When you want to work effectively with your board, work on your staffing structure, be present for your family, and ALSO have time for standup paddleboard yoga – you need to really reflect on your priorities. My guest today really did all the work – she got an executive coach and put her life in order leading up to March 2020 when she thought she had it all down pat. Then a global pandemic shut down her entire industry. She needed resilience.
In today’s episode, Nina Meehan, CEO and Founder of Bay Area Children’s Theatre, explains how she found herself with no revenue and no live theatre. But she took the inability to do the usual things, her experience as a mother, and her newly renovated relationship with her board, to create an entirely new model. And it worked so well during the pandemic that it will stay with her institution and with a conglomerate of 41 theatres across the country (who produced A Kid’s Show About Racism) for the long haul. That’s resilience.
This episode is about the opportunity to stop, reflect, and re-emerge stronger and better even in the darkest of times. The principle — always focus on your big rocks!
About Nina:
Nina Meehan inspires the broader community as a skilled theatre producer, award-winning director, and dedicated arts educator, with expertise in youth development.
Nina’s award-winning theatrical work for young people as CEO and Founder of Bay Area Children’s Theatre has reached more than 1 million kids and adults and has toured nationally and internationally. As president of the board of directors of TYA/USA, the national organization of theatres for young audiences, she actively engages in outreach and advocacy on behalf of the profession and the issues it embraces..
Nina speaks and writes frequently about creativity, nonprofit management, and theatre for young audiences (TYA).
Links
- Toni’s kitchen
- A Kid’s Show About Racism
- Bay Area Children’s Theatre
- Why a good ED needs a coach
- Obstacles to a diverse board
- Nonprofit Management 101
- Joan Garry’s Guide to Nonprofit Leadership – 2nd Edition by Joan Garry
- Free Webinar: The 5 Practices of Outstanding Nonprofit Leaders
- Your Nonprofit Life Podcast
- Joan Garry’s Instagram
- Explore the Nonprofit Leadership Lab
- Music by Jukebox the Ghost
- Voiceover Work by Cindy Cap Solutions