CREATIVE SECTOR SUMMIT KEYNOTE SPEAKER
We are pleased to announce this year’s Creative Sector Summit Keynote Speaker is Giselle Byrd, executive director of The Theatre Offensive. Ms. Byrd will join us to share her thoughts and inspire attendees on this year’s theme, Meeting the Moment: Creative Advocacy and Cultural Organizing for Stronger Communities.
About Giselle Bryd
Giselle Byrd is the Executive Director of The Theater Offensive, located in Boston, MA, making her the first Black trans woman to lead a regional theatre company in the United States. There, she is passionately continuing and amplifying the theater’s mission for uplifting and elevating the work of queer and transgender artists of color and LGBTQIA2S+ youth and their allies.
With over ten years of experience, holding multiple roles in talent management, production, casting, script coverage, brand partnerships, and fundraising, Giselle Byrd has used her expertise to help elevate both talent and brand collaborations with respective businesses and introduce brands and organizations to innovative solutions and a diverse array of emerging artists and celebrities who are redefining the foundations of the performing arts landscape.
As a producer, she holds the honor of being the first transgender woman to be accepted into Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program. Her documentary film debut, “Giselle’s Story,” directed by Susan O’Brien, was accepted into the Imagine This International Women’s Festival. Her subsequent film, "When We Arrive As Flowers," executive produced by Alexandra Billings, went on to receive acceptance into numerous film festivals throughout the country during the 2022-2023 season Her latest film, “Candyland,” directed by David Gil, in which she served as the associate producer and lead actor, told a narrative that unpacks gender dysphoria, addiction, and gun violence in youth and families of color. The film received its world premiere at NewFest (one of the leading LGBTQIA2S+ film festivals in the world) in October 2024. In November 2024, Boston’s 25th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance Committee awarded her the inaugural Boston Trans Art & Culture Trendsetter Award, following the announcement that her efforts in conjunction with The Theater Offensive caused Boston’s City Council to officially commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance.
In addition to this work, Byrd serves on the Board of Directors at both Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art. She is also the Co-Vice Chair of the advisory board for The Ali Forney Center.
LEARN MORE
-
The Creative Sector Summit 2025 will be held at Northampton Center for the Arts in the city of Northampton on Friday, June 6 from 10 AM - 5 PM.
The event will feature an opening full participant session, 16 breakout sessions, and a closing keynote address.
Each session is 45 minutes long.
-
Submission Deadline: 5:00 pm, May 14, 2025
Offer to present: by noon, May 21, 2024 (we request that applicants accept their offers by noon on May 28, 2025).
Public Announcement of workshops and sessions: May 28, 2025
-
The Creative Sector Summit will include sessions in the following formats:
Workshop: a learning session that involves skills-building, practical examples for implementation, or training for participants. Hands-on or participatory opportunities are encouraged.
Panel discussion: a moderated conversation featuring subject matter experts.
Guided conversation: an opportunity for participants to exchange information, knowledge, and/or ideate on a topic through a structured discussion led by a facilitator.
You will be asked to select which format best describes your proposed session in the submission form.
-
To recognize the labor and expertise of workshop leaders and panelists, we are proud to offer the following:
Workshop leaders / Presenters: $300 honorarium and complimentary registration to the summit. If the proposal submitted is for co-presenters, an additional $150 will be added to the honorarium. We can support workshops with up to 3 co-presenters.
Panel moderators: $200 honorarium and complimentary registration to the CAI,
Panelists: $100 honorarium and complimentary registration to the CAI, with a limit of 3 panelists (not including the moderator).
-
Proposals will be reviewed and selected by MASSCreative staff.
We are seeking proposals that focus on, but are not limited to:
Proposal Selection
Proposals will be reviewed and selected by MASSCreative staff.
We are seeking proposals that focus on, but are not limited to:
Community organizing
Issue advocacy
Lessons and insights from other sectors or issue areas
Building strong and sustainable partnerships
Coalition building for advocacy and political efforts
Leadership in civic education and engagement efforts
To meet the needs of the creative sector, we will select proposals intended for one or more of the following audiences:
Nonprofit / 501 (c) cultural organizations
Independent artists and creative workers
Locally owned and operated for-profit creative businesses
Arts educators
Culture bearers
Arts administrators of color
Emerging / early career arts professionals
We are committed to elevating the diversity of Massachusetts’s creative sector. We will curate the Creative Sector Summit to ensure a diversity of perspectives, lived experiences, and approaches are represented.
