New York City Children’s Theater Seeks 2023 TYA Leadership Fellow

Compensation

The position comes with a stipend of $2,500

After hosting three successful Theater for Young Audiences (TYA) leadership fellowships, New York City Children’s Theater (NYCCT) is currently seeking candidates for a fourth. The goal of NYCCT’s TYA Leadership Fellowship is to offer mid-career TYA professionals of diverse backgrounds that are underrepresented in the Theater for Young Audiences industry the opportunity to work alongside our leadership staff and grow their skills, insights, and knowledge of the TYA field to prepare them for leadership roles in the future.

Fellows embark upon a year-long project of their own choosing. Projects coincide with running a Non-Profit Cultural Arts company and are pursued under the mentorship of NYCCT’s Executive Leadership. Additional mentorship with leaders in the field and previous fellows may be available. Each Fellow receives a meaningful honorarium and a stipend for travel/technology expenses to attend TYA/USA events.

Fellows experience includes setting up informational interviews and meetings with key leaders in the field of TYA. The Fellow is invited to participate in any or all of the following:

• Current Season and Future Season Planning Meetings
• Rehearsals of current shows
• Workshops and readings of works in development
• Meetings with various key staff and stakeholders
• Tutorials in any area of the business of Non-Profit Theaters the individual may desire
• Board Meetings
• Organizational Events

The fellowship program began in 2019, when leaders of New York City Children’s Theater and TYA/USA joined to take action to diversify a primarily white, able-bodied, executive stratum. Recognizing that several highly qualified future candidates for executive positions could benefit from the experience of working alongside current executives, meeting with organizational boards,  and otherwise demystifying the role of an executive, we founded fellowship in order nurture a diverse field of candidates for leadership positions in the field of TYA. Each of our three historical fellows has taught us important lessons about leadership and the TYA field and has strengthened our resolve that offering future leaders the opportunity to practice leadership skills before being called upon to lead, only makes the TYA field stronger, braver, and more cohesive.

Our former TYA Leadership Fellows include:
2019-2020 Khalia Davis
2020-2021 Ural Grant
2021-2022 Francis Sillau

Khalia Davis came to us with an impressive resume highlighting her creative contributions to the TYA field and an expressed interest in learning more about the responsibilities and practices that contribute to strong leadership in our industry. In summer 2020 she was named Artistic Director of Bay Area Children’s Theatre.

Ural Grant came to us with a passion for the power of theater as a means for teaching emotional literacy. He is in the has created his own Memphis-based Theater-in-Education company, Project S.M.A.R.T., which guides high-school aged boys from fatherless homes through theater activities designed to engage their creativity and self-knowledge in the process of intentionally defining manhood.

Francis Sillau came to us having worked on the East Coast and in the Mid-West as a theater creator, director, and accessibility expert. While working as the Executive Artistic Director of Circle Theatre in Omaha, Francis uses his fellowship to help deepen the skills needed to transition into an executive leadership position for a TYA-focused company.

New York City Children’s Theater is a non-profit organization that promotes children’s literacy and social development through accessible, professional theater productions and arts-in-education programs.

Application for the fellowship is available on the NYCCT website: https://www.nycchildrenstheater.org/job-opening/tya-leadership-fellowship/

Applications will be accepted through January 2, 2023.

NYCCT is committed to making all positions accessible for all applicants, so if you have any questions, concerns or know of any specific accommodations we can prepare for you during the application or interview process, please email fellowship@nycchildrenstheater.org.