Health and Wellness Committee

Updated Feb 2021

AYCO/ACE Health and Wellness Committee Description:

The role of the AYCO/ACE Health and Wellness Advisory Committee is to develop and provide input and suggestions to the Board of AYCO/ACE on actions and priorities concerning health and wellness in the circus community. Additionally, the Committee supports and aids in development of Health and Wellness initiatives. The committee helps build AYCO/ACE’s capacity to promote physical, emotional, and mental health and wellness; prevent negative experiences; and respond more effectively as an organization and circus community. The committee identifies, creates, and shares resources on a range of health and wellness issues, including sexual abuse and harassment, historical traumas, disordered eating, concussions, and suicide. Examples of recent initiatives: Collaborating with the Safety Committee to include guidelines addressing H&W topics in the ACE Safety Network Guidelines; Health and Wellness Resources List, development of AYCO/ACE Minor Safety Policy.

Committee Meetings: Currently the fourth Tuesday of every other month 12-1:30pm ET , Jan, March, May, July, Sept, Nov; may change as committee composition changes.

Member Commitment: To help fulfill the committee description by committing to this nationally-focused, cross-issue coordinating committee for one year; members may re-commit and be re-elected in subsequent years, but this is not an expectation. Members are expected to attend a minimum attending 4 meetings per calendar year and work on at least one project, task force, or subcommittee (topical, regional, etc.) of your choice. 

Nomination process: Rolling. Interested candidates complete the committee nomination application/survey. At next committee meeting, current committee members will review any applications received, along with the needs of the committee, and vote to add new member(s), defer application(s) to a later meeting, and/or refer the applicant to a project or initiative that may be a better match. ¾ of current members present at a meeting must affirm new members. Chair(s) are currently elected annually by committee members, and new leadership development is encouraged.

Criteria for nomination of new members: We seek to develop a committee membership that reflects diverse health/wellness and circus professional roles (e.g., clinician, lawyer, parent, policy expert, program director, researcher), topical expertise (e.g., mental health promotion, suicide prevention, sexual abuse and harassment prevention, disordered eating, etc.), identities (racial/ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, disability), and organizational affiliations. Nominees should have professional or volunteer experience with AYCO/ACE priority health and wellness topics, and be committed to working collaboratively in a cross-issue committee to support capacity building nationally. 

Note: The committee hopes in 2021 to develop a larger network of AYCO/ACE members and supporters (beyond “official” committee members) who have interest and/or expertise in participating in specific AYCO/ACE Health and Wellness projects. Committee members may help identify and lead such projects, task forces, and subcommittees with non-committee members. If you’re interested in being a part of this larger network of supporters, please email info@americanyouthcircus.org!