"When Aria Florant, cofounder of Liberation Ventures, told her audience at the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations’ 2022 national conference that '[the project of] reparations needs to shock the system, needs to disrupt White supremacist narratives, close the racial wealth gap, and build a culture of repair,' a question that arose for us was: How can we bring the insight and promise of the reparations movement to philanthropy, and how do we best use philanthropy to support the work of reparations?" said Jocelynne Rainey and Lisa Pilar Cowan for Nonprofit Quarterly. "Philanthropies like ours—the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and the Brooklyn Community Foundation—that are funding work to address social, economic, and racial injustice must reckon with this contradiction and support the work of reparations."
Grantmakers in the Arts
The Music Man Foundation announced $750,000 in grants to four nonprofit organizations. Funds aim to nurture initiatives to secure increased funding for the arts, advocate for pro-arts and pro-artists policy changes, and raise awareness about the profound impact of arts on our health and well-being. The announcement comes on the 121st birthday of Meredith Willson, who wrote the musical “The Music Man” and in whose honor the Foundation was established.
Collaboratively created by arts leaders in the height of the COVID pandemic, the Artists’ Adaptability Circles (AAC) is a new program modeling artist sustainability by centering one of our oldest resources, mutual aid. In this 90-minute session on Thursday, June 1 from 12-1:30pm PDT, they invite participants to learn about the program and the ways in which it has impacted its beneficiaries, partner organizations, funders, and administrators.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Todd Young (R-IN) joined by U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA-01) today introduced legislation to test innovative portable benefits designs for the growing independent workforce. The Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act seeks to provide workers with access to insurance protections typically provided through traditional full-time employment. This legislation would establish a $20 million grant fund within the U.S.
"It is understandable that Puerto Rico might be experiencing a strong case of déjà vu. Hurricane Fiona raging across the island in September 2022 was bound to bring back bad memories of the two-punch devastation of Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017, from which they were still recovering. Among the local governmental organizations to first start recovery efforts back then was the island’s arts agency, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP), or Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. “We were the first state agency issuing checks in Puerto Rico” after the 2017 hurricanes, stated Freddy E. Vélez, deputy director at ICP," said Brian Lusher in an interview with the National Endowment for the Arts.
From the Dodge Foundation: At the Dodge Foundation, we are committed to engaging with and learning about racial justice-focused organizations working across the state of New Jersey. We have been supporting these types of organizations through our Imagine a New Way initiative over the last several years, connecting with organizations through intentional outreach and relationship building, and through a community-engaged grantmaking process in our Momentum Fund. Today, we are excited to announce that we are creating a new pathway for connection with racial justice-focused organizations that have not previously had access to the Dodge Foundation through our first-ever “Open Call.”
The Culture & Community Power Fund seeks to invest in, connect, and amplify efforts to help build community power through arts and culture.
The Fund is a lab to broaden and deepen the understanding of how art and culture can contribute to community power building. We experiment with ways to support organizations, individuals, and networks doing this work. We’re committed to sharing our learning with practitioners, investors, public officials, researchers, and others to help advance art and culture as a critical tool to support community power building.
Join Define American for their webinar, Creativity is Boundless: An Inclusive Guide for Supporting Immigrant, Migrant, and Undocumented Artists with Fellowships, Grants, and Residencies, on Wednesday, May 24 at 2pm PT/5pm ET. Interest in the stories of immigrants, migrants, and undocumented individuals continues to grow in the U.S. art and media landscape. Unfortunately, immigrant artists, especially those who are undocumented, have far less access to both paid and unpaid fellowships, residencies, and project funding due to unnecessary eligibility requirements.