Commitment to Action Regarding Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (EDIB)
by David Schmitz, Principal Advisor

As the leader and founder of Amplify Leadership Advisors, I commit to:

• dismantling white supremacy and other forms of oppressive behavior in my personal and professional life;

• identifying racial injustices when they occur, in real time. When harm occurs, I commit to leading from values that call others in and recognize the journey of learning and improving will never end while centering those most often disempowered by injustice;

• creating moments and movements of belonging, inclusion and equity so that every client and person I encounter in the work is able to bring their whole, honest, special and unique self to our work together;

• leading from an anti-racist framework, knowing that only then can our beloved field of nonprofit arts move from troubled and shrinking to sustainable and vibrant.

At Amplify Leadership Advisors, you won’t find just rhetoric around principles and values of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging, you’ll find action with advisors who have a long track record of doing the work.

We use our power to disrupt white supremacy.

At Amplify Leadership Advisors we use our privileges and our power to nurture leaders who are breaking through the unyielding concrete of our capitalist white supremacist reality.

We lift those whose work not only inspires them to survive in this harsh world, but challenges them to thrive. We work to support and further the circumstances where marginalized people - especially indigenous, BIPOC, LGTBQ+ and disabled people - can thrive and prioritize clients who claim these identities. 

Amplify Leadership Advisors will support at least three organizations that were founded by and serve marginalized peoples, as well as BIPOC/LGBTQ+/disabled leaders each year with services that are discounted by 35-40%. And if we find we can do more, we will do more.

Our power comes in part from our privileges and the people our privileges have given us access to as mentors and teachers. You can learn more about acknowledging my privilege and the many shoulders I stand upon here.

We lead with respect, and empower every individual’s brilliance to shine.

We hold sacred the belief that every human being we encounter deserves to be treated with respect, and that their unique brilliance should be recognized and valued. 

People should have access to equitable opportunities to make their distinctive impact on the world, and our work as advisors helps provide the information, strategies and thought partnership individuals are looking for to achieve their greatest ambitions. We ground our efforts in love, and we understand that we will be liberated only if those who are most marginalized are liberated.

We recognize the systemic inequities that exist in the nonprofit arts industry and boldly hold accountable our past while forging a more equitable future.

Our actions at Amplify Leadership Advisors are focused on moving the field of performing arts to a place of sustainability and vitality in 2050, and we can only do this by seeking to understand and hold the whole of our messy, toxic, abusive and yet sometimes joyful and ultimately necessary industry. 

Our work seeks a systemic understanding of the industry such that we can apply that knowledge both inside organizations and outside of them to help to move towards evolution. 

What if the performing arts were a place of joy rather than harm? The work of Amplify Leadership Advisors is interconnected with the successes and failures of our field, and it is this interconnectedness that creates the possibility of co-liberation.

We disrupt the status quo and center belonging and collective health in all our work.

Our commitment as consultants and advisors is to ask challenging questions and to interrupt the status quo while seeking to uplift joy and inclusiveness. We strive to center belonging and collective health in our work and in our relationships with clients.

We ask questions and make recommendations that are rooted in our desire to move the world forward, to reduce harm and to achieve co-liberation.