that life comes up and we all have multiple commitments. That said, it’s really important that you’re able to attend the vast majority of the dates listed above—especially the orientation weekend.
Given current pandemic circumstances, the Generator team is currently working remotely and will be for the foreseeable future. If we are able to—and decide we would like to—meet in-person again, participation via Zoom will continue to be an option for all Strategic Advisors.
How Will We Work Together?
The Strategic Advisors will work closely with Brendan McMurtry-Howlett, the lead board member for this initiative, as well as other board members who will join as they are able. On the staff side, they will work with Lead Producer Kristina Lemieux and Communications Producer Annie Clarke, who will be coordinating this project, as well as other staff members as needed.
Additional folks will be brought on to form a hiring committee for the leadership transition, as well as to contribute to portions of the governance work.
The Strategic Advisors will create a community agreement to direct how they share space together and how decisions are made. The Strategic Advisors will also work under Generator’s Safe(r) Spaces policy.
Application Process
Deadline: April 6, 2021
Please submit your application using our AirTable form (this form is now closed as the deadline has passed). We’d like you to include a 300(ish)-word statement of interest, either written or in the form of a short video or audio recording. We’re interested in what kind of producer you feel you are, and the values you bring to your producing practice. (This is intentionally open-ended—we want to give you space to describe yourself and why you’d like to get involved!) We’re also asking for an up-to-date bio or resume that includes (but isn’t necessarily limited to) your producing experience.
If you need accommodations to make this application happen, please reach out to Generator Board Member Claire Burns at claire@generatorto.com, who will be able to support you through the application process.
If you have any questions about this call for applications, please email info@generatorto.com.
Applications will be reviewed by all board members. Advisors will be selected by Lead Producer Kristina Lemieux, Board Member Brendan McMurtry-Howlett, and Board Chair ted witzel, with input from the board and Generator staff. We acknowledge that the organization’s current composition has a lot of white folks in decision-making roles: engaging this group of Strategic Advisors is one of the steps we are taking to include more voices in the organization’s direction.
In assembling this advisory group, our priority is to bring together a group of people with a wide array of living and learned experiences, areas of producing specialization, learning styles, years of practice, and skill sets. We’ll be assessing applications based on experience, networks, and the practices and values applicants bring with them.
We encourage Strategic Advisor applicants to also complete our Arts Knowledge Contributors form for teaching, writing, and mentoring opportunities with Generator (no deadline).
Can I apply for this if I am thinking of applying to work with Generator in another way?
Generator will be sharing a job posting for new leadership shortly. We encourage those interested in applying to that upcoming posting not to apply as a Strategic Advisor as this could present a conflict of interest. However, if you are interested in other programs—such as participating in Artist Producer Training (APT) or Resident Companies, contributing to ArtistProducerResource.com, or teaching for APT—or have participated in our programs in the past, we encourage you to apply.
Generator’s Current Team
Staff
Lead Producer: Kristina Lemieux (she/her)
Communications Producer: Annie Clarke (she/her)
Training Consultant: Sedina Fiati (she/her, they/them)
Online Content Producer: Keshia Palm (she/her)
Financial Literacy Consultant: Audrey Quinn (she/her)
Board
Chair: ted witzel (he/him)
Treasurer: Claire Burns (she/her)
Secretary: Quinn Harris (she/her)
Director: James Foy (he/him)
Director: Brendan McMurtry-Howlett (he/him)
This call for applications was written by ted witzel, with input from Generator’s board and staff.