Today we’d like to introduce you to Adria Kitchens.
Hi Adria, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I never expected to be working for a theater company!! And I did not know how much I would love it! What brought me to Out of Hand Theater is, in many ways, the realization of a dream that I could never have envisioned. It is the perfect place for a person who is focused on the power of story to transform the world in which we live.
I am a descendent of enslaved Africans, indigenous ancestors, sharecroppers, pullman porters, preachers, teachers, musicians, maids, and others whose names I don’t know. My father is from a small town called Molena, GA. My mother is from Birmingham, AL. They met as students of two of the top HBCU’s Morehouse and Spelman. While they settled our family here in Atlanta, I was born in Springfield, MA because my father was denied entry to the University of Georgia due to his race. He was accepted at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. After three years of spending his summers traveling to Springfield to complete his Master’s degree, my father and mother decided it was best to move their small family (that just included my brother at the time) so that he could complete his degree.
I reflect on the toll this took on a young family who was required to travel so many miles each year by car, separated from the support of extended family because of white supremacist systems enacted by those in power using racism as a tool to separate and harm others.
I’m not sure I understood the impact of this when I was young. My parents created a safe space for me to grow up and I was not as impacted by experiences of racism. I felt safe being black in my community, school, and church.
My experience entering the professional world was different. This was the first time I came up against acts of overt and covert racism. And yet it was the experience of having children that was the rocket fuel for my passion to heal racism, to transform the culture toward Anti-Racism and equity. My deepest desire is to create a world for them where they and their children and their children’s children thrive and flourish.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road has been challenging at times, although overall I can look back and appreciate the lessons I’ve learned. In 2008, I lost everything financially when the market crashed. It was a very difficult time. I was recently divorced and was caring for my three young children. Mentally and emotionally it was so hard for me. I was definitely depressed navigating this huge change in my life. I was forced to leave the house I’d rented and move back into my parent’s home. There was a great deal of shame that went along with that experience.
What I find potent about sharing this story is it was this experience that guided me into a path of transformation and a new awareness of transformational learning. This was the beginning of my journey to a desire and commitment to heal racism. I began my journey in transformational leadership at The Institute for Woman-Centered Coaching, Training, and Leadership. These principles focused on building our relational power are foundational to me understanding how to activate the potential for transformational change, not just transactional change. My mentor, Dr. Claire Zammit, was pivotal in helping me to build the capacities and skills to empower myself and others in transformative change .
As I reflect on the pain of losing everything, I can now see how navigating that experience has been the fertile soil I needed to grow and connect back to the truth of my true and actualized self.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a transformational artist and architect, designing spaces for individual and collective positive change. As Director of Equity and Activism at Out of Hand Theater, I lead a cross-functional team. I am most proud of my work with Out of Hand Theater.
At Out of Hand Theater, I design transformational experiences to connect people back to themselves, to our greater call as humans, and to one another. The hope is creating a world where we all thrive.
Out of Hand meets at the intersection of arts and social justice. We create the conditions for transformation to occur and to inspire positive action. Our largest program is Equitable Dinners which uses the arts to open hearts, information to open minds and conversation to process feelings and to take action.
Equitable Dinners has reached over 7000 people since launching in January 2020. We’ve engaged topics on Race Equity and health, education, housing, immigration, poverty, intersectionality and many more. Our workplace dialogue series is our most popular. Organizations have the opportunity to use the arts and conversation as a pathway to building the muscle of dialogue around critical issues impacting employees internally and externally, creating more meaningful workplace relationships, and activating empathy to deepen understanding of the experiences of others.
In 2020 we also launched our Institute for Equity Activism, which is a leadership hub, building capacity to create social change using the arts. Our inaugural cohort was sponsored by The Arthur M. Blank Foundation. We are currently in our fourth cohort of participants and have served 100 leaders across the country.
We were named Best Theater of 2020 by the New York Times for Equitable Dinners. This year Out of Hand Theater received the 2021 Governor’s Award for the Arts & Humanities and 2022 Winds of Change Honorable Mention Award from The Forum on Workplace Inclusion.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I grew up in Atlanta. My family is deeply embedded in this city and while I was born in another state, it was more like being born while my Dad was away at college. So this is my native home. I love the richness of history and black culture and the diversity of all the cultures present. Within minutes of Atlanta is one of the most diverse immigrant populations in the country. This is a legacy we can be excited about. I love our legacy of Black Civil Rights Leadership and their impact nationally. I love that we’ve had Black Mayors in the City of Atlanta for decades and we’ve especially had powerful Black women in leadership. I love that this is home to Black artists and filmmakers and we’ve seen Atlanta become a leader in the music and film industry.
What is most challenging is the continued systemic racism that exists in our policies, values, and systems. I am challenged by the expanding socioeconomic gap, especially in communities of color.
I am challenged and I am hopeful. We can do this! We can change and transform our city, our nation and our world toward the greatest levels of goodness, love, and hope.
Contact Info:
- Email: adria@outofhandtheater.com
- Website: https://www.equitabledinners.com
- Instagram: @equitabledinners
- Facebook: @equitabledinners
- Other: https://www.outofhandtheater.com
Image Credits
Sarah Kitchens Mike Senior LWP Photography
