Mission & Values

We recognize the systemic inequalities in our field and know that our words are only as valuable as their accompanying actions. As a service organization, we are committed not only to changing our organization, but also to evaluating, supporting and advancing the broader changes needed in the musical theatre community. We as an organization cannot fulfill our mission and truly commit to our core values unless all voices are protected and elevated.

To that end, we are committed to an ongoing process, starting with the following steps, and we want to be held accountable:

• Hiring Practices: For every advertised part-time and full-time position, we will seek a truly diverse pool of candidates. We will post job opportunities outside of the traditional theatrical boards and actively seek out other candidates. We will eliminate degree requirements, and continue to evaluate payment practices and promotion opportunities. For interns, we will initially continue our policy of providing a stipend beginning in the second semester of service, and will add transportation reimbursement for first-semester interns.
• Gatekeeping: We continue to broaden the criteria for participation in our Festival Screening and Selection Committee members. Committee membership will be published on our website. We also continually assess the entire submission and evaluation process. We have eliminated the application fee for on-time submissions as well as the endorser requirement, and wehave added an artist statement to the application so that the evaluation process focuses more on whether the work accomplishes the writers’ goals rather than meets the evaluators’ taste. We have also established the Emerging Artists program.
• Membership: We will require that all members annually confirm their commitment to NAMT’s core values. In new member recruitment, we will focus on building a more inclusive membership. We will evaluate our existing recruitment practices, dues structure and member benefits to determine how they fit into larger field-wide issues and how to repair them. We will make events more accessible so that more staff members at member theatres are able to attend.
• Leadership: Drawing from our increasingly inclusive membership, we commit to continuing to ensure that our Board composition accurately represents the field.
• Environment: We will consciously create an environment for our staff, members, artists, colleagues and community that actively works against—and has zero tolerance for—harassment and discrimination in all forms. We invite feedback; if we’re heading in the wrong direction, we want to hear it. And we will listen.
• Education: We will seek outside guidance and professional development to continue to build our capacity to view all of our internal and external decisions through the lens of access and fairness. Field Forums: We will continue to host ongoing discussions to address these topics for our members and the broader community.
• Indigenous Peoples Acknowledgement: Our office is on the original homeland of the Munsee Lenape tribal nation. NAMT acknowledges the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory, and we honor and respect the many diverse Indigenous peoples still connected to this land on which we and our member theatres live and work. We have added this land acknowledgment to our website and incorporate land acknowledgments into all live events, working with member theatres co-hosting those events to make this practice more visible. We will work to build relationships with Native artists and organizations.

We will update these steps with specific actions and metrics. We will collect data to track our progress. We will be transparent about how we’re doing. We will constantly re-evaluate and add to our goals, and we will also evaluate who is participating in the goal-setting. We have already formed a Board committee to work with NAMT staff on further articulation of goals and the necessary steps to achieve them. We look forward, together, to creating lasting change that will build a better organization and field.