Local Arts Agencies Getting Creative About Investment to Pursue Equity

Tuesday, October 23, 10:00am – 11:30am

Organized and moderated by Clay Lord, vice president of local arts advancement, Americans for the Arts.

Presented by Felicia Shaw, executive director, Regional Arts Commission of Saint Louis; Caroline Taiwo, program director, Economic Opportunity, Springboard for the Arts; and Deborah Cullinan, CEO, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA).

As social impact investment and other funding innovations are having a moment, how can LAAs, which generally have more strictures and less financial capital, work towards a more equitable investment strategy that puts all their “investment capital”—from money to staff time, professional development, space, and clout—on the table? In this interactive discussion and brainstorming session, explore how LAAs can take inspiration from impact investment strategies being implemented by large private foundations, as well as other loan-based or venture capital-based models like Kiva, CultureBank, and others, and right-size them to the rules, regulations, and resources of the standard LAA. In addition, think about how the 40% of LAAs that don’t distribute funds directly can re-understand the ways they invest in communities and place equity at the center of their non-financial investments from space to staff time. Combining new research on the current state of equitable investment in LAAs conducted by Americans for the Arts with innovative example investment strategies from other LAAs, government, private philanthropy, and business, this session will ideally seed some ideas on how you can pull equity more deeply into your investment practice back at home.