The Artistic Directors of Color Alliance – Greater Los Angeles was created after a year of research and surveying the needs of theaters in the cohort. The survey, conducted in late 2021 to early 2022, gathered current information on the status of member theaters "to build a case for philanthropic investment in the field given a long history of underinvestment in BIPOC theaters by funders, corporate and individual donors and government."

The survey provided verification of what had up to then been anecdotal information. The findings in this survey pertain to the participating members of the cohort; they are not meant to be representative of all theaters led by artistic directors of color in Greater Los Angeles.

Because there has been massive upheaval in the arts and culture sector since the time of the original survey, a second shorter survey was distributed to Alliance members in early 2023. The findings below have been updated with more current information.