Working Groups

For transparency and to encourage non-board member engagement, PTO will be publishing reports on our working groups’ efforts on this page each month. Summaries of Working Groups (listed in alphabetical order), objectives, activities, and members are below followed by links to review monthly reports.  Working Group Objectives guide the work of each Working Group.  Activities list the intended work goals for each Working Group and these will be updated each year.  Working Groups Reports will be added soon! Feel free to reach out to us at info@ptoweb.org if you are interested in contributing to a Working Group.

Working Groups

    • Accountability
    • Communications 
    • Community Engagement 
    • Current Conference (2021)
    • Future Conferences (2022+)
    • Global Solidarity 
    • Journal
    • Resource Development (Fundraising)

Accountability Working Group

Objective: Develop guidelines for practicing transformative accountability within PTO, with our collaborators and at PTO events, and to support healing-centered, community-lead accountability practices globally.

Potential Activities

  • Develop communication and accountability guidelines for PTO events.
  • Create training guide for working group members in response methods to reports of harm and/or requests for mediation at PTO events.
  • Facilitate transformative accountability processes for those who cause harm to others at PTO events.
  • Provide technical assistance regarding community-lead accountability processes upon request.
  • Provide infographics and other educational materials regarding accountability theory, methods, and practices that are posted to the PTO website.
  • Develop and maintain mediation practice for the Board and committee meetings.
  • Internal Board Accountability

Working Group Board Members

  • Skye Ashton Kantola (Champion)
  • Sasha Sigel
  • Miles Boucher

Communications Working Group

Objective: Engaging people through digital and print communications about the theory and practice of pedagogy of the oppressed and theatre of the oppressed in order to advance the mission and vision of Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed, Inc.

  • Optimize and implement communication strategies within the PTO organization and from PTO to our stakeholders.
  • Optimize and implement PTO’s marketing strategy.
  • Informing people through digital and print communications about the PTO organization and engaging the public to achieve the mission and vision of PTO
  • Final version (striving for “clear” and “simple”): Engaging people through digital and print communications about the theory and practice of pedagogy of the oppressed and theatre of the oppressed in order to advance the mission and vision of Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed, Inc.

Potential Activities

  • Create a news post to members on the re-organization of working groups and call for members to join a working group.
  • Create a new section on the website (and google drive) for working group reports.
  • Create emails, update social media and website, and maintain digital presence of PTO so that stakeholders stay informed of PTO efforts and updates.
  • Produce and maintain working group update reports on website.
  • Organize and lead the documentation of PTO activities to create a living archive.
  • How can we document process as a legacy for current and future boards without having it be rooted in white supremacy culture?
  • Support members in sharing their work through digital storytelling and engagement
  • Newsletters: monthly resistance report, climate change actions, etc
  • Member Spotlight interviews/videos
  • Publishing conference videos w/ captions

Working Group Board Members

  • Skye Ashton Kantola (Champion)
  • Emily Evey
  • Miles Boucher

Community Engagement (Community Representatives)

Objective: Co-organize and support local/regional/global coalitions dedicated to implementing pedagogy of the oppressed and/or theatre of the oppressed efforts in their communities.

Potential Activities

  • Create PTO mapping of organizations/artists/work that can be posted on the PTO website as a resource for folx and guide for networking.
    • Within the mapping: develop process to support growth of local and regional networks to strengthen and activate PTO coalitions (MembershipWorks)
  • Create list of trainings and contacts for facilitators to serve as a guide for ongoing learning and engagement. 
  • Revise and implement membership survey; translate survey into multiple languages. 
  • Create a strategic plan to increase PTO membership. 
  • Develop quarterly ‘zoom’ meet-ups/roundtables/virtual dialogues that are open to members (and interested parties?). Potentially set up according to subject ‘area’: 1 month on TO (this could be organized around a specific topic), 1 month around sharing TO projects, 1 month on PO (guided by a topic), 1 month on sharing PO projects.
  • Reach back and/or out,  in order to move forward via survey and/or social media, email when possible: Contact past/former members as well as lesser-known longtime PTO practitioners to learn how current PTO could support them and how the conference would be of interest to them, Create vehicle for members to share their documentation practices & be resource for others.
  • To be explored: what might be the role of this committee in mentoring and developing people who want to become PTO practitioners?

Working Group Board Members

  • Fredy Amador
  • Lisa Jo Epstein
  • Emily Evey
  • Miles Boucher

Current Conference (2021)

Objective: Collaborate with a local planning committee to implement an annual International Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed conference. 

Potential Activities

  • Post monthly update reports on conference planning progress.
  • Organize board member involvement in conference planning. 

Board Member Liaisons to the Local Planning Committee

  • Kelly Howe
  • Fredy Amador (Chicago Workers Collaborative)
  • Tierra Hawkins (Chicago Workers Collaborative)

Future Conferences (2022+)

Objective: Cultivate interest in and applications for host locations for conferences that take place at least 1 or more years in the future. Build capacity for potential hosts so that we can plan multiple years ahead and have more than one possibility for host.

Potential Activities

  • Review/update conference proposal application. 
  • Review/update the conference planning materials. 
  • Review future conference proposals. 
  • Reach out to members for proposals for host sites.
  • Develop intentional relationships with people and organizations to host gatherings (with attention toward geographical diversity)
  • Create a campaign to get people excited, invested, and involved
  • Outward facing communication with members at the conference (and before the conference)

Working Group Board Members

  • Charles Adams (Champion)
  • Sasha Sigel
  • Maxwel Okuto

Global Solidarity Working Group

Objective: Promote international collaboration and learning, support people as best as possible in the process of crossing inter/national borders for PTO events, strategize ways to bring PTO events to more regions, and act in solidarity with movements and struggles globally.

Potential Activities: Six Areas for 2020

  • Visa/document support/services for people crossing borders coming to the conference
  • Investigating possibilities for PTO-sponsored activities outside the US (beginning the research process)
  • Language justice dialogue and action 
  • Global solidarity statements and other solidarity actions when requested, in relation to various movements across the world 
  • Engaging in dialogue with people from under-represented countries and regions to increase access and participation
  • Assisting PTO board in awareness and sensitivity around language and politics across national, global, and cultural contexts

Working Group Board Members

  • Kelly Howe (Champion)
  • Maxwel Okuto
  • Bonface Beti Beti
  • Charles Adams

Journal Working Group

Objective: Support the PTO Journal through direct engagement with membership on writing support and yearly written submission to the journal in collaboration with PTO journal editor. 

Potential Activities

  • Write a “NOTES FROM THE FIELD/YEAR IN REVIEW OF THE PTO BOARD” journal submission each year. 
  • Coordinate and write a “CONFERENCE REFLECTION” submission to the journal each year. 
  • Create a “writing tips” and “de-colonial documentation guide” to support members in sharing their work in the journal
  • Host a yearly webinar on submitting to the journal and support for submissions
  • Virtual Round Table held semi-regularly to host discussion around their practices and publication
    • Potentially an onboarding process for the publication process
  • Encourage publication out of conference practice and introduction of journal papers being read

Working Group Board Members

  • Robin Brandehoff
  • Rebecca Struch

Resource Development (Fundraising)

ObjectiveIdentify funding opportunities, develop funding applications and collaborators, explore opportunities for financial sustainability of the PTO organization, and make recommendations for funding.

Potential Activities

  • Complete & submit NEA grant.
  • Create a master list of grants and yearly deadlines. 
  • Explore membership fundraising drive to support annual retreat.
    • This (plus also maybe the Community Engagement committee) would be a great place to anchor our membership drive (or other membership development work that we’ve been talking about for a while). 

Working Group Board Members

  • Reg Flowers (Co-Champion)
  • Rachel Desoto-Jackson (Co-Champion)