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About us
GOALS
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Create an Accountability Agreement outlining safe work practices in Portland Theatre
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Establish a system for unbiased reporting of oppressive activity
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Make documentation of experiences and resolutions available for public use
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Create transparency of past experiences
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Provide learning and growth opportunities for organizations and individuals
COMPONENTS
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Accountability Agreement
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Organizations have read and agreed to the agreement and have the board, leadership, staff, and volunteers sign. This is the “opt-in” for the reporting process to be listed on the website.
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Reporting
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Incident information is collected from the website and other communications (reports can be anonymous).
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The accused organization/individual is contacted with the report information and asked if the details can be disclosed on the website.
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If contact information from the person making the report is received, they will be asked how they would like to proceed.
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Accountability Collective will reach out again in 2 weeks to see if any action has been taken. Follow ups will be scheduled to update the website of resolution and actionable items shared. Information can be catalogued on website for future reference if both parties consent.
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Resources
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If the organization or individual is having trouble finding actionable items or ways of resolution, resources can be obtained on this website: equity and racial justice educators, cultural consultants, community connections, policy analysis, etc.
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Conference/Town Hall
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The Accountability Collective hosts a public quarterly town hall meeting where individuals can share their experiences and organizations may ask questions (open to everyone).
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This is a dialogue, not a debate. This will be a moment of reflection and communication. This is when we come together to find ways to resolve.
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If both parties involved in the incident consent, the incident will be shared, as well as any steps that have been taken to resolve it.
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Equity workshops and classes to support continued learning.
MEET THE COLLECTIVE
SAMSON SYHARATH
Samson is an actor, director, and writer focusing on visibility of Asian-American artists and underserved communities. After receiving a B.A. from the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, Samson trained at the Portland Actors Conservatory. He was part of the Theatre Communications Group's Rising Leaders of Color Cohort in 2017 featured by American Theatre Magazine and was the recipient of the Portland Civic Theatre Guild’s Leslie O. Fulton Fellowship that same year. He is the Managing Artistic Director of Theatre Diaspora and helped found the PDX Accountability Collective. He is also the chair of the EDI Committee of the Portland Area Theatre Alliance. More information about Samson can be found at www.gettinglaod.com.
sasha Belle neufeld
Sasha Belle Neufeld is theatre artist and nonprofit administrator. She was born and raised in the county Dade (Miami). She made her way to Portland for an unpaid apprenticeship after getting her BA in Theatre from Indiana University and graduating from New World School of the Arts. Her Pisces Sun is always guiding her towards work revolving around Social Justice and Accountability which is what led her to the Accountability Collective. She recently received her certification in Human Resources Management and started working for an equity focused non-arts nonprofit. NFAA 2011 YoungArts Musical Theatre Award Winner
Kristen Mun
Kristen was born and raised on the island of Oahu and has worked as a fight choreographer, stage manager, and teacher in the Portland theater community for the past eight years. She graduated with a B.F.A. from Southern Oregon University and has worked professionally with Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, Third Rail Repertory Theatre, Profile Theatre, Defunkt Theatre, and many more. She has been recognized for her fight choreography four times by the Portland Drammy's and is a proud AEA stage manager. Kristen is currently working with Racial Justice from the HEART towards certification to be a racial justice facilitator.
james r. dixon
James is a Portland-based director, actor, playwright, and equity facilitator. James most recently served as the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Chair for the Portland Area Theatre Alliance (PATA) Board of Directors. James has also served on the Post5 Theatre Board of Directors and as a company member for Theatre Vertigo. There is a wealth of self-empowerment, wisdom, and fulfillment in telling our own stories. So James now focuses on creating through an equity lens in an effort to bring communities closer to the stories that display the beauty of the human condition. His favorite directing credits include Bootycandy with Fuse Theatre, The Mysterious Affair At Styles with Linestorm Playwrights, Gender-fication with 360 Labs, and as a Cultural Advisor for Hair with Staged. He is a current Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC) Society. James is also an Fuse Theatre Ensemble Member and focuses on Black queer theatre and facilitating the artistic needs of the LGBTQ2IA+ community. www.jamesrdixon.com
michael cavazos
Michael is a theatre maker. He received his BFA in Theatre from Emerson College and his MA in Media Studies from The New School. Michael is the author of the play Gritos y Chismesitos and co-author of Chic and Sassy and Chic and Sassy: The Higher the Hair, the Closer to God. He is a founding member of the all-drag sketch comedy troupe Gender Offenders, performing under the name of Chic Ana. Their work is featured in the documentary, History in the Making: A Grassroots Fight for Marriage Equality and in the book, The People's Victory (2017). He performed on many New York stages, including The Duplex Cabaret, Nuyorican Poets Café, D-Lounge at the Daryl Roth Theatre, Beechman Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, La Mama, The Culture Project, and PS 122. He recently assistant directed Sweat by Lynn Nottage at Profile Theatre. He directed and performed in Joaquin Lopez’s theatrical concert, Universo, and directed the show Voz Alta: Generaciones. At Milagro Theatre, he performed in their production of The Mermaid Hour and stage managed A Xmas Cuento Remix and The Corrido of the San Patricios. He has also stage-managed shows including Imago’s productions of La Belle, Savage/Love, and Medea; Crave Theatre’s productions of Crossing and Red; PSU Opera’s The Breasts of Tiresias; Hand2Mouth Theatre’s Dream|Logic and Object Karaoke; and ART’s Resident Artist Project’s production of The Fantasticks. Michael is currently co-directing the new musical Bad World with Crave Theatre; he is also a part of a cross-cultural collaboration between local PDX artists and Egyptian artists to create a new work exploring the meaning of home to premiere in Cairo in 2021. www.michaelandthecity.com
LOGAN m. RIDENOUR-STARNES
Logan is an artist, theater-maker, and knowledge sharer. Their work focuses on the welfare of community; working from the idea that artistic expressions are inherent to our collective existence, survival, and future. Much of their previous work has centered around deconstructing dominant narratives in order to “re-story” marginalized histories. For Logan, “re-storying” histories is an act of resistance, healing, and continued cultural memory. Since 2014, they have facilitated workshops surrounding queer, trans/gender expansive, disability, and indigenous justice. In recent years they’ve worked as the 2017-2019 dramaturgical and literary management intern at Artists Repertory Theatre and as assistant director on 1984. Last Winter they worked as assistant to the director on Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Portland Center Stage as well working as a production assistant on And So We Walked in 2018. They are currently part of the 2020-2021 cohort for the Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble’s Institute for Contemporary Performance. For the past two and a half years they have been working on an M.F.A., directing Andromeda Breaks and Wolves Eat Elk at the University of Portland. They are set to finish in Spring 2021 with a process thesis focusing on the social and cultural importance of art as a grassroots, direct-action tool and a digitally produced iteration of The Public.
tyharra cozier
Originally, from Coral Springs, FL, Tyharra received her Bachelor of Arts, Theatre, from Florida State University. Passionate for the craft, she moved to Portland, OR and completed a two-year conservatory program at Portland Actors Conservatory. In 2017, Tyharra co-founded Syde-Ide Collaborations, a company whose mission is to “illuminate the marginalized lens.” They produced their first show, The Clark Doll, in 2018. Tyharra has had the opportunity to work with a number of projects in the Portland area, most notably The New Black Fest’s Hands Up!: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testimonies (August Wilson Red Door Project). In 2017, Tyharra began working with students in the Portland community through the August Wilson Monologue Competition as a Student Liaison and Teaching Artist.
AMAYA SANTAMARiA
Amaya is an arts and education administrator and advocate. She graduated in 2015 with a B.A. in public relations and advertising and a B.A. in theatre studies. While she loves performing she has found her niche as an arts administrator where she gets to marry her love of theatre and project management. She has worked as community engagement coordinator at Broadway Rose Theatre Company since 2017 where she manages and develops the education and outreach programs and works to expand and improve institutional equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts.
