On change and collaboration…presenting the new CounterPulse org chart

At CounterPulse, we invite change as our constant, from moving into our new facility to our ever rotating cast of artists and accomplices. We persistently strive to work better together, excited by the way that true collaboration necessitates an aptitude for change. We’ve updated our org chart to reflect new changes and new ways of working.

Not all change is easy. The recent changes to our core administrative staff have certainly come with challenges. There’s no easy path through reforming our small team—a departure makes a big difference. Yet, as with all change there is opportunity. We are able to refine our modes of collaboration, to re-strategize our resources, and to catalyze growth and a sense of community. We’re in the business of kin-making and that’s what we’ll continue to do.

We’re taking this opportunity to rethink the roles and responsibilities within the organization, and we wanted to design something innovative, something that showcases the way we collaborate, rather than who reports to who. Most notably—in our constant effort to work through shared leadership and lateral power structures—we’ve distributed the development work of the organization.

We’re now helmed by four directors responsible for intersecting areas of the organization: Producing & Advancement, Operations, Engagement & Strategy, and centrally Artistic & Executive. Guiding this work remains our steadfast Board of Directors led by longtime board chair, Laura Elaine Ellis. While we’re certainly inspired by wholly decentralized models with this design we maintain direct report relationships.We value efficiency in how we work, and we find that maintaining a hybrid structure marries the strength of complexity and simplicity.

We’re a small, mostly anti-capitalist organization and this new org chart reflects the way we work and how we value work. We value working in a way that suits the individual while creating platforms for visionary collaboration. We value moving forward steadily. We value true enjoyment at work, and take serious the business of having fun. We value having a clear goal on the horizon while maintaining the spaciousness to take on curious side roads and projects along the way.

Most of all we’re here to support artists, to cross-pollinate, and to build community through discourse, pleasure, and fun. Thanks for co-creating this experiment with us.

The team:

Natalie Cone, Director of Operations

Rick Darnell, Community Engagement Associate

Erica Dixon, Director of Engagement & Strategy

Justin Ebrahemi, Communications & Engagement Manager

Nicky Martinez, Program Manager

Jeanne Pfeffer, Director of Producing & Advancement

Julie Phelps, Artistic & Executive Director

 

And we’re hiring for: an Operations Manager, a Technical Director, and an Executive & Development Associate, job descriptions incoming, please get in touch if you’re tenacious, curious, and interested in joining in this work.