Rosalind Barbour testifies on Public Theater's use of CreateNYC research

Good afternoon, Deputy Speaker Dr.

Williams, Council Members and Staff.

I'm Rosalind Barber.

I'm the Administrative Chief of Staff at the Public Theater.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify.

Every year, the public serves over 100,000 New Yorkers with free programming, including Shakespeare in the Park, our mobile unit performances in the five boroughs, and free classes for seniors, youth, immigrants, and more.

Create NYC has helped us do that work with greater focus because a clear plan makes us a more effective partner with the city.

Here are a few examples of what that looks like.

In the Create NYC plan, it called for supporting the cultural life of low-income communities and derived research from the CAP study to help identify those communities.

We used that same research, having read the cultural plan, to help us identify where we would take our mobile unit performances.

So it really helped galvanize that idea, picking up from the research that already existed to allow us to focus our efforts in a way that made sense in the context of the cultural plan.

So with that, we've renewed our focus in going to places like Brownsville Rec, St.

Mary's Park, Roy Wilkins Park, Faber Fieldhouse, and many other locations across the city, all of the performances being free with no RSVP required.

It's also why we partner with libraries and in all five boroughs to distribute our free Shakespeare in the Park tickets.

Second, the Create NYC plan required a

board adopted EDI or DEI plan.

And while the public was already in the process of creating that and had a committee, this again was a really galvanizing force that helped us when we were having conversations with our board explain the necessity to have these plans.

And since then, we've revised our plan to center anti-racism.

We still have work to do, but having this plan has made us better, and it's also sort of ensured that we're having this conversation with our board and with our staff in a really thoughtful way.

What makes this work is clarity.

When the city states its expectations clearly, we know what we're accountable for, and we can hold the city accountable as well.

That shared accountability creates dialogue and shared purpose, and it improves our work.

So we hope that there will be a revitalized and intentional, I feel like that was a word that previous folks used, commitment to this plan, where we can all join together and be a force amplifier in this important work.

Thank you.