DEIA Progress Report 2022

Although Arts of Life has always championed equity, inclusion, and accessibility for our artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), the events of the summer of 2020 put a spotlight on the work we still needed to do to expand these values within Arts of Life. We need to talk seriously about the lack of diversity throughout the organization and our role in systemic racism. As the founder, I thought I was doing enough – the heaviness of supporting people I/DD in a system as broken as Illinois’s was enough. I didn’t take the time or make space for how Arts of Life could be a champion for some without being a champion for all. To this day, I’m grateful that we have a culture where people know they can bring even the most difficult criticisms forward to make us better. That one step of advocacy, simply requesting that AofL formalize this work, will forever change Arts of Life as we grow to understand how to truly support Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) for everyone. I’m proud of the work we began last September and wanted to highlight some of our progress.

Last spring, we developed a joint board and staff committee for this critical work. This committee must have strong representation from all areas of the organization to engage the people at every level in this work. Three members are currently participating in the Enrich Anti-Racism Capacity Building Program. Through this program, among other things, we now understand and believe in the importance of recognizing the Native peoples who originally called this area home, the very present Native community in Chicago today, and the lasting impact of settler colonialism on our community. Acknowledgment is the first step toward honoring the original occupants of Chicago, the city that has given Arts of Life so much. You will see a land acknowledgment on our website and may witness its implementation at future meetings and events. As we approach the second year of work as a committee, we reflect on our progress to date, review our goals, assess how many members we want to be the most effective. Our initial priorities for year two are to bring our studio artists into these conversations and create an open and safe system that encourages staff to have courageous conversations about race and diversity. We began these conversations by inviting Enrich to host a one-day training with our team.

In addition, our commitment to DEIA extends to our strategic plan’s objective to become an “employer of choice.” This objective means our continued prioritization to get everyone to market salaries and wages while also considering other benefits that would attract a more diverse workforce. We are proud to launch a retirement and FSA plan in 2022 that will further strengthen our benefits portfolio.

My proudest pandemic success is that AofL retained all of our staff. And now that we are moving forward and starting to restore and expand our in-person programming and events, we can create new positions to support our studio artists and launch a unique community-based program. To improve our transparency and to reflect our continued efforts in this work, we’ve updated our employment page. Raising salaries and openness in our job postings have led to more diverse candidates. In one year, we have increased our 40 person board and staff’s overall diversity by race, sexuality, or disability by 18% (from 42% to 60%).

We understand this work is an ongoing commitment; we have started a journey that will never fully arrive, and much lies ahead. I’m always open to feedback and questions, so please reach out directly with any information that would support Arts of Life as we move forward with our DEIA efforts.

Denise Fisher
Executive Director, Arts of Life