Looking at Racial Bias in the Panel Deliberation Process

Monday, October 17, 2:00pm – 3:15pm

Organized and presented by Moira Brennan, Executive Director, MAP Fund; and Emilya Cachapero, Director of Artistic and International Programs, Theatre Communications Group.

While technically impartial, grant panel moderators can have a significant influence on the outcome of a panel process based on the ways they do or do not intervene and guide panelists’ deliberations. Over the past year, a group of arts administrators has examined that influence in the context of implicit racial bias by asking these questions: Are we failing to identify when white, Western standards are used as the baseline measurement by our panelists? When we do identify bias, do we have the necessary language and strategies to intervene in the relatively intimate setting of a panel room? How do we balance such intervention with our role as “impartial” actors in the process of grant selection? In this session, presenters will share their journey of discovery, role-play methods of successful intervention, and identify next steps to bring greater training and awareness to a larger swath of the field.