The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) has announced two new actions in order to help the drive to increase inclusion and diversity within its community and union.
First is the reconstitution and expansion of its International Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, which has already held its first meeting on September 29. Special care was taken to insure those invited into the committee represented a cross section of the union.
The second initiative is the union’s partnership with Right Size Media, a diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm that works within media and entertainment. Its mission and purpose is to make the creative process more inclusive with decades of experience in production, including guilds and unions. The union will work with Right Size Media to “identify and prioritize concrete steps that the Union can take to move aggressively toward the anti-racist goals we have committed to publicly.”
In a statement in IATSE’s quarterly bulletin, the union’s International President Matthew D. Loeb said, “It’s time the conversation turns to action. Real, measurable change that removes all barriers against self-fulfillment and full potential, against the rewards to us all of full and equal participation. It will be difficult, uncomfortable at times and involve sacrifice. But none so great as those faced each day by being oppressed by an unjust system.”
You can learn more at the IATSE site.
