Autism Community Theatre Inc
A great place to make friends!
Mission
Autism Community Theatre is a creative and accepting community where young people of diverse abilities can form friendships, work on communication and social skills and extend their thinking about the world through theatre activities.
Ruling year
2017
Principal Officer
Gina DeMetruis
Main address
POB 256
NEW YORK, NY 10026 USA
EIN
81-4420303
NTEE code
Theater (A65)
Autism (G84)
Performing Arts (A60)
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.
Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Autism spectrum disorder is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder that affects one in 68 children. The core characteristics of autism include deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, communication, understanding relationships and sharing imaginative play. Theatre has been described by playwright Thornton Wilder as, “. . . the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being." Autism Community Theatre offers teens and young adults with autism an authentic theatre workshop experience. The workshop is carefully designed to explore and strengthen reciprocal communication, joint attention, partner work, imagination, theory of mind, listening, and following directions – all while making friends and building a community.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
ACT Workshop - Saturday Programs
Our ACT Workshop Saturday program offers a genuine theater experience to teens and young adults on the spectrum who are both good at imitation and "working on it," verbal and non-verbal. The underlying goal is to create an ensemble through carefully selected traditional and innovative theatre activities including: theatre games, improvisation, song, dance, playmaking and a separate 6-session playwriting group.
Each workshop begins with circle games, song and movement. The players then participate in theatre games, improvisation, character and scene study and break out for more focused work.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of students participating in private lessons
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
ACT Workshop - Saturday Programs
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The private lessons refer to the 1:1 support our participants with autism receive during our Saturday workshop programs as well as the 1:1 playwriting programs.
Number of teachers retained after 12 months
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
ACT Workshop - Saturday Programs
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our Teachers refer to volunteer and paid teaching artists who have been with Autism Community Theatre since 2017.
Goals & Strategy
Learn 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?
ACT Workshop offers a genuine theater experience to young people on the spectrum who are both good at imitation and "working on it," verbal and non-verbal. The underlying goal is to create an ensemble through carefully selected traditional and innovative theatre activities including: theatre games, improvisation, song, dance, playmaking and a separate 6-session playwriting group.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The first underlying goal is to support individual growth through clear routines, the use of modeling, shaping behaviors, graduated guidance, a high ratio of supporting players/teaching artists to actors and, of course, lots of specific positive reinforcement.
The second goal is to create an ensemble feeling where actors support each other regardless of levels of skills.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Autism Community Theatre has been offering free workshops since 2016. Each year culminates with a performance share and dance party at the Bernie Wohl Theatre.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Autism Community Theatre held its first workshop in October 2016 with only 2 actors. We have continued to build an ensemble and most actors continue from year to year. The workshop has grown to include a playwriting component and has collaborated with outside youth theatre groups including IMPACT Repertory Theatre.
We seek to continue to partner with other community arts organizations, to expand our reach by adding additional workshops and to invite guest teaching artists for special workshops including puppetry, movement, mime and songwriting.
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
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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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Autism Community Theatre Inc
Board of directorsas of 2/25/2021
Gina DeMetruis
Annette Herfkens
Writer
Term: 2017 -
Diana Barros
NYC Principal, Retired
Pam DeMetruis
Sound Editor
Karen Doherty
NYC Teacher
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? Not applicable -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
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? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/30/2019Policies and practices developed in partnership with Equity in the Center, a project that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems within the social sector to increase racial equity. Learn more
- 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 use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
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