Jaime Sharp's Blog

"You’ve probably heard one. You may have helped craft one. A land acknowledgment is quickly becoming de rigueur among mainstream cultural and arts institutions. An official will stand at a podium and announce: This building is situated on the unceded land of the XYZ people. As if those people are not still here. As if this all happened in the past," said Joseph Pierce for Hyperallergic. "He will breathe deeply and continue: We pay homage to the original stewards of these lands. The audience will nod in agreement. As if homage were the same as returning stolen land."

"A land acknowledgment is not enough."

"PEAK Grantmaking has always been dedicated to creating communities for grants professionals to embrace our Learn, Share, Evolve Principle. As PEAK looks to its next chapter, we want to leverage our existing peer network structures in new ways to better foster a learning community that embraces and advances adaptive learning processes, and we also want to inspire our members to utilize this approach inside their own organizations. PEAK sees the concepts and practices of emergent learning as a natural fit to advance our work around our Principles for Peak Grantmaking in powerful new ways. Now is the time to define the concepts, qualities, and practices of emergent learning, and how we envision operationalizing it throughout our community and in the sector at large."

From Threshold Philanthropy: "Sometimes we forget that the flowers that we delight in during spring and summer did not sprout overnight. There were months of growth, mystery, and magic happening beneath the dark soil that we did not see, before the flowers unfurled and produced the sweet fragrances and foods for us and our plant and animal relatives to enjoy. Threshold Philanthropy was conceived during a pandemic, a racial uprising, and through a text message in a Target parking lot. Beth texted Morgan and offered an idea, a seed if you will. She asked, what if you and I create something with Lindsay? Morgan was like, could you elaborate? Beth said, here’s what I know, you two lead it and center yours and your communities healing. Beth wanted to retire, Morgan and Lindsay wanted to leave their jobs, and all three wanted to see the sector change. Our origins are not like most philanthropies, most are lead and funded by white people and have way more structures and processes in place."

"For the last several years, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) has been re-examining its approaches to engaging the public in discourse around issues of representation, equity, and diversity during the process of commissioning permanent artwork, monuments, and memorials in the public realm. Traditional methods of engagement such as public meetings, surveys, and questionnaires remain important tools. But in order to develop a deeper and more nuanced assessment of community values and priorities, we need to commit to varied forms of engagement that connect with broader, more representative audiences and foster more thoughtful dialogue."

From BlackPittsburgh: "Justin Laing, the Principal at the anti-racist leadership and strategy firm Hillombo, is not your average Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consultant. Prior to founding Hillombo in 2017, Laing was a senior program officer at the Pittsburgh-based The Heinz Endowments, one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the U.S. focused on community building in southwestern Pennsylvania. Laing spent 11 years there. His professional trajectory in the nonprofit world presents a powerful story of dedication to the Black Pittsburgh community."

From Dance/USA: "In Spring 2020, COVID-19 set off a wave of performance and residency cancellations. The termination of contracts through the invocation of Force Majeure was devastating to artists, managers, presenters and in some cases, to their relationships. By June 2020, Dance/USA members from the Agents, Managers, Producers and Promoters (AMPP) Council and the Presenters Council formed a Joint Working Group to address the question: 'Can we identify some practical ways to support more equitable partnerships and financial balance within our already fragile dance touring ecosystem.'"

"A massive 40,000-word report on cryptocurrency that appeared on Bloomberg stirred some controversies."

"According to the article written by journalist Matt Levine, 'every web3 project is simultaneously a Ponzi scheme,' as most tokens are purchased with the purpose of selling them for a higher price, and not because the buyers want the product. According to Levine, the NFT is technologically weak, there's a general negative sentiment about the tokens, and legal grounds of ownership are concerning, considering that buying an NFT buys you a notation on the blockchain, giving you the ownership of a web server and not the token itself."

"The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) today announced the promotion of Maurine Knighton to chief program officer. In this role, Knighton will oversee DDCF’s five national grantmaking programs: Arts, Environment, Medical Research, Child Well-Being and Building Bridges." Maurine Knighton is also a board alum of Grantmakers in the Arts.

"At the age of seven, I was involved in a car accident that nearly amputated my left hand. Since the accident, I have journeyed from denying my disability to embracing it," said Molly Joyce for AFTA. "With this progression, I have frequently rethought concepts that are considered critical to what disability is and can mean, such as being weak, helpless, and incurable."

From The Giving Done Right Podcast: "Author and activist Heather McGhee joins hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette for the fifth episode of season three of the Giving Done Right podcast. Heather provides keen insight into ‘drained pool’ politics, a core metaphor in her book, 'The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together,' that reveals how the racial zero sum mindset hurts everyone.