Autism Community Theatre Inc

A great place to make friends!

aka ACT Workshop   |   NEW YORK, NY   |  www.actworkshop.org

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 info

2017

Principal Officer

Gina DeMetruis

Main address

POB 256

NEW YORK, NY 10026 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

81-4420303

NTEE code info

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

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

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

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

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.

Population(s) Served
Adolescents
Young adults

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

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

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

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.

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.

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.

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

Autism Community Theatre Inc
lock

Unlock financial insights by subscribing to our monthly plan.

Subscribe

Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more about GuideStar Pro.

Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build 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

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build 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

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Autism Community Theatre Inc

Board of directors
as of 2/25/2021
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board co-chair

Gina DeMetruis


Board co-chair

Annette Herfkens

Writer

Term: 2017 -

Diana Barros

NYC Principal, Retired

Pam DeMetruis

Sound Editor

Karen Doherty

NYC Teacher

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • 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

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 11/08/2020

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
Multi-Racial/Multi-Ethnic (2+ races/ethnicities)
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 09/30/2019

GuideStar 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

Data
  • 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.
Policies and processes
  • 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.