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. This session is intended for those seeking to learn more about new models for artist support and to get an inside perspective of the AAC’s impact.

Learn more and register here.

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. Department of Labor to incentivize states, localities and nonprofit organizations to experiment with portable benefits models. 

“Each year more and more Americans engage in part-time, contract or other alternative work arrangements to support themselves and their families. But despite these shifts, our retirement and savings programs aren’t keeping up to help these workers,” said Sen. Warner. “This program will encourage experimentation at the state and local levels to support the realities of a 21st century workforce.”

“Job opportunities in the gig economy provide workers with utmost flexibility,” said Sen. Young. “Supporting portable benefit options helps uncover creative solutions to addressing the needs of our rapidly changing workforce. I am pleased to reintroduce this bill to make it easier for Hoosiers find the job opportunity that best suits their family situation.”

“The way we work is rapidly evolving, and it is time our laws caught up. Today, millions of workers lack access to benefits like workers’ compensation and paid time off. We must act to ensure our economy works for everyone,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene. “This legislation is an important step toward ensuring benefits are accessible to all workers, regardless of their work arrangement. Whether you are a rideshare driver or an online artisan, you should have the same benefits opportunities as other workers.” 

The legislation is co-sponsored in the Senate by U.S. Sens. Angus King (I-ME), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and John Hoeven (R-ND). 

“Independent workers make up a growing percentage of our workforce, yet they are often not eligible for many benefits typically offered by employers. North Dakotans in non-traditional work arrangements deserve access to the same benefits as the rest of the working public,” said Sen. Cramer. “These pilot programs encourage state and local governments to provide portable benefits and give independent contractors additional financial stability.”

“Information technology, analytics and the ‘gig’ economy are changing the complexion of the 21st century economy, so it’s vital that our federal policies evolve to stay in step with the reality faced by everyday workers,” said Sen. King. “Today, more and more Americans work as independent contractors, or are more regularly switching jobs to address new opportunities in the workforce – and they should have flexible benefit options for them and their families. This bipartisan bill would lay the groundwork for more portable benefits so we can effectively support independent workers as they help change and expand the modern economy.”

“As we experience a workforce shortage across the nation, offering more flexible benefits and support will help make it easier for workers across the country and in North Dakota to find the right job opportunity for them and their families,” said Sen. Hoeven.

In the past decade, the composition of the U.S. workforce has changed significantly, and those who earn all or some of their income as independent contractors, part-time workers, temporary workers or contingent workers have found it difficult and expensive to access benefits and protections that are commonly provided to full-time employees. These benefits include paid leave, workers’ compensation, skills training, unemployment insurance, tax withholding and tax-advantaged retirement savings. As the workforce changes, employers and policymakers need to consider a system that allows workers to carry these benefits with them from job to job across a lifetime in the workforce.

The Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act would establish a portable benefits pilot program at the U.S. Department of Labor. It authorizes a total of $20 million for competitive grants to states, local governments and nonprofits for pilot projects to design, implement and evaluate new models ($15 million) or assess and improve existing models ($5 million) for portable benefits for independent workers such as contractors, temporary workers and self-employed workers.

Eligible models will provide a number of work-related benefits and protections – such as retirement savings, workers compensation, life or disability insurance, sick leave, training and educational benefits, health care, and more. In order to encourage innovative thinking on these challenging issues, programs focused solely on retirement-related benefits will not be eligible. In awarding grants, the Secretary of Labor is directed to prioritize models that can be replicated on a large scale or at the national level.

 Sen. Warner and Rep. DelBene originally introduced this legislation in 2017, and have continued to lead the push for policy solutions to address shifts across our economy that have changed the workforce. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Warner doubled down on efforts to include expanded benefits eligibility in relief packages.

“Grantmakers in the Arts sees firsthand the negative impact on independent workers that their lack of access to workplace benefits has on their health, their stability, their families,” said Eddie Torres, President and CEO, Grantmakers in the Arts. “We see these negative impacts because so many artists are independent workers. Health insurance, disability insurance, retirement savings, and other benefits provide essential protections for traditional workers that independent workers simply do without. With the number of independent workers growing, the introduction of the Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act comes at a crucial time. The bill will begin to lay the policy foundation to make workplace benefits available to independent workers, including artists. Grantmakers in the Arts strongly supports this legislation, and stands ready to work with Senators Warner and Young and Representative DelBene to have it signed into law this Congress.”

“The Association of Language Companies applauds Senator Warner and his colleagues for introducing the Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act,” said Susan Amarino, President, Association of Language Companies. “The language industry works in every industry in the US. We support national security, economic growth, and the provision of vital language access to health care, education, and social services. The translators, interpreters, captioners, and other skilled language professionals deserve the ability to choose independent contractor status and receive the benefits necessary to take care of their families and plan for their futures. The pilot program for portable benefits would go a long way toward supporting the 21st-century knowledge-based workforce.”

A copy of the bill text is available here.

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.

Creativity is Boundless: An Inclusive Guide outlines recommendations and practical next steps for making artist support opportunities (fellowships, grants, and residency programs) more inclusive and accessible to all regardless of immigration status.

Learn more and register here.
 

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.”

We know that supporting organizations through an open call process is in alignment with our vision. We have been working and building towards this moment for years because we believe that this process is critical to achieving a just and equitable New Jersey. We expect to distribute $500,000 with grants ranging from approximately $15,000 to $75,000 to 10 to 20 organizations depending on the organizations and the number of applications we receive.

Our own transformation to become a racial justice funder has been steeped in an approach to “learn by doing, and do while learning.” The only way to effectively live into this principle is to acknowledge a simple truth: we don’t know what we don’t know. The strong relationships that we’ve built over the past two years with our Imagine a New Way and Momentum Fund organizations, practitioners, and leaders have provided us with invaluable feedback, insights, and learnings to move our work ever closer to justice. But, we still have work to do in learning about organizations tackling structural racism across the State.

In this spirit, through this first-ever Open Call process, we will adjust and adapt.  We know that an application process is not perfect – that asking organizations to complete an application for funding takes time away from their mission. It’s our goal to make the process as streamlined as possible and to only ask questions that are essential to our understanding of the work.

And while today we are announcing the Open Call approach, this is not the only way we connect with communities, leaders, and organizations. Our team will continue to connect with communities, to show up, to ask questions, to listen deeply, and to identify how current systems—and in some cases, our own practices—continue to perpetuate injustices.

So now we turn to you – our community. Help us connect with and support organizations that are addressing the root causes and repair of structural racism across our State. Apply for funding yourself if your work aligns with our vision for a just and equitable New Jersey. And share the Open Call far and wide.

Learn more here.

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.

We support communities most impacted by structural oppression. In 2022, we awarded unrestricted, multi-year grants to organizations that are deeply rooted in their communities, utilize creative practice and cultural strategies, and work to address systemic and intersectional societal challenges.

Learn more about the fund here.

“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.

While Puerto Rico suffered from a complete loss of electricity, much as it has with the 2022 storm, and blocked roadways, ICP managed to work with federal agencies and local organizations to facilitate access to the arts through the program Cultura Rodante (Culture on Wheels). The idea was to provide communities with comfort and help them find some normality by bringing artists and arts organizations to different places throughout the island to work with local constituents. Even Poetry Out Loud, the NEA’s national poetry recitation contest for high school students, continued with ICP’s assistance despite the power outages.

In addition to being Puerto Rico’s arts agency, ICP also oversees the General Archives of Puerto Rico, which contains important historical public documents; the National Library; and the Collections Unit, which stores artworks and historical objects that are often loaned to other institutions, all of which required damage assessments and recovery recommendations.

The NEA, working with ICP and partnering with local organizations and other federal agencies, such as the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), has conducted numerous workshops on funding opportunities for cultural nonprofit organizations. In addition, the NEA worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Interior, National Archives and Records Administration, and the National Park Service, along with ICP, to conduct important historical preservation workshops on topics such as cemetery repair work at historic sites and climate considerations for the management of historic properties, especially those vulnerable to flooding and projected sea level rise.

Read the full interview here.

“How do we ensure that global philanthropy is not causing more harm?” said Kendra Nicolai, Director of Operations at Shadhika, for Community Centric Fundraising. “As a white woman in the US, working for gender justice in India, the key was discovering how my own power and privilege were getting in the way of our path to decolonization.”

“A year into my role at Shadhika, we hired a new Executive Director, My Lo Cook, who redefined the vision of Shadhika’s work, centering around a feminist and decolonizing core.”

“As our team spent time reflecting on the foundation of our work and how to move the needle for gender justice in India, we had tough conversations with our partners, staff, and board about the power we hold as a funder and how we can deconstruct this.” 

“’Decolonizing development’ is a phrase that has been buzzing around the development sector. Notably, for Shadhika, it meant shifting the power from donors’ hands to the communities we work in. It meant working with local organizations more than just as a funder, but as a partner, learning from one another, building trust, bringing more voices to the table, and leaving decisions about funding and programmatic priorities in the hands of the experts in the field.”

“We know we must trust grassroots wisdom — which includes acknowledging and adjusting those harmful practices — and that this journey towards decolonizing our work is a continuous learning commitment we must undertake. I am thankful for My’s leadership and for bringing a decolonizing framework which helped me see where I needed to adjust and step out of the way to allow the work at Shadhika to grow and have the impact we intend.”

Read the full piece here.