San Juan Community Theatre updates mission, vision
Published 1:30 am Friday, November 2, 2018
Submitted by the San Juan Community Theatre
On Sept. 28, the San Juan Community Theatre Board voted to update the mission and vision statements of the theater as follows:
Mission: Enriching community through performing arts.
Vision: San Juan Community Theatre engages the community through performing arts, inspiring island residents and visitors of all ages.
“Not long after I arrived, we had a member meeting at which we were discussing the importance of the mission and someone asked, ‘What is the mission of the theater?’ You could’ve heard a pin drop,” said Executive Artistic Director Nathan Kessler-Jeffrey. “Everyone in the room knew the value of the performing arts to the community, they understood the sense of family and the excitement of seeing live stage productions, but no one could quote the mission. One of the reasons I’m so excited about our updated mission and vision statements is that they retain the fundamental values of the theater, but they’re memorable enough that we can use them in day-to-day operations. A mission you can remember is a mission you can use to make decisions.”
During a strategic planning process over the summer, board members, volunteers and staff looked at the core strengths and challenges for the organization. The consensus was that an updated mission and vision that accurately reflected the core principals while maintaining a memorable brevity would be most effective in guiding the theater into the 30th season in the building and beyond.
“The board and I feel that the benefit of examining and updating these statements is a renewed focus on the heart of what makes us a community theater. I want to put ‘enriching community through performing arts’ on a T-shirt. It calls to my ideals and feels like something we can all rally behind. It reminds us that we’re serving everyone who walks through our doors — audiences, artists, students, teachers, administrators, tourists, island residents and visitors of all ages,” said Kessler-Jeffery.
