PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Opera Philadelphia recently announced the appointment of a new Vice President of People Operations & Inclusion as part of their commitment to diversity and equity.
As an activist, arts administrator, and bass-baritone, Dr. Derrell Acon's experience has taken him all over the world to places like Milan, where he was a Fulbright scholar, and Long Beach, California, where he was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning production of "The Central Park Five."
"I think the largest issue for me as, as someone who is a specialist in this work, is that we're just really, really behind," said Acon.
"The corporate world, a lot of other education spaces, there’s the [equity, diversity and inclusion] scholarship, inclusion work that is being done. It's just at a much higher level. There are a lot of questions that we’re still asking in our industry that have already been answered several times over in the scholarship. So it’s an it’s an unfortunate necessity for me first, to catch people up."
Related
In the summer of 2020, during the George Floyd protests, Opera Philadelphia formed an equity and inclusion team. As part of his newly created senior management position, Acon will support the evolution of that team and also help guide the organization on staffing goals and "promoting an anti-racist workplace culture."
"The biggest change I hope to see is just a more nuanced understanding of how we can truly have people be at the table when, as we're trying to better our organizations, our companies, too frequently we're only thinking about the bottom line," he shared.
"I think, especially with nonprofit organizations, that we are supposed to be in service to the community. So it only makes sense that we hold inclusion work, equity work at the center of whatever the process may be."
Acon said he’s looking forward to relocating to Philadelphia for the position, which begins January 10.