I.D.E.A. Commitments

Throughout PNB’s history, we have understood the importance of how classical arts organizations show up in, and for, their communities. Since 2014, PNB has moved this commitment front and center, dedicating more time and resources to ensure a more inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible PNB and ballet field.

Racial Equity Statement

Click here to read about PNB’s commitment to racial equity.

PNB acknowledges ballet’s historical disparities and unequal opportunities for people of color. PNB is committed to building a fully inclusive, anti-racist, multicultural organization, and creating space for shifting perspectives that reflect our industry’s continual growth.

PNB recognizes that diversity and diverse perspectives are powerful drivers of creativity, innovation, and evolution within classical ballet. PNB aims to channel the vast creative resources within our organization in creating an environment that fosters inclusivity and advancement, both at PNB and the ballet world at large.

PNB embraces the following commitments:

  • In alliance with the City of Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative, PNB commits to leading with race in order to address the historical and structural oppression faced by people of color in the arts.
  • PNB commits to utilizing its Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (I.D.E.A.) Committee to promote inclusivity and equitable practices throughout all facets of the organization.
  • PNB commits to continually assessing our hiring practices and internal policies using a racial equity lens with the ultimate goal of attracting more diverse individuals to the organization and integrating more diverse perspectives across all departments and leadership levels, including the Board of Trustees and Advisory Council.
  • PNB commits to building PNB artist, board, faculty, staff, student, and volunteer awareness about issues relating to race and other forms of diversity.
  • PNB commits to facilitating training and promoting other opportunities for continuing education for all artists, board, faculty, and staff relating to equity, race, and other forms of diversity, access, and inclusion.
  • PNB commits to ensuring our artistic output is reflective of our community and our goals surrounding our I.D.E.A. work.
  • PNB commits to cultivating authentic relationships and engagement with under-invited and under-served communities throughout the greater Seattle region.
  • PNB commits to selecting collaborators, partners, independent contractors, and financial investors whose practices align with PNB’s core principles around Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility.
  • PNB commits to maintaining public transparency via PNB’s newsletters, website, and annual reporting.

PNB commits to inviting feedback relating to racial equity initiatives and other IDEA work from artists, board, faculty, staff, student and families, volunteers, audiences, and community partners.

I.D.E.A. Committee

PNB’s I.D.E.A. Committee is a cross-functional team of 40+ committed to building a full-inclusive, anti-racist, multicultural organization.

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I.D.E.A. Leadership Team & Partnerships

Sarah Kolat

I.D.E.A. Committee Co-Lead

Sarah Kolat joined PNB in 2021 and currently serves as the Institutional Giving Manager, where she fosters government, corporate, and foundation relations for the organization and is I.D.E.A. Committee Co-Lead. She is also a proud PNB School parent. In 2024, she launched the Audio Dance Description program. Prior to her role at PNB, Sarah lectured at the University of Washington School of Music. She completed her Ph.D. in Musicology at UW, where she studied experimental performance art, programming, and the relevance of classical arts institutions in the 21st century.

Kristen Ramer Liang I.D.E.A. Committee Administrative Liaison

Kristen Ramer Liang

I.D.E.A. Committee Co-Lead

Kristen Ramer Liang serves as Executive Assistant to PNB’s Executive Director Ellen Walker, as primary liaison to the Governing Board, Advisory Council, and Young Patrons Circle, and as administrative liaison to PNB’s internal Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Committee. Prior to this role, Kristen managed PNB’s Wallace Foundation-funded Building Audiences for Sustainability (BAS) initiative from 2015 – 2019, focused on growing PNB’s 25-40 year old audience. In 2020 she led the launch of PNB is Listening, a collaborative series between PNB artists and staff that highlights diverse voices in our local community and the larger dance world. Kristen holds a BA in music from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and an MFA in arts leadership from Seattle University.

Naomi Glass I.D.E.A. Committee Co-Lead

Naomi Glass

Governance Subcommittee

Naomi Glass serves PNB in the capacities of DanceChance Manager, PNB School faculty, teaching artist for STG Dance for PD®, and co-lead of PNB’s I.D.E.A. Committee. In her first profession, Glass danced for the Houston Ballet for a decade, retiring at Soloist rank. Glass’ favorite performing experiences include roles within works by Nacho Duato, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Trey McIntyre, and Stanton Welch. A strong believer that dance is for everyone and creativity is inherent in all, Glass has shared her love of movement widely, teaching extensively in every sector, within many organizations across the US. In 2020, Glass was the recipient of the Professor Joan White Award from the Faculty of Education at the Royal Academy of Dance in London for her research work focused upon creativity, expressivity and movement for individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Glass holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Houston and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Bath, UK.

Kiyon Ross

Governance Subcommittee

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Kiyon Ross trained at the Baltimore School for the Arts, Pittsburg Ballet Theatre, School of American Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. He joined PNB as a new dancer in 2001. His favorite roles included Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Symphony in Three Movements by George Balanchine; Waiting at the Station, In the Upper Room, and Opus 111 by Twyla Tharp; and Emergence by Crystal Pite. While dancing, he earned his BA in Non-Profit Leadership from Seattle University through the Second Stage program. Kiyon retired as a Soloist in 2015. After retirement, he served on the PNB School faculty, where he taught in the DanceChance program and coordinated the Next Step program. In 2019, he became Director of Company Operations, and in 2022, he was appointed Associate Artistic Director. He has choreographed works for PNB, PNB School, Ballet Arkansas, and Atlanta Ballet and staged works by Twyla Tharp.

Ellen Walker Governance Committee

Ellen Walker

Governance Subcommittee

Ellen Walker is in her nineteenth season with Pacific Northwest Ballet, and has served as Executive Director for eight years. Ms. Walker oversaw significant audience development initiatives during her tenure as Director of Marketing & Communications for PNB, with an emphasis since 2009 on the cultivation of new audiences. She was named PNB’s Executive Director in July 2014, and now oversees an operating budget of $28 million and a staff of more than 400 full and part-time staff members. Ms. Walker was responsible for managing the relocation of and campaign to fund PNB School’s Eastside location, The Francia Russell Center, which opened in 2017.

Prior to joining PNB, Ms. Walker was a marketing and sponsorship consultant to arts and civic organizations in Seattle, and managed numerous projects for Seattle Center and Seattle Center Foundation. From 1988 to 2000 she was Director of Marketing for Seattle Children’s Theatre, where she managed successful efforts to triple the size of the audience for this renowned regional theatre serving young people and families. Before stepping into her latest role, Ms. Walker also served on the faculty of Seattle University’s MFA Arts Leadership program, teaching arts marketing to a new generation of nonprofit arts leaders.

Ms. Walker serves as Vice President of the Inspire Washington board and is also Secretary and council chair for Dance/USA, the national field service organization. In 2021 she was selected as one of Puget Sound Business Journal’s Women of Influence. Ms. Walker is from Seattle, Washington and attended the University of Washington and Trinity College, Dublin.

Jennifer Turner

Administrative Liaison

Jennifer Turner trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the School of American Ballet, Miami City Ballet School, Ballet Academy East, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She performed with Miami City Ballet, Ballet Austin, and with members of the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. She has served on the faculty at Ballet Austin Academy, Ballet San Angelo, Company Dance Traverse, and Teachers College Community School. She joined the PNB School faculty in 2019.

Land Acknowledgment

Seattle Center, the home of Pacific Northwest Ballet, resides on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. This acknowledgement reminds us to strive for respectful partnerships with all people, as we search for collective healing.