In February of 2021, Equity Quotient conducted a company-wide anonymous assessment regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Participation
The survey was sent to 303 individuals, including the Portland Opera Board of Directors, the staff and administration of Portland Opera, 20/21 Portland Opera Resident Artists, the Portland Opera Chorus, Orchestra, and stagehands.
The responses resulted in a 95% confidence level with an 8% margin of error overall. As we segment populations of responses, we report that:
63% of the Board of Directors participated
85% of the Portland Opera staff and administration participated
21% of Portland Opera Chorus, Orchestra, and stagehands participated
Confidence & Acknowledgements
Despite some segments’ low participation, we feel confident in putting forward our understanding of key findings. This assessment was intended to gather depth of information in a qualitative manner; and will be a starting part for pulse surveys and ongoing assessments in order to chart progress over time.
The administration wishes to acknowledge that orchestra, chorus, and stagehands were invited to complete the assessment on a voluntary basis, during a work closure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, we wish to acknowledge voices missing from the administrative/staff responses due to COVID-19 furloughs and layoffs. We recognize the timing for this was not ideal, but did want to shelf the process for a more opportune time.
The committee also wishes to acknowledge that because of segmented participation levels, the key findings of this survey are skewed towards the feelings, responses, and data collected by participating members of staff, administration, and the Board of Directors.
We are grateful to everyone who shared their feedback.
Key Findings
The results of our company-wide assessment are five key findings that are centered in the strength of our ensemble and teaming, power dynamics, inclusive decision-making, and empowerment. We also learned that different segments require nuanced paths forward in order for us to achieve our intended transformations.
Since our initial understanding of the key findings, we've pivoted to work in smaller departmental and leadership teams to address policies and practices that impact power, communication, decision-making, and workflows. We continue this work.