CAREER ACCELERATOR
Overview
The New Jersey Theatre Alliance Career Accelerator Program is a 6-month program that includes three 8-week 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 2024 and ends June 2024. Fellows are expected to complete the full 6-month commitment.
Accepted fellows (up to three each year) will rotate through three 8-week placements. One placement will be with New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and two will be with member theatres.
During each 8-week placement, the Career Accelerator Fellow will work 16 hours per week for a pay rate of $16/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 FY24’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 30, 2023.
Applications are due October 2, 2023.
Finalist interviews will take place in November 2023.
Selected fellows will be notified in early December 2023.
Each fellow will complete three placements in two-month stretches:
- January/February 2024
- March/April 2024
- May/June 2024
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Questions:
The application form is through SurveyMonkey. 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 & an anonymous donor.
Testimonials
“The career accelerator program puts an emphasis on guiding theatermakers of color on their journey to become a professional in the theater industry. This program helped me gain real-life experience and make meaningful connections. Learning about arts administration in a real setting helped me grow my skills in arts management, production, and direction. The skills that I’ve gained will continue to benefit my future endeavors.”
— Dez Wesley, FY23 Fellow
“I think one of the highlights for me was connecting not only with one emerging artist, but with her own network of friends. One of the artists that Amoria introduced to Luna is working with us as an Assistant Director on our coming season. So the impact of the program was not only during the 8 weeks that Amoria was in residence, but has continued to ripple out into our collaborations next season.”
— Ari Laura Kreith, Artistic Director at Luna Stage