Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Participation in theatre can truly change a life - it gives the participant a voice, a place to tell their own story, and the confidence to share their life. Not everyone is given access to theatre education - it\u0027s often regulated to schools that can afford it, families who can spend the money, and ages that seem \u0022dramatic.\u0022 At ETC, we bring high-quality theatre education to EVERYONE no matter where they are, what age they are, or what they can afford. Our programming is for ages 3-103, meeting our students where they live, learn, and grow.\nOur most recent strategic plan focuses ETC\u0027s work on racial equity and strengthening diversity and inclusion, because we know that the arts are for everyone.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Devising Hope
ETC partners men and women who have or are experiencing homelessness, and teenagers in theatre workshops. Participants engage in theatre devising exercises and exchange personal reflections about their lives. The adults and teens then create scenes and monologues from those exercise and conversations that culminate in two public performances of staged readings.
ETC Camps
Half-Day to three week offerings for ages 3 - 18. Skills taught at camp include acting, script writing, directing, choreography, improvisation, sketch comedy, cinematography, vocal techniques, all incorporating fun themes.
ETC Beginnings (ETCB)
These engaging theatre classes for preschoolers grow motor skills, sensory, intellectual and social development through games, movement, storytelling and more
ETC After School
This extracurricular drama program offered through area public schools and community centers provides arts education enrichment for students of all ages. Past offerings include Creative Play, Improv, Shakespeare, Film Production and more.
ETC STEAM
Students discover how the world works by combining theatre with science and math. By improvising, collaborating, and acting, students take science theories off the page and into their bodies.
ETC ESOL
Working with students for whom English is not a first language, this program builds K-5 language arts objectives through the exploration of theatre arts. ETC ESOL students build vocabulary, and improve reading proficiency and public speaking skills while having fun!
Main Stage
Students shine in their own page-to-stage production. Participants begin with timeless tales and develop original musical production OR begin with standards of learning to create a straight play, each with the guidance of professional theater artists. This program culminates in two community performances.
ETC Shakespeare in the Schools (SIS)
Through performance, workshops and residencies, this outreach program makes Shakespeare and other classical works accessible to Washington area metropolitan area students. Through highly physical staging, neutral costuming, and workshops that bridge classical text to modern meaning, students make direct connections to the universal themes of Shakespeare’s works.
ETC Creative Age
Dedicated to life-long learning, ETC partners with low income senior centers, and assisted living communities to provide engaging arts programming for senior citizens. Through academic lecture, readings, storytelling and more, participants explore material and share stories about their lives connected to the themes of the plays.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of donors lending
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This is the number of households donating to ETC within a calendar year.
Number of donor-advised funds
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Individual donors often choose to give larger amounts to ETC via their own donor-advised funds
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
This is the total number of participants, ages 3-103 directly involved in ETC programming each year as participants
Total number of performances
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This is the total list of free-to-the-public performances and sharings presented by ETC each year; in 2021 we were not back to in-person performances - many 2020 and 2021 performances are online
Total number of audience members
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This demonstrates ETC's audience with a count of the total number of audience members for all performances and sharings throughout the year including viewing totals for online performances
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
As ETC faces the continued pandemic in 2021, we are continuing to find new ways to reach all members of our community, by diversifying our programming to include both virtual and in-person learning, working directly with partner organizations to breakdown technology barriers for our participants, and continuing to adapt our lessons to meet the needs of all learners. The ETC community is vast, covering ages and locations beyond other similar organizations. Our goal is to reach more students ages 3-103 where they are - by increasing our offerings at more schools, more community centers, more senior living homes, and continuing our virtual programming even as we begin to meet in-person again. By focusing our administrative work for the limited number of staff we have, ETC aims to diversify our funding, bring in increased donations, and in turn re-expand our dedicated staff of teaching artists to pre-pandemic employment levels.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
In 2020, ETC made the aggressive decision to pivot to online learning almost immediately during the COVID-19 shutdown, offering free online ETC-on-Film discussions by the end of March 2020. The experiences of changing our programming during the pandemic have shown that our reach can increase by working with students both in-person and online. As things begin to return to \u0022normal,\u0022 we recognize that not all of our students will have the interest or ability to meet with us in-person. ETC plans to continue to offer virtual programming even as we return to in-person programming as well, continuing in our commitment to eliminate the transportation barrier to high-quality theatre education.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
At the beginning of 2021, ETC\u0027s Board of Directors is working at capacity with a group of active and engaged community members providing time, money, communication, and leadership for the company as a whole. Movement within the board has been made to increase our goal number of board members, opening up more positions for members of our community to better diversify our leadership. ETC\u0027s Executive Director and our Board Governance Committee are working with outside partners to identify and recruit a broader group of board members moving forward. By listening to new voices, and with the ongoing support of our senior staff, ETC is prepared to follow the extreme work we did in 2020 to continue to connect with our community in a variety of ways moving forward.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
What began as a small company offering in-school Shakespeare programming, has spent the years growing into a year-round theatre education organization. Each summer, we offer upwards of 30 summer camps for ages 3-18 while providing work for 40-50 artists in the community, including teenage interns and counselors who gain both work experience and gainful employment. Throughout the school year, ETC is in schools throughout the National Capital Area providing after school classes and in-school programming. Our partnership with McKinley Elementary in Arlington was identified three years ago as the longest running arts partnership in Arlington Public Schools\u0027 history, and it continues to this day. Our STEAM (Science-Technology-Engineering-ARTS-Math) programming has grown beyond after school classes to include in-school partnerships designed to reach learners of all styles using theatre to teach core subjects often overlooked by other arts programming. Throughout it all, ETC has remained committed to supporting teaching artists in the area, providing work, support, and education to our staff whether a one-week employee or a core staff member with us for years.\nIn March of 2020, ETC pivoted nearly immediately to online programming, offering our first free ETC-on-Film online discussion by the end of the month. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have successfully moved all of our programming online - 28 summer camps, our Main Stage Residency program, Shakespeare-in-the-Schools, STEAM classes, after school classes, ETC-on-Film, and Creative Age - while adding a new weekly class for adults. The time working from home has opened up the ability for our senior staff to better address the diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility needs of the company, working directly with the Board to create a new three-year strategic plan with DEIA at the center. We continue to seek partners in this work, knowing that our own education and work is ongoing and will continue indefinitely.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
We collect feedback from partner organization representatives (teachers, school administrators, site coordinators) and from the families and participants that we serve.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
We have found additional funding for two programs to provide participants with food or with more nutritional options for food. In one case, we were already providing food for elementary students to participate in their performance at dinner time so that they could stay with us at school. Each time, the students would ask to bring home for food their families who don't have enough to eat and we found that our funding mostly covered pizza. We have found additional funding to provide more food (so leftovers can be brought home) and more nutritous options, including vegetables and fruits. At another location, the adults being asked to participate and share their stories are joining us around dinner time. We are providing food and childcare as needed thanks to additional funding.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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EDUCATIONAL THEATRE COMPANY
Board of directorsas of 01/20/2023
Brian Smith
Katie Robbins
Darla Gonson
Claire Ruggiero
Tara Claeys
Katie Greer
Sarah Egge
Stacey Schwartz
Robert Fischer
Samantha Foti
Tonya Murphy
Elena Velasco
Catherine Jordan
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/20/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.