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5 8 C T I N N O V A T O R S , 2 0 2 2 theater for free shows. He also wants to diversify the audience and make sure the community feels welcome at the Shubert. McDonald has been working to get a sense of what theater- goers want for programming, and he is planning future per- formances accordingly, such as by adding more dance and jazz programs. And as for the board of directors, it is no longer predomi- nantly male and white in its make up. Before the board's trans- formation, McDonald wrote to them, making a case for why the organization should sign the Arts for Anti-Racism pledge rolled out by the City of New Haven's Division of Arts, Culture & Tourism, which challenges arts organizations to think be- yond diversity abstractly or as a check-box item. "He is transforming the profile … of a performing arts center with the stature and influence of the Shubert in the community, recognizing its responsibility to the community," Melton says, "and recognizing an even bigger responsibility to ensure the or- ganization is not only paying lip service to matters of equality, justice and equity, but also living that truth." When it comes to innovation, McDonald tends to think of it as an avenue for solving problems and expanding horizons. "My definition of innovation would be somebody who is constantly trying to improve systems and ways of living in or- der to progress something forward," McDonald says. "Looking at things from a different point of view, looking at things from a different angle and trying to improve it — that makes society or your life better." He adds: "It shouldn't even be innovative to want to diversify because that's something we should be doing anyway. We are not in the middle-of-nowhere America where it isn't very di- verse. When you are fortunate to be in a city like ours where the Continued from page 56 diversity is plentiful, it should be the goal to make it seamless, where it doesn't seem like it's pandering or doing something that's just trying to check a box." For McDonald, diversity isn't just about having people of different cultures, races and ages in the building, it's about creating a culture that communicates that the Shubert is the community's home for artistic thriving and belonging, consis- tently and without question. "There should be a place within our community where they can see themselves on that stage because oftentimes it is those moments when you can bring kids (who are) in that 10- to 11-year-old time frame of their lives that you can change something in them that may not manifest until years later," McDonald says. "There has to be a place that is inviting and where you can see your culture." For McDonald, that moment came when he went to see "Phantom of The Opera" when he was around the same age. "It was definitely a musical that was a very big spectacle," McDonald says. "Something happened and it made me want to continue being a part of that world of theater." I