Racial Equity in Arts Funding Workshop: February 2022

Jonny Altrogge

Facilitator, True North EDI

Jonny Altrogge is originally from the Pittsburgh area but has lived and worked in New York City for nearly 10 years. In addition to his work around Diversity, Equity, and Interdependent consulting and facilitating he is a school coach for the NYC public school system. Outside of work Jonny loves all things outdoor-related, and is a musician who previously performed in small venues around the city. Jonny is passionate about continuing his own learning as well as guiding and supporting others on their journey towards understanding what justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion mean in our ever-evolving world and communities. Jonny believes that organizational advancement and achievement begins with understanding the self, and reflecting and focusing on ways in which we can grow as individual.

Nadia Elokdah

Vice President & Director of Programs, Grantmakers in the Arts

Nadia Elokdah is an urbanist, designer, and cultural producer. She currently serves as deputy director and director of programs for Grantmakers in the Arts. Most recently she served as special projects manager with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and she coordinated and co-authored the City’s Monuments Commission and CreateNYC, the first-ever comprehensive cultural plan for NYC in 2017. In this role, she coordinated and led hundreds of engagements with a broad cross-section of the peoples, communities, and stakeholders city-wide. Elokdah is a trained architect and design strategist, researcher, professor, and published author. She holds a Master of Arts in Theories of Urban Practice from Parsons The New School for Design and a Bachelors of Architecture from Temple University.

Randy Engstrom

Former Director of the Office of Arts and Culture, City of Seattle

Randy Engstrom has been a passionate advocate and organizer of cultural and community development for over 15 years. He is currently an Adjunct Faculty at the Seattle University Arts Leadership Program and an independent consultant focused on cultural policy, organizational development and racial equity. Most recently he served as Director of the Office of Arts and Culture for the City of Seattle where he expanded their investments in granting programs and Public Art, while establishing new programs and policies in arts education, cultural space affordability, and racial equity. He served as Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission in 2011 after serving two years as Vice-Chair, and was Chair of the Facilities and Economic Development Committee from 2006 to 2010. Previously he served as the Founding Director of the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, a multimedia/multidisciplinary community space that offers youth and community member’s access to arts, technology, and cultural resources.

Kerry McCarthy

Vice President for Philanthropic Initiatives, New York Community Trust

Kerry McCarthy designs donor services to make best use of the expertise in New York Community Trust’s competitive grants program. She is co-chair of The Trust’s Mosaic Network and Fund. She also is on the board of the Billie Holiday Theatre; a member of the City Department of Education’s arts education committee; and the former vice chair of Grantmakers in the Arts. Kerry has a B.A. from Sewanee: The University of the South, and an M.A. in Folk Art Studies from New York University.

Salem Tsegaye

Program Officer, Arts & Culture, New York Community Trust

Salem Tsegaye oversees grantmaking in arts, culture, and historic preservation at New York Community Trust, where she also manages the Mosaic Learning Network and Fund. Tsegaye’s past roles at New York Community Trust also include program associate and senior program associate. Tsegaye has served as assistant director for the Arts Research Institute, Virginia Commonwealth University. Tsegaye has also served on the editorial team for Createquity. Tsegaye holds a B.A. from Duke University and an M.A. from Parsons The New School for Design.

Sherylynn Sealy

Senior Program Manager, Grantmakers in the Arts

Sherylynn Sealy is a strategist, artist, yoga instructor, and educator with a varied background. Prior to her role with Grantmakers in the Arts, Sealy was a philanthropy fellow with the New York Community Trust where she engaged with arts and culture funders and organizations across New York City. She previously served as a consultant for the New Haven Mayor’s Office and Superintendent’s Office on their implementation of the city-wide Youth Stat Initiative. Managing over 200 student-cases, she served as the point of contact for schools and local partners. She served on the Dance/NYC Junior Committee and is the producing artistic director at Greater Glory Nazarene Ministries in Brooklyn, NY. She continues to explore her passion for performing arts, traveling, and spreading a message of hope. She holds a Masters of Public Administration in Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy from New York University, Bachelors of Science in Education and Psychology from Northeastern University, and is a Teach for America alumna.

Edwin Torres

President & CEO, Grantmakers in the Arts

Edwin Torres joined Grantmakers in the Arts as president & CEO in October 2017. Torres served on the GIA board of directors from 2011 through 2016. He most recently served as deputy commissioner of cultural affairs for New York City, where he worked on elements of the city’s long-term sustainability plan, a study of and efforts to support the diversity of the city’s cultural organizations and the city’s first cultural plan. Prior to joining the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, he was a program officer with The Rockefeller Foundation, where he worked on the foundation’s support for arts and culture, jobs access, and resilience. He has also served in the dean’s office at Parsons the New School for Design, on the arts and culture team at The Ford Foundation as well as on the staff of the Bronx Council on the Arts. He holds a Master of Arts in Art History from Hunter College and a Master of Science in Management from The New School.

Marcus Walton

President & CEO, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations

Marcus F. Walton joins GEO with over a decade of practice in both nonprofit management and the ontological learning model. He specializes in operationalizing conceptual frameworks; racial equity facilitation and training; leadership and management strategy; stakeholder engagement; program development and navigating philanthropy. In his previous role as Director of Racial Equity Initiatives for Borealis Philanthropy, Marcus lead the Racial Equity Initiatives team and worked in partnership with 18 nationally-networked, philanthropy-serving grantee organizations to move past the “transactional” nature of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to a unified movement which prioritizes strategies that close gaps in access to opportunity, resources and well-being (across all categories of gender, identity, sexual orientation, class and ability). Before that, Marcus served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE), where he oversaw its operations, HR and staff development functions, including the overall strategy, conceptualization and administration of racial equity programming. Prior to ABFE, he combined his organizing experience and passion for public service in the role of Program Officer of Community Responsive Grantmaking with the Cleveland Foundation and Sr. Program Officer with Neighborhood Progress, Inc. Marcus is a Newfield Network-trained ontological coach, with additional training in the Action Learning systems coaching model.