Meow Wolf, the Santa Fe-based immersive art and entertainment company, appointed Gennean Scott, a former Broadway theater executive in New York City, as chief inclusion officer in a brand-new position for one of New Mexico's most well-known institutions.
Prior to starting as the New Mexico company's chief inclusion officer, Scott served as chief diversity officer at The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway theater industry based in New York City. She has over two decades of experience working on efforts related to accessibility, diversity, equity and inclusion, according to a Wednesday news release from Meow Wolf.
"I'm excited to join Meow Wolf, a company that champions creativity, inclusion, equity, and a sense of belonging — values deeply aligned with my own," Scott said in a statement. "As chief inclusion officer, I look forward to cultivating an environment where diversity fuels our artistic endeavors, ensuring that everyone, employees and guests alike, feels valued and celebrated."
Scott joins Meow Wolf's senior leadership team and will report directly to CEO Jose Tolosa, who said in a statement her "remarkable career and passion for the arts make her an invaluable addition to our organization." She'll work from the company's New York office and travel between there and Santa Fe, as well as other Meow Wolf exhibitions.
A graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Scott's career outside of New York City has included serving as the vice president of human capital and inclusion at Omaha Performing Arts and director of business administration and finance at Omaha School of Music. On Broadway, Scott spearheaded the theater industry's first quantitative and qualitative equity audit and the creation of union partnerships to support underrepresented communities, according to Meow Wolf's release.
In early January, Meow Wolf appointed Rebecca Campbell, a former executive for The Walt Disney Co., to its board of directors.
The company also recently underwent a series of corporate layoffs and upper-level restructuring in what Didi Bethurum, Meow Wolf's chief communications officer, said was a straight reduction in force and not based on individual performance. Let-go employees received severance packages and can re-apply for a role at Meow Wolf in the future, Bethurum said.
Meow Wolf currently operates four physical exhibition locations — "The House of Eternal Return" in Santa Fe, the company's first location; "Convergence Station" in Denver; "Omega Mart" in Las Vegas; and the recently opened "The Real Unreal" in Grapevine, just outside Dallas, Texas. A fifth exhibition is under construction and expected to open this year in Houston, as well.
The Santa Fe-based company also has a corporate office in Los Angeles.
