GIA Blog

From Mellon Foundation, "Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes was no stranger to the significance of Ashé Cultural Arts Center when she joined the non-profit as chief equity officer in January 2020."

“'This was the first place that paid me to write a poem in my early 20s,' says Ecclesiastes of the New Orleans non-profit organization that celebrates its 25th anniversary next year. “This is an organization that I have been around since its inception. I grew up alongside it."

"Today, Native Voices Rising (NVR) announced $3.5 million in grants to 114 Indigenous and Native-led advocacy and organizing groups. This year’s grant awardees work on an array of critical issues, including the promotion of Indigenous worldview, addressing trauma created by the U.S. Indian Boarding School policy, climate and water justice, and preventing incarceration in Native communities, to name a few."

"To my esteemed colleagues," begins Vu Le of Nonprofit AF, "On a webinar about Donor-Advised Funds that took place on October 19th, 2022, with Susannah Morgan, Ray Madoff, and Chuck Collins, I used words that were deeply offensive and hurtful. Words that included “the rich,” “white,” “hoarding,” “equity,” “SkyMall catalog,” and, most egregious of all, “hobby.” I am here to apologize, take accountability for my thoughtlessness and insensitivity, and humbly ask for your forgiveness."

"From Ferguson to Minneapolis, protests against racist policing have been catalyzed by videos of the brutality being spread on social media." On a recent episode of the Slate Race and Identity Podcast, "Jason Johnson sits down with Dr. Ruha Benjamin to talk about her book, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want, and where social sciences and technology intersect."

"To cultivate means to acquire or develop, and to harvest means to collect or obtain for a future use," said Creatives Empowered. "Since the summer of 2020, equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) has become ‘top of mind’ throughout the cultural sector, and a priority in funding. Who is cultivating and harvesting EDI, and the money that’s available for it And is the equity-seeking community actually being empowered in the process?"

Crain's New York Business released their 40 under 40 list which includes Salem Tsegaye. Tsegaye is a program officer for the New York Community Trust, and served as planning committee co-chair for the 2022 GIA Conference.

"You’ve probably heard one. You may have helped craft one. A land acknowledgment is quickly becoming de rigueur among mainstream cultural and arts institutions. An official will stand at a podium and announce: This building is situated on the unceded land of the XYZ people. As if those people are not still here. As if this all happened in the past," said Joseph Pierce for Hyperallergic. "He will breathe deeply and continue: We pay homage to the original stewards of these lands. The audience will nod in agreement. As if homage were the same as returning stolen land."

"A land acknowledgment is not enough."

"PEAK Grantmaking has always been dedicated to creating communities for grants professionals to embrace our Learn, Share, Evolve Principle. As PEAK looks to its next chapter, we want to leverage our existing peer network structures in new ways to better foster a learning community that embraces and advances adaptive learning processes, and we also want to inspire our members to utilize this approach inside their own organizations. PEAK sees the concepts and practices of emergent learning as a natural fit to advance our work around our Principles for Peak Grantmaking in powerful new ways. Now is the time to define the concepts, qualities, and practices of emergent learning, and how we envision operationalizing it throughout our community and in the sector at large."

From Threshold Philanthropy: "Sometimes we forget that the flowers that we delight in during spring and summer did not sprout overnight. There were months of growth, mystery, and magic happening beneath the dark soil that we did not see, before the flowers unfurled and produced the sweet fragrances and foods for us and our plant and animal relatives to enjoy. Threshold Philanthropy was conceived during a pandemic, a racial uprising, and through a text message in a Target parking lot. Beth texted Morgan and offered an idea, a seed if you will. She asked, what if you and I create something with Lindsay? Morgan was like, could you elaborate? Beth said, here’s what I know, you two lead it and center yours and your communities healing. Beth wanted to retire, Morgan and Lindsay wanted to leave their jobs, and all three wanted to see the sector change. Our origins are not like most philanthropies, most are lead and funded by white people and have way more structures and processes in place."

"For the last several years, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) has been re-examining its approaches to engaging the public in discourse around issues of representation, equity, and diversity during the process of commissioning permanent artwork, monuments, and memorials in the public realm. Traditional methods of engagement such as public meetings, surveys, and questionnaires remain important tools. But in order to develop a deeper and more nuanced assessment of community values and priorities, we need to commit to varied forms of engagement that connect with broader, more representative audiences and foster more thoughtful dialogue."