DEI statement

Tapp’s Outpost Diversity and Inclusion Statement

Everyone deserves equal access to a full, vibrant creative life, which is essential to a healthy and democratic society.  In the United States, there are systems of power that grant privilege and access unequally such that inequity and injustice result, and that must be continuously addressed and changed.
As an established Cultural Entrepreneurship Incubator, Tapp’s Outpost seeks to maintain a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace where all employees, volunteers, partners, and collaborators, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, feel valued and respected. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory and non-linear leadership approach and to creating meaningful opportunities for employment and professional growth across all Tapp’s Outpost programmatic and leadership structures.   We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and ensure that all voices are valued and heard in our efforts to nurture accessible, thriving venues for expression and the fair distribution of programmatic, financial, and informational resources for artists.

Tapp’s Outpost is committed to modeling diversity and inclusion for the entire arts industry of the nonprofit sector, and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.

 

To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, Tapp’s Outpost:

  • Sees diversity, inclusion, and equity as connected to our mission and critical to ensure the well-being of our staff, the arts communities we serve, and society as a whole.

  • Commits to identifying, acknowledging, and dismantling inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and to continually update and report organization progress.

  • Will explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness.

  • Advocates for and supports board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.

  • Challenges assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader at our organization, and who is well-positioned to provide leadership.

  • Practices and encourages transparent communication in all interactions.

  • Commits time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, committee, and advisory bodies.

  • Seeks to lead with respect and acceptance that applies to all Tapp’s Outpost staff and leadership.  We expect all employees and Board Directors to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace/organizational interactions and through everyday practices.

 

Tapp’s Outpost abides by the following action items to help promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace:

  • Pursue cultural competency throughout our organization by creating substantive learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies.

  • Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress toward the visibility of our diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts. Once the content is curated it will be added to our website so others can access.

  • Improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of American society.

  • Pool resources and expand offerings for underrepresented constituents by connecting with other arts organizations committed to diversity and inclusion efforts.

  • Provide access to diversity, inclusion, and equity training in order to provide information and resources to all employees, volunteers, partners, and collaborators.

  • Develop a system for being more intentional and conscious of bias during the hiring, promoting, or evaluating process. Train our hiring team on equitable practices.

  • Include a salary range with all public job descriptions.

  • Advocate for public and private-sector policy that promotes diversity, inclusion, and equity. Challenge systems and policies that create inequity, oppression and disparity.