Amsterdam, July, 2024 – Starting this year JetBlue, New York’s hometown airline which operates daily flights from New York and Boston to Amsterdam Schiphol, has partnered with InterActing, the theatre school for young people with autism. This nonprofit supports young people through improvisational theatre.

Improvisation helps neurodivergent young people cope better with the world and make friends. In the Netherlands, there are about 50,000 children and adolescents with autism. As of 2024, InterActing has, in addition to the regular acting groups (from 12 to 22 years old), introduced a show team with up-and-coming talent.

JetBlue will help support the show team with an annual donation, which will help facilitate for the acting coach, the rehearsal space, catering for the rehearsals and travel for shows on location.

JetBlue GM Europe, Maja Gedosev:
“As JetBlue continues to foster meaningful relationships within the communities we serve, we are thrilled to announce our partnership with InterActing to support their extraordinary initiative empowering individuals with autism to shine on stage. JetBlue is committed to championing inclusivity and diversity, and we are proud to collaborate with InterActing in providing opportunities for all to showcase their talent and creativity. Together, we look forward to making a positive impact in the lives of many through the transformative power of the performing arts.”

Co-founder Saskia Maas: “Improvisational theater is a form of theater that doesn’t use a script. There are however principles that you use to be able to improvise and those are very handy for the daily lives of our neurodivergent teenagers. Whether it is being able to build on each other’s ideas or playing around with different roles and emotions, at InterActing you get to practice life a little bit in a safe environment.”

About InterActing Foundation 
InterActing was founded in 2018 by Saskia Maas (co-founder of comedy institute Boom Chicago) and Pim Donkersloot, educator and family therapist. Maas has two children, including a son with autism, and Donkersloot is the father of two autistic children. They use improvisational theater to help autistic adolescents develop social-emotional skills, increase their self-confidence and adapt to changing situations so they can better hold their own in the world.