About
Theatre
Advocacy
Project
Our Mission: To create safe and equitable working conditions for all theatre professionals.
Our Vision: A future where all theatre professionals are safe from discrimination, harassment, and abuse, allowing for the advancement of braver, more collaborative, and exploratory art-making.
At Theatre Advocacy Project, we've created a system of accountability within the theatre industry to support artists, administrators, and organizations, offering a more satisfactory working experience for all.
What started as a research project inspired by first-hand experiences, turned into an opportunity to create meaningful and measurable change. Through our suite of HR and equity, diversity, and inclusion tools, we empower professional theatre leaders to create safer and more equitable work environments for artists and administrators. We help organizations measure the current satisfaction and knowledgeability levels of their contracted and full-time staff in regards to anti-racism, anti-oppression, and anti-harassment, and use this to create impact-based accountability.
Based on our research, 85% of professional theatres across the country do not have a formalized HR system in place. Conversely, 70% of performers have experienced workplace abuse, and only 6% had access to a resource for safely reporting their experience. Read our full Industry Report to understand the extent of the realities theatre professionals are facing today.
Read our 2020-2021 Industry Report
Interested in learning more about our research and seeing how our team can support you?
Who we are
Caylin is CEO and Co-Founder of Theatre Advocacy Project. Caylin began her professional career as a working artist. After a first hand experience, she was driven to help create a structure that would mutually benefit both performers and theatres. Caylin is currently working on an MA in Performing Arts Administration at NYU. In addition to her performance background, she has experience in marketing, development, and education.
Colette is Co-Founder of Theatre Advocacy Project. She has over a decade of experience working in administration for several of the country’s foremost theatres. She is also an educator for a leading collegiate theatre program and an independent diversity and inclusion consultant. Colette holds her Masters of Education in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University -
New York.
Who we are
Driven by her experience of sexual harassment and workplace abuse while working as an actor, Caylin launched a research project with the help of co-founder Jillian Weimer, interviewing 81 artists and 130 industry leaders of regional theatres across the country. Her presentation of this work, titled “Creating Accountability in American Theatre,” was selected winner of the NYU Steinhardt 9th Annual Research & Scholarship Showcase, and earned her the title of Distinguished Graduate for outstanding contributions to the field of the arts from NYU Steinhardt's Performing Arts Administration MA program, from which she is a recent graduate. Caylin was a recent panelist at the NYU Entrepreneurial Festival event “Women Entrepreneurs Responding to Pressing Needs” and was selected as a Mark & Debra Leslie Fellows grant awardee through the NYU Female Founders Fellowship program. Outside of the arts, Caylin works in early childhood education, focusing on social-emotional growth and community building.
Colette is Chief Learning Officer and Co-Founder of Theatre Advocacy Project. She has over a decade of experience working in administration for several of the country’s foremost theatres. She is also an educator for a leading collegiate theatre program and an independent diversity and inclusion consultant. Colette holds her Masters of Education in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University -
New York.
Jillian is Chief Operations Officer and Co-Founder of Theatre Advocacy Project. Her background is in theatre arts and production as well as working in operations for numerous startup organizations. She has worked professionally as an actor in Chicago, NYC, and various cities in Michigan. She previously worked as an assistant director and coordinating producer at WTTW-PBS and Second City in Chicago. Production credits include: Date Me (Second City), Nature Cat (PBS), and Soundstage (PBS). She also works as an assistant director for multi-cam live production shoots in NYC. Jillian also is the Director of Operations of a retreat center in the Hudson Valley.