Safety First on the First of each Month

PerSIStence Theatre, supported by resources provided by Canada’s Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC), is promoting the sharing of best practices pertaining to creating and maintaining respectful workplaces as the norm in the cultural sector. This includes information regarding forms of harassment including sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination and violence.
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WORKING WITH RESPECT is a workshop offered for the arts sector in Newfoundland and Labrador. In this 3.5 hour workshop, tools and tips, including legislation, are highlighted for employers (including board members), artists, and cultural workers to create and maintain a respectful workplace. 

In-person workshops are offered monthly throughout 2024 on the first of each month. Online or off-site workshops are also available upon request, pending availability. 

The cost is $50 per participant + HST (minimum 5 - maximum 20). Participants will receive a certificate of completion. 

These workshop sessions will be offered the first of each month as listed - registration will open on Friday March 8 for all sessions.

Click on a date below to register:


About The Workshop

Under the Respectful Workplaces in the Arts banner, this workshop explores with participants how to best deal with harassment situations through:
  • discussions of what IS and IS NOT a respectful workplace
  • a review of situations and scenarios to identify how to create and sustain a respectful workplace
  • an in-depth consideration of the roles of employers, artists, and cultural workers in establishing and maintaining a respectful workplace
  • Provincial legislation discussion and definitions re: harassment and bullying

Location​

Unless otherwise indicated, Working with Respect is offered in person at The Nest creation centre, located at 410 East White Hills Road, St. John’s, NL A1A 5J7 Canada.

Please note, The Nest is not wheelchair accessible. An alternative workshop location can be arranged in our wheelchair accessible boardroom upon request, for a reduced number of maximum participants.

What people have been saying about this workshop

“Thanks for taking this work on and making it accessible to the performance arts community.  Lots to digest, lots to think about, lots to consider as we build these principles into our working environments and embed these values into the unique culture of each of our organizations. I look forward to digging deeper into this material in the coming weeks / months!”

“This is a wonderful resource to have! Thank you very much for sending and for creating such a powerful conference. I really found great value in it.”

“Wanted to send a quick but sincere thank you for organizing and providing that workshop yesterday to the community. There were things I thought I knew and then quickly realized I didn’t. And I’m grateful to have had the opportunity and exposure to those resources.”

“Thank you for providing that! It was invaluable!!!”

Available Facilitators

Bailey Jackson
Bailey Jackson (she/her) is a theatre artist based in St. John’s. She has worked professionally as an theatre educator, actor, director, producer, and writer.  While pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from Grenfell Campus, Bailey worked with Shakespeare Simplified to implement theatre creation workshops in elementary schools around the Corner Brook region, sparking her love for teaching. She continues to teach with ActIV Shakespeare, of which she is a founding member and co-creator. ActIV Shakespeare leads high school students through interactive Shakespeare workshops designed to broaden their understand of text. Bailey has acted across the island with companies like Stephenville Theatre Festival and Rising Tide Theatre. She serves on the board of directors for both NL Comedy Initiative Inc. and St. John’s Shorts Inc., working to bring local and international talent to the stage in the city. Bailey currently works as the Working With Respect Project Coordinator for PerSIStence Theatre Company.

Jennifer Deon
​Jenn Deon is an artist, administrator, accredited business communicator (ABC), public speaker and facilitator based in St. John’s, NL.  Jenn has been facilitating workshops across Canada and the United States in Maintaining Respectful Workplaces since availing of training and resources from the Cultural Human Resources Council of Canada in 2018. Jenn also shares her expertise in the areas of strategic planning, institutional marketing, community building, partnership development and fundraising. In 2013, Jenn was a recipient of a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for her community involvement, and in 2018, the Woman of Distinction Award for Arts & Culture from the YWCA St. John's. Jenn was also a nominee for the 2020 and 2022 Human Rights Award from the NL Human Rights Commission, and was a national finalist for the 2023 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards. Jenn currently works as the producing artistic director of the PerSIStence Theatre Company, a feminist charity, and volunteers as the chair of the Shakespeare by the Sea Festival. 

Leahdawn Helena
​​Leahdawn (she/they/nekm) was born and raised on the west coast of Ktaqmkuk (the island of Newfoundland), and is trained as an actor, writer, director, and dramaturge. They hold degrees in both Theatre and Sociocultural Studies from Memorial University Grenfell Campus. They work as a freelance Dramaturg and as an Indigenous Sociocultural Consultant for the St John’s and Avalon Arts community, working with Artistic Fraud, St John’s Shorts, PerSIStence Theatre, and the Cupids Legacy Project, among others. Their play, Stolen Sisters, which premiered in 2022, features Order of Canada member Deantha Edmunds, and is historically grounded in the colonial experiences of Beothuk and Mi’kmaw women and girls. Stolen Sisters toured across Newfoundland in 2023, Labrador in January 2024, and New Brunswick in April 2024. Their most recent work, Precariously Placed: Pandemic Monologues From The Edge, was researched and created with support from PerSIStence Theatre and York University. L’nuit. Tleiawit Nujio’qonik. (They are L’nu. They have family roots in the Bay St George region.)

​Workshop requests can be emailed to our Working With Respect Project Coordinator, [email protected]
Land Acknowledgement 

St. John’s is home to a rich, diverse, and vibrant urban Indigenous community. Located on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Beothuk, the lands and waters in and around the City have traditionally served as a gathering place for the Mi’kmaq. The broader region of Newfoundland and Labrador continues to be home to diverse Indigenous Peoples, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. We honour and pay respect to the past, present, and future caretakers of these territories.

Our humble thanks to First Light for sharing this land acknowledgement within our community and providing valued guidance to many organizations such as ours. You can learn more by visiting their website at firstlightnl.ca.