Gender Equality Plan & Policy

The non-profit cultural organisation Bureau Ritter views itself as a sustainable, diverse and inclusive organisation that is continually evolving. Our gender equality plan and equality policy articulate our core values, which are evident in our organisational culture and our approach to recruitment, professional development and the renumeration of our employees.

Bureau Ritter develops and implements innovative cultural policy strategies and sustainable funding programmes in the fields of the arts, culture and education, with a special focus on dance. Working closely with partners such as the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, we have successfully launched several large-scale initiatives in recent years.

With our projects and funding programmes we are actively creating structural change in the sector, while also helping to preserve and highlight the intangible cultural heritage of dance. We have a proven track record of raising awareness of the structural challenges faced by dance professionals and dance institutions in relation to cultural policy.

Launched in 2015, the Dance On initiative aims to address the societal issue of age discrimination, which is particularly prevalent in the dance sector, where artists are still routinely expected to retire around the age of 40. The Dance On Ensemble was founded to offer dancers a career without an upper age limit. It comprises 14 charismatic professionals from 9 countries, all over the age of 40.

The Dance On Participation strand runs alongside the ensemble’s artistic activities and provides opportunities for people over 60 to visit performances and actively participate in dance, thus boosting their social connections. While we are focusing on the theme of age and ageing, we are not discounting the perspectives of younger people – especially those of younger dancers. We simply believe that the process of ageing should not come with a reduction of possibilities and opportunities.

Bureau Ritter was founded in 2015 by Madeline Ritter and Ingo Diehl and now has sixteen employees. Madeline Ritter has been the company’s sole managing director since 2016. She has built a team in which positions of leadership are predominantly occupied by women. All team members participate in decision-making processes and contribute to discussions on the company’s future development and the themes and topics it seeks to address.

A productive feedback culture is at the heart of Bureau Ritter, with regular team meetings, performance reviews, team and away days, which are often moderated by external experts. Members of staff take turns to lead the weekly team meetings and are able to add agenda points at any time. Bureau Ritter thus provides a framework and process for voicing personal or professional concerns in a safe and supported way. This strengthens our organisational culture and encourages openness and sensitivity in our interactions with each other.

Madeline Ritter is a member of numerous committees and associations, including the cross-sector alliance “Gemeinsam gegen Sexismus” (United Against Sexism), which was launched by the Federal Minister for Women Lisa Paus in 2023. In her role as founder and executive director of Bureau Ritter, Madeline Ritter keeps her team updated about the latest developments in legislation and policies relating to equal opportunities, gender equality, diversity, inclusive practices, the value of age, anti-ageism and other social change processes. Employees are encouraged to participate in and contribute to cultural policy initiatives and/or topic-specific networks. In addition, they are supported in undertaking professional development in areas such as non-violent communication, productive conflict resolution, diversity-sensitive language, management cultures and work organisation. This helps to raise awareness of specific topics, deepen our understanding of social issues and develop new skills within the team.

The same themes are central to how Bureau Ritter communicates with the external world. It presents projects and alliances that promote feminist perspectives, inclusion, creative ageing and empowerment, including around sensitive subjects (such as, for example, how menstruation is dealt with in the professional dance sector).

Bureau Ritter’s website strives to use gender-inclusive language and is in the process of being reviewed in order to become more accessible for people with disabilities. All job postings specifically encourage people from marginalised groups to apply. Physical barriers to access (due to the limitations of the building in which Bureau Ritter’s offices are located) are dealt with in an up-front and transparent manner.

Employees of Bureau Ritter have a large degree of flexibility and independence in how they organise their working hours. There are provisions for parental leave, family time, additional childcare or other caring responsibilities, as well as for medical appointments, rest periods and time off in lieu – depending on working hours and individual circumstances.

Pay scales at Bureau Ritter are aligned with the German TVöD (a collective public sector pay agreement). Levels of pay are solely determined by educational attainment, qualifications and experience. Gender and other distorting factors have no relevance. Our aim is to establish a system of pay scales that is fair, transparent and based on objective criteria.

Berlin, 6 February 2024

Madeline Ritter

(Artistic and Executive Director, Bureau Ritter)