GIA Blog

In a recent Artsy article, Kemi Ilesanmi, executive director of The Laundromat Project (The LP), discussed the mission and the work of this New York–based, POC-centered organization "that aims to meet the concerns of local communities of color and enact change through public engagements with the arts by actualizing spaces like community gardens, plazas, and, yes, laundromats."

In "The importance of BIPOC voices and the unique challenges BIPOC content creators face," Vu Le writes in his Nonprofit AF blog, about talented BIPOC folks that are "hesitant to contribute content and get their voices out there."

"We must build up people of color and Indigenous-led philanthropic and movement infrastructure organizations in order to challenge the power structures in this country and invest into the self-determination of the people on the frontlines," said Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective president & CEO, as he recaps the past month of mobilization in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A report from the United States Department of Arts and Culture tackles how "as natural disasters and social emergencies multiply, the need has grown for ethical, creative, and effective artistic response—arts-based work responding to disaster or other community-wide emergency, much of it created in collaboration with community members directly affected."

In "Cultural institutions start to put their assets to work for mission," published in ImpactAlpha, Dennis Price discusses Upstart Co-Lab's new research on "what cultural institutions need to know about investing for values and mission is the first primer on impact investing specifically for leaders of museums and other cultural institutions."

The City of Boulder, Colorado commissioned more than 60 artists who recently lost work due to the COVID-19 pandemic to create new works of art in support of their neighbors.

Marcus Walton, CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), tackles leading while Black, as part of Nonprofit Quarterly's series lifting up Black male voices "to highlight the challenges Black male leaders in the nonprofit sector face, as well as the sector as a whole—amid ongoing anti-Black violence and the disparate racial impact of COVID-19."

For the months of December and January, GIA’s photo banner features work supported by Longhouse at The Evergreen State College, in Olympia, Washington.

It’s been hard for me to come up with a summary of this session, and after some time, I’ve realized it’s because the things that struck me most are not really able to be captured in any linear fashion. In fact, for me, what this session was about was the awesomeness of black women’s leadership and just generally #BlackGirlMagic.

I learned so much from this session and realize how much work I personally, as well as the institutions and organizations I’m part of, have to do so that disability justice becomes “the norm and not the niche,” as panelist Patrice Strahan put it. Especially coming from the public health sector, disabled people are all too often seen in the category of “vulnerable communities” and recipients or clients of health and social services, not as leaders at the cutting edge of critiquing and transforming our society’s current dehumanizing system.