Hello Brojans,

TL;DR: I will be departing from the role of Executive Director, effective April 1st, 2024. If you want BROS to continue its mission, NOW is the time for new leadership to step up! Contact board@baltimorerockopera.org with your interest.

As many of you know, I have been searching for ways to downsize my role at BROS for the past year. I have been with the company for 14 years and I need a break from the heavy amount of responsibility that comes with leading this amazing and powerful community theater.

From now until April 1st (no joke) I will be working with a transition team to identify the leadership that will replace me. On April 2nd, 2024 I will no longer be an employee of BROS. I hope to stay involved creatively in BROS for many years to come and have other much lesser roles planned for post-transition.

We intend to replace my position with a new Executive Director

Here are the rough strokes of the transition plan, led by our Interim Business Operations Director, Claudia Jolin:

• 12/21 - 1/15 - Research/Discovery. Gathering info and perspective from interviews with Board, Staff, Captains, Artistic Council on what we need from our next ED

• 1/15 - Job Description Released. Applications Open

• 2/1 - Interviews begin

• 3/1 - 1st day for our new Executive Director. 1 month training/onboarding period with current ED.
• 4/1 - Aran's last day.

We also have a few paid roles we hope to fill by summer of this year. (Check out our 2024 org chart)

• Outreach and Partnerships Director (Applications open Spring TBA)
• Communications Manager (Spring TBA)
• ‍Business Operations Director (Summer TBA)

In addition to replacing my duties, we are looking for experienced community leaders and nonprofit professionals to join our Board of Directors. This group will advise the new Executive Director, help shape our strategy and provide stability and support for the upcoming transition.

Spread the word about our hunt! We know the right person is out there!

Please reach out with your interest but also don’t feel limited by what is written here. Since we are a community theater, we have the ability to design roles that fit the unique people that want to put in work. Remember that BROS had zero paid staff members in 2018 when our current org chart started to emerge. There are many ways for our group to thrive and if you have expertise and time to commit, we want you at the table.

Although this is a big change, the current staff and board are laying the groundwork for a really successful year in 2024. Here are a few of the changes coming down the line:

• More limited programming calendar will help make sure the company isn’t stretched thin

• Only two shows in 2024, The big spring musical and a return to Halloween centric programming in Fall 2024
• Education and Outreach will be integrated into our spring and fall productions.

• Launching a Stage Management Fellowship to help recruit new talent into this vital production role
• Onboarding Costume Captain MACE MEHRING as Co-Production Director (alongside Bowen). We intend to have two Production Directors for 2024 and possibly into the future so we have more support for the shows year-round.
• Launching new ways for volunteers to activate BROS resources

• Need space for your community project? A non-BROS event? A social affair? Small concert? Game Night? Fill out the HQ usage form to get things started.

I am so proud of the work I have done here at BROS but I have taken the company as far as I can as Executive Director. I believe BROS can change and grow and become even more amazing than it is now, but it needs new ideas and new energy to do so.  I love this company and I want to leave it in good hands.

If you feel excited about helping lead BROS please reach out to board@baltimorerockopera.org to share your enthusiasm!

Onward to Glory!

Aran Keating