The Story Of Y.E.S. - “The Beginnings of Y.E.S.: Elm Shakespeare’s New Youth Advisory Council”

Welcome to one of the first articles published by the Youth of Elm Shakespeare Advisory Council, also known as Y.E.S.. As we have recently embarked on the endeavor of building a Youth Advisory Council, we feel it is important to share the story of our creation–our “origin story,” if you will. By doing this, we intend to give insight into the inner workings of Y.E.S. so you may be inspired to create your own Youth Advisory Council or simply amplify the youth voices surrounding you!

The Timeline

The idea of creating a Youth Advisory Council at Elm Shakespeare Company had often been casually batted around between Rebecca Goodheart (she/her), Elm Shakespeare Company’s Producing Artistic Director, and Ariel Mayer (she/they), Founder and Director of Y.E.S.. However, action was officially initiated in February 2020, when former Elm Shakespeare Board of Directors members, Kerri Kershall-Ward and Evonne Duzant, formally proposed the creation of a Youth Advisory Council. As Elm Shakespeare serves youth in a multitude of ways– including Elm In Residence, Players Camp, Teen Camp, and Teen Troupe– they wanted this young demographic to have input in the company’s operation. Around the same time that the Board of Directors began their conversation about making space for a Youth Advisory Council, Mayer reached out to Goodheart with a proposal to create a youth-founded and directed Advisory Council for Elm Shakespeare. Mayer’s proposal described the mutually beneficial opportunities both Elm and today’s youth would receive from a Youth Advisory Council. Moreover, she provided a basic outline as to how the council could operate. It was nothing less than divine timing for multiple people to have had the same idea for an Elm Shakespeare Youth Advisory Council, and it was even more magnificent that every individual was passionate about pursuing the idea!

When Covid shut down normal theater operations in March 2020, it provided Goodheart and Mayer the opportunity to further develop their ideas for the Youth Advisory Council. With the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, the two made it their mission to incorporate social justice as a core, founding value of the Youth Council. Mayer used her previous experience from serving on both the Harvard Graduate School of Education “Making Caring Common” Youth Advisory Board (2018-19) and Long Wharf Theater’s Youth Advisory Committee (2019-20) to help inform the creation of a Youth Advisory Council. She aimed for this council to be made for and by the youth of today who are the artists of tomorrow. Mayer also pulled from her knowledge of Elm Shakespeare, as she had performed in six shows with Elm’s Teen Troupe. Guided by Elm Shakespeare’s mission, vision, and values, and the goal to empower the next generation of artists, Mayer was passionate to work with Goodheart to create a safe environment for today’s creative youth to learn about the inner workings of a non-profit theater. Furthermore, this council would allow the next generation to share their ideas on how to make the theater industry, and Shakespeare’s work, more accessible and equitable to a diverse array of people.

To achieve the goal of creating a mutually beneficial Youth Advisory Council, Goodheart and Mayer wanted the Youth Advisory Council and Board of Directors to collaborate. The Youth Advisory Council would help Elm by partnering with the Board of Directors to “incorporate the needs, desires, and perspectives” of both Elm students and the Greater New Haven community (Y.E.S.). In return, Elm Shakespeare would offer the members of the Youth Advisory Council the opportunity to learn about, and get hands-on experience with the “behind the scenes” or inner workings of a non-profit theater company. One important facet of the council would be creating a space for today’s youth to uphold “Anti-Racist, Anti-Bias, and Anti-Oppressive standards and philosophies” in the Shakespeare community (Y.E.S.). This idea was inspired by the national social justice movements, and the need for actionable steps towards a more accessible, equitable, and diverse future in the theater industry. Furthermore, Elm Shakespeare Company is deeply invested in exploring, and diligently working on improving, their accessibility and equitability as a company. Moreover, the Youth Advisory Council would be a place for young artists who had advanced through theatrical training such as Teen Troupe and were interested in learning about the “behind the scenes” of not-for-profit theatre. Through Y.E.S., these artists had a space to obtain leadership experience, and practice communication, collaboration, reliability, and self-motivation– skills that are valuable in many disciplines.

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In July, Goodheart and Mayer got back on the phone to focus their ideas for the Youth Advisory Council. The two shared their goals for the council, the complications it might entail, and began to answer the big question of “how can we do it?” This conversation led to a document detailing the different opportunities for and responsibilities of the Youth Council. In the coming months, the document went through six renditions as the Youth Advisory Council evolved into a tangible image.

In August, after a myriad of proposals and discussions between Goodheart and Mayer, it was time to add a third collaborator: Y.E.S.’s Co-Founder, Juwan Lee (he/him). Mayer and Lee had previously worked together on Long Wharf Theater’s Youth Advisory Committee, and Mayer thought Lee would be a great partner as she knew him to be “extremely thoughtful, kind, and caring.” She trusted his leadership, and felt they would balance each other out, which is why she called Lee to offer him the position of Co-Founder. Lee remembers how it was “a ‘jump right in’ situation;” he was finishing a job in Hartford when Mayer called and asked if he was interested in “helping her conduct a vision that she had.” Of course, Lee said yes!

After Lee joined, he and Mayer met twice a week over the phone to work together. However, due to their conflicting schedules, Mayer said their process was like “a tennis game.” The two worked asynchronously with Mayer writing drafts and then sending them to Lee for edits. Their work focused on formulating the council’s mission statement and the general structure of the council, which included Y.E.S.’s duties, opportunities, and logistics. Once the partnership felt satisfied with their rendition, they met with Goodheart who offered revisions and encouragement. Goodheart’s commitment to presenting Mayer and Lee’s hard work to the Board of Directors helped make today’s Youth Advisory Council possible.

In October, when Mayer, Lee, and Goodheart were all pleased with the structure and mission of the Youth Advisory Council, Mayer and Lee started creating the application. The two based their application on questions from forms for summer programs, school, and youth boards they had once applied to. Mayer and Lee also referred back to the qualities they, and the other youth advisors Mayer spoke to, wanted to see embodied in a Youth Advisory Council. The application was then advertised on the Elm Shakespeare Instagram (@elmshakespeare), Mayer’s and Lee’s personal social media accounts, through an email blast, and good old-fashioned word of mouth.

Preparing to Pitch

After the duo’s intense planning process, they needed to pitch their idea and plan to the Board of Directors. However, the proposal for the Youth Advisory Council looked a little different than what proposals to the Board of Directors typically looked like due to social distancing. First, Mayer and Lee emailed the mission statement and logistics of the Council to Goodheart who then shared it with the Board of Directors. The duo then, over Zoom, presented what the Youth Advisory Council would be: its responsibilities, events, structure, and benefits for Elm Shakespeare Company. Mayer and Lee made sure to highlight that the Youth Council would be self-sufficient and entirely student-run. Lee confessed that before presenting, he and Mayer “were very nervous,” but the Board was welcoming and cautiously open to their idea. After presenting their proposal and answering the Boards’ questions, the two excused themselves from the meeting so the Board could vote on their proposal. Thankfully, about an hour after they left, Goodheart reached out to Mayer and Lee notifying them that the Youth Advisory Council was approved! The very next day, Mayer and Lee sent out the acceptance letters to the new founding members of Elm Shakespeare’s Youth Advisory Council. Less than two weeks later, the team met for the first time and leaped into the next chapter of their journey.

This is only the first part of Y.E.S. story– to be notified when the next article comes out, sign up for Y.E.S. Article Notifications!

A Taste of The Next The Story of Y.E.S. Article

After Elm Shakespeare’s Youth Advisory Council was approved by the Board of Directors in October, the new founding council members started to meet right away! To begin our work, we needed to create a foundation for successful collaboration…