Often impacted by marginalization and systemic disparity, Red Ladder’s participants span a wide range of ages, experiences and abilities, with backgrounds that often include racial segregation, economic hardship, teen pregnancy, developmental disability, housing insecurity or incarceration. The company fills the void where the resources to nurture life-skills critical to the healthy development of children and enrichment programs for struggling adults are not available. Red Ladder creates partnerships with community organizations and conducts residencies in schools, community centers, prisons and juvenile justice institutions, working with participants over an extended period of time to engage their creativity and amplify their voices through devised theatre and performance pieces developed by the participants to tell their own stories.