Kennedy Center Lays Off Members of Social Impact Team

In Wednesday’s (3/26) Washington Post, Travis M. Andrews and Kriston Capps write, “The Kennedy Center on Tuesday terminated at least five members of its small social impact team, including its artistic director Marc Bamuthi Joseph, according to multiple staff members … The team’s focus was reaching new and diverse audiences beyond those who regularly attend symphony and opera performances, and ‘to advance justice and equity’ through art, according to its website. These programs take many forms, such as an effort to commission new works by Black composers and librettists … Kennedy Center staffers were told … that more layoffs are forthcoming, though they received no further details. The reason for the terminations is unclear. Roma Daravi, the center’s head of public relations, did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment. It is the center’s first major reduction in workforce since President Donald Trump last month ousted Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter and Chairman David M. Rubenstein, along with all Biden-appointed members of the board of trustees … The new leadership promptly fired three other staff members, including its previous head of public relations, general counsel and a vice president who worked in development…. The social impact team produces its own programming and consults throughout the center on programming. It also runs the Millennium Stage, which hosts free performances four nights a week and free weekly movie screenings.”