Strategic Planning for Artists and Activists Workshop

This workshop is an opportunity for you to take active control over your own career, worklife path, next steps and overall personal-professional goals and include an anti-racist lens. It will take place on November 1st, 2020 3-6pm EDT

In this workshop, you will be using concepts of mission, vision, values, SWOT analysis, and strategic planning applied to your own artistic and/or activist paths. As an artist, arts manager, arts worker, activist, entrepreneur and/or beyond you will be offered various strategies for "professional” and personal development to create your own strategic plan for yourself or your next big project. You will leave this workshop with a personalized plan to take forth into your life journey. This will be a decolonized and liberated space.

Participant Feedback:
"This session has helped me hone in on my mission and goals and giving myself solid deadlines for achieving each goal. I'm so grateful to have worked through this in the environment I did and with the people surrounding me who have similar values. What a great place to share my project while also digging deep into how to move forward with it."

"This is a few weeks in now, so I've already taken several steps because I was so motivated from the workshop. I immediately started creating my own blueprint with tasks to achieve specific goals for my career and sideline career. I attended a workshop at the Actors Fund, I applied for a free training program with the NYC Parks dept. I reached out to colleagues to begin a mastermind group and set up an accountability partner. I called mentors and a coach to ask for advice in their areas of expertise. I finally started working on my vision boards."

"The specificity of the exercises allowed me to quickly, deeply access areas I needed to focus on and consider. I was able to identify areas where I was stuck, areas where I'm weak and areas of strength. I came out of it with a blueprint for actionable steps. It was the catalyst I needed!"

"The structured format with tight scheduling is ideal for me. As an artist, I lack structured work time. This reminded me of participating in a well managed corporate training session, but with an artistic lean. I love that we begin with boundaries as a part of the intros and set up the framework for inclusion and respecting others. I also love the supportive format of a group - sharing ideas, thoughts and experiences deepens my own participation and experience. I appreciate the specific handouts that I can use and continue to reference."

Facilitator bio:
Viviana Vargas, “Yura Sapi" (they/them), is an artist, activist, arts manager, educator, facilitator, and entrepreneur. After finishing two degrees in the performing arts and spending time in the “diversity and inclusion” field of the U.S. American Theatre, Viviana founded Advancing Arts Forward, a movement to advance equity, inclusion, and justice through the arts by creating liberated spaces that uplift, heal, and encourage us to explore our vast potential to change the world. Advancing Arts Forward hosts and consults for in person and online workshops, university classes, gatherings, discussions, and resource sharings across the country and worldwide. Viviana also runs Balistikal, a healing and arts space that centers LGBTQ+ community in Latin America. Yura Sapi actively considers their role in the fight for liberation beyond the U.S. borders thinking specifically about anti-racism, decolonization, and collective liberation. They are also a member of the Latinx Theatre Commons steering committee and are co-championing a 2023 summit on celebrating Blackness and combating colorism within the Latinx community. Viviana is currently developing restorative justice based processes to repair relations affected by racism and white supremacy with various arts & activist initiatives and collectives.