“Over the past few years, companies made it their mission to commit to diversifying their boards and fostering a more inclusive culture. But, with women holding just 24% of senior leadership positions globally, and white people making up almost 80% of the American workforce, there is still work to be done,” said author Ashton Jackson for Make It Black. “That’s why Lybra Clemons, chief diversity, inclusion and belonging officer at Twilio, works to build diverse representation at every level.”

“I think a lot of people thought it was just a more elevated term for diversity, equity inclusion. But as we’ve started to go through the process, we’re learning that anti-racism is different. DE&I are still very foundational and fundamental to work, but anti-racism is an active term where you are personally responsible. This is about self-awareness and taking full accountability of who you are. We are actively promoting equity and racial justice through consistent, deliberate decisions that we make.”

“There’s the mistrust, people discredit you… you have to be the ultimate subject matter expert,” [Twilio] says. “And even when you are, people are still discrediting and doubting you. You have to work harder to gain that trust with your peer group. And so I find that I’ve had to use all kinds of tools and coaching to stay confident in who I am and know how to manage when people are constantly ripping away at you.”

Read the full article here.

“June 24th, 2022 was a dark day in our fight for liberation of Black bodies and for Black power,” said Jasmine Williams for Interaction Institute for Social Change. “Reproductive justice is centrally linked to Black liberation: it is our right to know our bodies, make decisions about our bodies, and feel safe in our bodies. Self-determination has been challenged, disregarded, and disrespected. To my Black sisters, trans brothers, and gender-non-conforming kin: I rage with you, cry with you, and continue the work of building a world in service of our liberation with you today and all days.”

“The Supreme Court’s conservative decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is a calculated attack on our bodies, our freedom, and our personal sovereignty. This is not the first action taken by the courts in what has been a long history of reproductive control rooted in classism, sexism, and racism. It is class, sex, and race-based violence designed to further oppress, control, dehumanize, delegitimize, and imprison. I stand in opposition to this decision and in solidarity and support of Black Lives Matter’s calls for expanding the court, ending the filibuster, and passing the Women’s Health Protection Act.”

Read the full article here.

From the National Endowment for the Arts, “This Arts Data Profile gives national and state-level estimates of artists in the workforce. The figures derive from American Community Survey (ACS) data covering 2015-2019. The ACS is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. State-level estimates are available for the total number of artists and for each individual type of artist (workers in any of 13 specific artist occupations).”

The interactive map, “illustrates both counts and location quotients for the total number of artists, and for workers,” for a number of creative fields.

Read the full report here.

“Indigenous communities face multi-level hurdles to thriving in U.S. financial systems. First, communities are governed by both the U.S. and their tribal affiliations, which creates unique structures for each group. But laws harken back to a toxic mixture of treaties and broken promises, leaving many without the foundation for financial stability,” said author Hadassah Patterson for Next City. “Adding to this are a hodge-podge of modern-day legislative gaps, policy bias and lack of access to financial services.”

“Financial education is an integral piece in the systemic oppression around access to capital for Native communities…Native individuals are also the least likely of any minority group to have emergency funds or a banking/checking account of any other minority population in the nation. So Native families wouldn’t have access to the emergency loans necessary to keep families housed, fed, and safe through the pandemic crisis and its recovery period.”

“In the near future, we are broadening our range of financial education programming. We’re launching an advanced curriculum for Building Native Communities: Financial Coaching for Families to assist Native financial practitioners in further developing their coaching skills in 2023,” said Patterson. “We’ll also roll out the full Native CDFI Practitioners Certification program. This program is designed to build the operational sustainability and organizational capacity of Native CDFIs across the country, through tailored instruction on financial management, lending, development services, impact tracking, marketing, capitalization and more.”

Read the full article here.

“In the face of compounding historical traumas, environmental collapse, and chronic uncertainty, we know as a species that we need something radically different. Yet, many of us feel the pain of not knowing where to begin. In this course, we will explore and exercise our creative muscle in order to strengthen our visionary self. When we create as a form of prayer, the space inside and between us becomes a sanctuary. The opening of portals for futures unknown.”

“Come, let us sit together in circles of wonder and creative devotion. There are no answers here; this is an enchanting dance with the unknown, so let us become a fellowship of voyagers. This course is an invitation to surrender. The etymology of ‘surrender’ is to make from above. In these times, the inner visionary must reach beyond the realms of this world and into one that already exist, simultaneously within and just beyond us, pulling it down into existence through a faithful act of co-creation.”

Join Alixa Garcia for this 4-month workshop series September-December. It is offered virtually via zoom and scholarships are available. 50% of all tuition will go towards supporting our sisters and brothers who are protecting the Amazon Rainforest.

Register for the session here.

From The Center for Effective Philanthropy: “Despite the urgency of climate change and the narrowing window for action, philanthropic funding to address climate change remains very limited. Total philanthropic giving by foundations and individuals focused on climate change mitigation represents less than two percent of total global philanthropic giving, according to the ClimateWorks Foundation. While there is some evidence of increased momentum in recent years, more action will be needed to match the scale of the climate crisis.”

They surveyed 188 foundation leaders, and 120 nonprofit leaders in order to answer the questions:

How pressing is climate change from the perspective of foundation and nonprofit leaders?
What are nonprofits and foundation leaders doing to address climate change?
How are leaders of organizations that do not focus on climate change thinking about this issue and to what extent are these leaders currently addressing it?
How are climate-focused organizations approaching their work?

Read the full report here.

“In recent years, eye-catching demonstrations by artists have thrown major gifts from “tainted” sources into sharp relief, suggesting museums themselves should be mindful of how they make their money. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, museums made strong public commitments to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion—but two years later museum workers have questioned whether actions reflect words,” said co-authors Laura Callanan (Upstart Co-Lab) and Maxwell L. Anderson (Souls Grown Deep). “One way that museums can strengthen their reputations and follow through on their public declarations is by aligning the billions of dollars in their endowments with their values and missions.”

“A recent survey of independent museums of art and design in the US—published this week by Upstart Co-Lab, the Association of Art Museum Directors and the Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums—sheds light on this disparity, finding that just 13 percent of museums are engaged in impact investing, compared to 47 percent of colleges and universities and 51 percent of foundations.”

“What’s more, the study revealed that issues often cited as barriers to museums getting involved with impact investing have already been solved: the capacity to measure impact, the availability of quality impact investing products across all asset classes and the ability to achieve market-rate financial returns. In fact, a Morningstar report found that sustainable funds outperformed peers in 2021.”

“As also evidenced by the survey results, investment committees and leadership teams tend to drive the conversation around impact investing at the museums leading their peers. But everyone committed to the future of America’s art museums can play a part in shifting museums’ endowments to impact investing.”

Read the full article here.

“Just as no two artists are alike, every arts community is defined by a distinct matrix of identities, perspectives, histories, and economic conditions,” said former GIA board chair Ted Russell, and Lu Zhang. “In order to be successful at any level, arts funding must respond to these conditions. This is why our organizations teamed up to create The Rainin Fellowship, a program tailored for the arts communities of San Francisco’s Bay Area (the home of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation), developed alongside United States Artists, which has supported artists across the country for nearly 20 years.”

“By supporting anchor artists, the Rainin Fellowship aligns with and preserves this unique history, which is just another thing we risk losing if artists are not properly supported. At every moment in our history, the arts and artists have played an integral role in these social movements, including the Berkeley Free Speech Movement and the American Indian Power Movement. But in a time of crisis, stoked by forces of displacement, gentrification, and inflation that are pushing out the constituents of these social movements, the urgency of our challenge becomes clear: How to preserve our communities, and culture, and how to do it swiftly, and sustainably? One answer, we have found, is to support the artists at the centers of these movements, allowing them to keep making work in their communities.”

“From audience engagement to storytelling, institutional critique to social activism, the 2022 Fellows represent various ways that artists affect their communities far beyond what was once considered to be the role of art. This fellowship structure of direct support matched with additional stipends aimed at supporting artists holistically, works for the Bay Area community, but can also be replicated in other communities across the country. And that’s the moment this becomes a national model.”

Read the full article here.

“Nonprofit organizations pledge to serve communities through powerful missions. Often, those missions are around empowerment, restoration, safety, and wholeness for the marginalized within our communities. The past two years of racial reckoning has led the nonprofit sector to examine the ways in which white supremacy lives in our organizational systems,” said Nonprofit Quarterly author Sequoia Owen. “Increasingly, nonprofits are publicly showing support for Black causes—at times, to distance themselves from the appearance of condoning racism. Operating as pro-Black, however, involves much more than releasing a statement of support for Black and Brown lives. It may not even require a change in organizational mission or new programming—an organization can make such changes and still operate with a white supremacist structure.”

“Being a pro-Black organization means internalizing our missions and extending energy and resources to our frontline staff who serve our communities. It calls for the antithesis of divisiveness and destruction and a movement of restoration. Nonprofit leadership must build thriving workplace environments in which staff have the permission and tools they need to become their best selves. A pro-Black organization ensures staff wellbeing, safety, dignity, and advancement by practicing trauma-informed, collective care, prioritizing psychological safety, and restoring worker dignity by providing equitable living wages and building leadership pipelines.”

Read the full article here.