CAREER ACCELERATOR
Overview
The New Jersey Theatre Alliance Career Accelerator Program is a 6-month program that includes three 2-month placements; two with professional theatres and one with New Jersey Theatre Alliance to learn about theatre administration and management in real-world contexts.
In addition to learning in the field, fellows will participate in professional development seminars, mentoring meetings, and check-ins with the Theatre Alliance Staff.
Who can apply?
We welcome applications from people who meet the following criteria:
- Identify as an emerging theatre professional.
- Identify as a person of color. Applicants of color who also identify as Trans or non-binary, disabled, or deaf are highly encouraged to apply.
- Currently enrolled in college, graduated from college, or finished with high school but not enrolled in college. Adults who identify as emerging theatre professionals, such as those seeking a career change later in life are also eligible for this program. The program is not open to currently enrolled high school students.
- Based in New Jersey; special consideration may be made for individuals from New Jersey attending school out of state for remote participation, if agreeable to participating theatres.
- Interest in one or more areas of theatre administration such as: marketing, arts management, literary management/dramaturgy, artistic direction, casting, development/fundraising, community engagement, theatre education, program development, and accessibility.
- Ability to participate in virtual meetings and to travel to the theatre in person when necessary; fellows do not need to drive or own their own car, but are responsible for their own transportation.
Hours & Compensation
This is a 6-month program that starts January 2025 and ends June 2025. Fellows are expected to complete the full 6-month commitment.
Accepted fellows (up to three each year) will rotate through three 2-month placements. One placement will be with New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and two will be with member theatres.
During each 2-month placement, the Career Accelerator Fellow will work 16 hours per week for a pay rate of $17/hour, paid by New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Fellows will work with their host theatres to determine work hours during their placement. Weekly hours will be set with at least 2 weeks’ notice.
Fellows will also receive a $500 stipend toward travel expenses and an additional $500 stipend toward supporting life needs that allow them to participate in this program such as health care, child care, debt repayment, or tuition costs.
Fellows will participate in up to three professional development seminars, designed and conducted by staff of New Jersey Theatre Alliance, as a group. The time committed to these seminars will be considered part of the fellows’ 16 paid hours in a week.
Participating Theatres
Theatres must also apply to host a Career Accelerator Fellow. Chosen theatres will have demonstrated the following:
- Organizational capacity to host, supervise, and mentor a fellow.
- A track record of anti-racism and anti-oppression training for staff.
- A commitment to creating a learning experience with specific responsibilities, tasks, projects, and structure.
If you are a member theatre interested in hosting a Career Accelerator Fellow, please reach out to Manager of Programs and Services, Daria M. Sullivan and she will send you FY25’s theatre application link.
Application
Complete the Fellow application here
If you are interested in becoming a Career Accelerator Fellow and have any questions regarding the application process, please reach out to the Manager of Programs and Services, Daria M. Sullivan.
Timeline:
Applications open on August 28, 2024.
Applications are due September 30, 2024.
Finalist interviews will take place in October 2024.
Selected fellows will be notified in November 2024.
Each fellow will complete three placements in two-month stretches:
- January/February 2025
- March/April 2025
- May/June 2025
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Questions:
The application form is through Jotform. You will be asked for contact and demographic information, and to upload a resume. In addition, you will need to answer a few short answer questions:
- Why do you want to be part of the Career Accelerator Program? What are the top three things you hope to learn or experience from the program?
- What are your long-term goals in theatre? What are your long-term goals within the NJ theatre field?
- Which specific theatres in New Jersey would you like to be placed with and why? If you don’t know about specific theatres in New Jersey, what kind of theatres would you want to learn from? (For example, what kind of plays, work environment, geographic location, or size of theatre is interesting to you?). You can see information about all of our member theatres on our website under “Our Theatres.”
- What experiences in your life/career have most shaped you as an artist and/or leader?
The Career Accelerator Program is supported in part by the F.M. Kirby Foundation, The RSI Foundation, NJM Insurance Group, & an anonymous donor.
Career Accelerator Alumni
We are proud to highlight the fantastic alumni of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance Career Accelerator Fellowship Program. These emerging leaders in our field have each completed this rigorous six-month program, and are pursuing careers across the state in arts and culture.
View the Career Accelerator Alumni!
Testimonials
“The Career Accelerator program has really helped me grow as a dramaturg and arts administrator so far. It’s been wonderful to observe and be a part of the literary management team at Premiere Stages and to work closely with the artistic director at Vivid Stage, as well as to introduce myself to a broader network of non-profit theatre organizations through the Alliance. These first few months of the fellowship have pushed me out of my comfort zone while also reaffirming kindness as my driving force, and I am very grateful to have access to this experience!”
— Ronni Hom (She/They) (FY24 Fellow)
“The Career Accelerator Program has given me true agency over my experience to learn and grow toward my goals as a budding education administrator in theater. My application was carefully considered when choosing my placements and the projects I would be assisting with, and the program supervisors continually check-in with the fellows taking great care to listen, support, and advocate for us. These actions may seem small, but this attention to detail has given me more confidence to participate and take initiative within my placements being reassured that while these placements may be temporary, my time in the New Jersey theater sector is not. Thank you to all who have made this program possible.”
— Alisha Sheth (She/Her) (FY24 Fellow)