Humanizing Racial Equity Work

Tuesday, October 15, 10:00am – 11:30am

Organized and facilitated by Cate Fox, senior program officer, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and Karen Hott, team administrator, MacArthur Foundation.

Presented by Sadia Nawab, director of Arts and Culture, Inner-City Muslim Action Network; Nina Sanchez, director, Enrich Chicago; and Cayenne Harris, vice president, Lyric Opera Chicago, Lyric Unlimited.

As institutions have increasingly resolved to address racial equity and operationalize equitable practices, many have defaulted to a model that begins and ends with a workshop. But there is so much more that is needed for this work. In this session, a few members of the Enrich Chicago collaborative, a collective of 31 arts and philanthropic organizations working to advance racial equity in the arts, will reflect on how to build and sustain momentum within organizations’ racial equity efforts, the power of investing in relationships that nurture our humanity within a dehumanizing race construct and simultaneously organize for change, and breaking through the isolation that can result from being an outspoken voice for equity within an institution. After a short sharing from the speakers, conversation will be opened to participants to relate their experiences and questions. In what can sometimes be a lonely endeavor, we are building a community of practice.