Carmen Graciela Díaz's Blog

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation’s New & Experimental Works (NEW) Program, a grant program that provides project support to small and mid-size dance, theater, and multidisciplinary arts organizations that enable Bay Area artists to produce timely, visionary projects, has rethought its application process.

"In a crisis, short-term efficiency can be a shock amplifier. Long-term efficiency comes from building resilient institutions," states Andrés Spokoiny, president of the Jewish Funders Network, in a recent article in Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Reflecting on Darren Walker's new book, “From Generosity to Justice: a New Gospel of Wealth,” Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, answered some questions posed by the Chronicle of Philanthropy that shed light on the philanthropic field.

The Tipping Point Fund (TPF), a donor collaborative geared towards scaling impact investing, was recently announced by leaders from foundation and family office communities. With $12.5 million in initial funding, the TPF seeks "to make strategic grants to support the creation and development of critical market infrastructure that is necessary to maintain the continued growth and, the integrity, of the impact investing market."

Americans for the Arts announced Diving into Racial Equity: The MAP Fund’s Exploration, a case study that delves into the MAP Fund's racial equity in arts and culture grantmaking, its efforts to change practices toward this goal, and how it has activated the framework "Aesthetic Perspectives", to help mitigate bias in proposal review.

In his foreword for The Haas Institute’s "Notes on A Cultural Strategy" report, director john a. powell writes that "culture can move people in a way that policies cannot. People largely organize themselves and operate around stories and beliefs, not around facts."

Solange Knowles has been announced as the recipient of the Lena Horne Prize for Artists Creating Social Impact, The Root reported.

In the midst of philanthropy's self-examination and taking steps toward change, that shift is best exemplified by Ford Foundation President Darren Walker’s new book From Generosity to Justice: A New Gospel of Wealth, writes Jeff Raikes, cofounder of the Raikes Foundation, in his review of this publication.

Media companies, both legacy and new ones, "still don’t accurately reflect the reality of this country amid our shifting demographics," writes Farai Chideya, program officer in the Creativity and Expressions team at the Ford Foundation, in a recent article.

Theater artists & activists John Malpede and Henriëtte Brouwers and designer Rosten Woo are creating a project that aims to achieve “Skid Row Now & 2040,” a community-generated alternative development plan designed for and by the Skid Row neighborhood of Los Angeles.