From Upstart Co-Lab: The “creator economy” is the online ecosystem of platforms, products and services that enable independent content creators to make their work, build their audiences, monetize their ideas, and manage their careers. Technology is transforming how creative work is produced, distributed, compensated, and enjoyed — while simultaneously expanding who gets to tell their stories and who sees their own experiences represented online. Upstart Co-Lab believes impact investors can play a role to ensure the values of diversity, equity, inclusion and access are prioritized in this rapidly growing sector.

The latest in a series of deep dives into key creative industries, this report looks at a fast-growing segment of Upstart Co-Lab’s pipeline of impact investment opportunities in the U.S. creative economy.

Key Findings
The creator economy deemphasizes traditional gatekeepers like producers, editors and gallery owners by giving creators direct access to their audiences and, ostensibly, reducing barriers to creative careers for currently marginalized groups. By equipping creatives with the tools of entrepreneurship, the creator economy offers new pathways to wealth building and the promise of a “creative middle class.”

However, there are challenges to delivering on this potential:

More people have access to become money-making creators, but the most successful creators and their content do not reflect the diversity of the U.S.

While there is a lot of money being made, earnings are not flowing equitably: top creators and traditional gatekeepers are harvesting most of the profits, exacerbating inequalities by race, gender, and geography.

The creator economy promotes individuality flexibility, and freedom of expression; however, the ecosystem fails to ensure creator wellness, especially related to mental health, bullying and harassment.

In addition to the treasure trove of content with something for every audience, there is a preponderance of low-quality, addictive material.

Opportunity and Impact
The market size of the global creator economy is estimated to be at least $100 billion. Leading venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global have validated the investment potential of the creator economy, backing hundreds of startups and building at least 15 “unicorns” with >$1b valuations.

Upstart sees a tremendous opportunity for impact investors to help provide the guard rails and incentives that will secure the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access for the creator economy as it continues to grow.

The creator economy is ripe for foundations committed to narrative change, diverse storytelling, and free expression; art collectors and art workers who have been asking for impact investment opportunities connected to art and culture (per a 2021 survey from Deloitte); and museums and other cultural institutions that are beginning to engage their endowments in alignment with values and mission.

Creator economy startups hold significant impact potential; impact investors can invest in private companies via VC funds, angel investments, and crowdfunding.

Public companies supporting the creator economy rank well on ESG criteria and offer competitive returns; investors can take an active stakeholder role to amplify their values.

Implications
Factors affecting the creator economy in 2023 include technology sector volatility, crypto market shocks, and a more cautious investment environment with less capital moving to young companies and new ideas.

While Upstart Co-Lab believes that content, culture and community will play a major role in the 21st century — and that intentional engagement by impact investors can ensure the related economic benefits are shared equitably and sustainably — the creator economy is a nascent and quickly evolving sector and there remains much to learn.

Upstart’s new Inclusive Creative Economy Strategy will be closely considering opportunities to invest in the creator economy.

This research was supported by Halloran Philanthropies.

Read the full report here.

Today, President Biden announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) was founded in 1982 by Executive Order to advise the President on cultural policy.

The First Lady has historically served as Honorary Chair of the Committee, which is composed of members appointed by the President. Private committee members include prominent artists, scholars, and philanthropists who have demonstrated a serious commitment to the arts and humanities. Public members represent the heads of key federal agencies with a role in culture, including the Chairs of the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, the Librarian of Congress, the Secretary of the Smithsonian, and the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, among others. PCAH advises the President and the heads of U.S. cultural agencies on policy, philanthropic and private sector engagement, and other efforts to enhance federal support for the arts, humanities, and museum and library services. The PCAH will also engage the nation’s artists, humanities scholars, and cultural heritage practitioners to promote excellence in the arts, humanities, and museum and library services and demonstrate their relevance to the country’s health, economy, equity, and civic life. Over the past 40 years, PCAH has catalyzed federal programs and played a vital role in the advancement of arts and humanities education, cultural diplomacy, and the creative economy.

Learn more about the committee members here.

From Arts Engines with Aaron Dworkin: Welcome to this week’s episode of Arts Engines which now reaches over 100,000 weekly viewers in partnership with Detroit Public Television, Ovation TV, The Violin Channel and American Public Media including Performance Today and YourClassical. Arts Engines seeks to share the most valuable advice and input from arts administrators who tell their stories of creative problem-solving, policy, economic impact, crisis management and empowering the future of our field.

This week’s show is co-curated by our Creative Partner, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and our guest is Omari Rush, Board Chair of NASAA and Executive Director of CultureSource, as he talks about board engagement and advancing equity. Enjoy… and have a creative week!

Stream the episode here.

Check out the latest coverage of the Sphinx Organization on PBS. It spotlights their work in Detroit and features Sphinx Virtuosi that performed at the 2017 GIA conference in Detroit. Stream the story here.

The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project is pleased to announce a six-part webinar series addressing common questions, clarifying misconceptions, and exploring ways to overcome obstacles in implementing trust-based philanthropy.

Trust-based philanthropy is a philosophy and approach rooted in values of relationship-building, mutual learning, and systemic equity – with a vision of advancing a healthier and more impactful nonprofit sector. While this approach is generally associated with six core grantmaking practices such as multi-year unrestricted funding and streamlined paperwork, the day-to-day work of trust-based philanthropy is very nuanced and dynamic. In fact, funders who have embraced this approach are finding that it requires ongoing self-reflection and rigor with regards to how they think about – and evolve – many of the deeply embedded practices and assumptions of traditional philanthropy.

Given these nuances, it is not surprising that there are many questions and occasional misperceptions about what it actually means to embody trust-based philanthropy in practice. In this 6-part webinar series, the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project will explore some of the most commonly asked questions and the underlying misperceptions that may be roadblocks to understanding and operationalizing trust-based philanthropy.

Each session in the series will focus on a frequently asked question from the field, and will feature perspectives from foundation leaders and others who have grappled with similar or related questions. At the end of each session, participants will walk away with: 1) a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the underlying cultural philosophy of trust-based philanthropy; 2) tips for how to think about and approach these nuances in their own work; and 3) talking points for how to answer these FAQs when they come up from colleagues or peers.

Each session will also provide dedicated space for small-group peer dialogue about ways to implement these practices into your grantmaking.

Who should attend: Anyone in a grantmaking role that is curious about understanding the nuances of trust-based philanthropy and how it applies to your work. This series will be ideal for those who have some baseline familiarity with trust-based philanthropy and have questions about how it manifests in practice.

The first session begins on Wednesday, April 19 at 3pm ET. Learn more and register here.

From Helicon: Artists have specialized skills and capacities, but their basic needs are not unique. They need stable and affordable housing; access to health care and unemployment insurance; time off when they are sick or have a family crisis; fair wages; legal protection from exploitation; and opportunities and resources to turn their ideas into reality.

Yet most working artists—including many who are considered “successful” by typical standards—work multiple jobs and struggle to make ends meet, falling through the cracks of our economy and social safety net. The COVID-19 pandemic made clear that artists’ economic lives are precarious, and they have few safety nets available to them in moments of shock or disruption. The good and bad news is that artists are not alone, and there are growing movements working to address the systemic and structural issues that keep many members of our society on the margins, often despite working full-time and/or providing services of great value to communities. Artists and artist advocates can benefit from joining broader movements fighting for fair pay and benefits, workers’ rights, debt relief, guaranteed income, more democratic workplaces, affordable housing, subsidized child care, and more; as well as adapting their strategies, tactics, and tools to push for a more equitable, sustainable, and democratic creative sector.

This report investigates five areas where artists and artist advocates can invest for structural and systemic change (as well as a critical look at NFTs).

Read the full report here.

From Education Commission of the States: For decades, racial, ethnic and socioeconomic inequities and gender stereotypes have prevented students from accessing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. These barriers have negatively impacted high school STEM advanced placement course access, postsecondary persistence and entrance into STEM occupations.​ However, early STEAM education — which adds the “A” for arts — presents opportunities to improve access, equity, inclusion and outcomes.

This Policy Outline highlights strategies to provide STEAM education to students in pre-K through fifth grade and shares three innovative programs that are supporting equitable outcomes for young learners through STEAM education.

Access the full resource here.

From American Alliance of Museums: Over the past several years, museums have faced widespread and systemic challenges that have fundamentally changed the way our institutions serve their communities.

We’re pleased to share the release of Reopenings: What Museums Learned Leading through Crisis, a special series of in-depth reports with case studies and multimedia examining some of the long-term lessons, mindsets, and practices museums have learned and adopted from their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Explore the series’ first report, titled Reboot, and its accompanying case studies, to discover how museums accelerated their digital transformation over the past several years and the lessons they will carry forward into our hybrid future.

Part two, titled Reflection, examines those museums who used the pandemic crisis as an opportunity to work with their communities to become institutions that have social impact.

The third and final report, titled Responsibility, highlights those museums whose embrace of human-centered leadership practices during the pandemic offer a new way for museums to manage their most valuable asset: their people.

Read the full report here.