Racial Equity in Arts Funding Workshop: July 2022

Jonny Altrogge

Facilitator, True North EDI

Jonny Altrogge is originally from the Pittsburgh area but has lived and worked in New York City for nearly 10 years. In addition to his work around Diversity, Equity, and Interdependent consulting and facilitating he is a school coach for the NYC public school system. Outside of work Jonny loves all things outdoor-related, and is a musician who previously performed in small venues around the city. Jonny is passionate about continuing his own learning as well as guiding and supporting others on their journey towards understanding what justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion mean in our ever-evolving world and communities. Jonny believes that organizational advancement and achievement begins with understanding the self, and reflecting and focusing on ways in which we can grow as individual.

Nadia Elokdah

Vice President & Director of Programs, Grantmakers in the Arts

Nadia Elokdah is an urbanist, designer, and cultural producer. She currently serves as deputy director and director of programs for Grantmakers in the Arts. Most recently she served as special projects manager with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and she coordinated and co-authored the City’s Monuments Commission and CreateNYC, the first-ever comprehensive cultural plan for NYC in 2017. In this role, she coordinated and led hundreds of engagements with a broad cross-section of the peoples, communities, and stakeholders city-wide. Elokdah is a trained architect and design strategist, researcher, professor, and published author. She holds a Master of Arts in Theories of Urban Practice from Parsons The New School for Design and a Bachelors of Architecture from Temple University.

Sherylynn Sealy

Senior Program Manager, Grantmakers in the Arts

Sherylynn Sealy is a strategist, artist, yoga instructor, and educator with a varied background. Prior to her role with Grantmakers in the Arts, Sealy was a philanthropy fellow with the New York Community Trust where she engaged with arts and culture funders and organizations across New York City. She previously served as a consultant for the New Haven Mayor’s Office and Superintendent’s Office on their implementation of the city-wide Youth Stat Initiative. Managing over 200 student-cases, she served as the point of contact for schools and local partners. She served on the Dance/NYC Junior Committee and is the producing artistic director at Greater Glory Nazarene Ministries in Brooklyn, NY. She continues to explore her passion for performing arts, traveling, and spreading a message of hope. She holds a Masters of Public Administration in Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy from New York University, Bachelors of Science in Education and Psychology from Northeastern University, and is a Teach for America alumna.

Edwin Torres

President & CEO, Grantmakers in the Arts

Edwin Torres joined Grantmakers in the Arts as president & CEO in October 2017. Torres served on the GIA board of directors from 2011. He most recently served as deputy commissioner of cultural affairs for New York City, where he collaborated on the development of the city’s long-term sustainability plan, a study of and efforts to support the diversity of the city’s cultural organizations and the city’s first cultural plan. Prior to joining the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, he was a program officer with The Rockefeller Foundation, where he collaborated on the foundation’s support for arts and culture, jobs access, and resilience. He has also served in the dean’s office at Parsons the New School for Design, on the arts and culture team at The Ford Foundation as well as on the staff of the Bronx Council on the Arts. He holds a Master of Arts in Art History from Hunter College and a Master of Science in Management from The New School.

Tariana Navas-Nieves

Denver Arts & Venues

Tariana Navas-Nieves, the director of Cultural Affairs for Denver Arts & Venues, City and County of Denver, has 30 years of experience in management, equity and race and social justice work, philanthropy, curatorial practice, translation and interpretation, television, and communications. She oversees the City departments of Public Art, Cultural Programs & Events, Creative Industries, SCFD Tier III (Tax District) funding, Arts Education, and the agency’s numerous cultural investments and grant programs. Navas-Nieves is also on the City’s Equity Leadership Team responsible for the oversight and implementation of the City’s equity platform working with all City agencies and ~13K employees. Navas-Nieves serves on national, regional and local boards including: GIA, Philanthropy Colorado (Vice Chair), Philanthropy Colorado Arts & Culture Funders (Co-Chair), Denver Latino Commission, and the Community ACTS Fund focused on funding to support BIPOC, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+, and other historically marginalized communities. She is co-author of Re-Tool: Racial Equity in the Panel Process, and created the learning series “How to be an Anti-Racist Organization. A Conversation with Dwinita & Tariana.” With an expertise in Latin American and American Indian art, she has also served in curatorial posts at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Denver Art Museum, Museo de las Americas, and for private collections in the US and Puerto Rico.

Gabrielle Strong

NDN Collective

Gaby Strong is an enrolled citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate. She brings over 35 years of experience in the tribal, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors. Her professional work includes serving as a program officer for the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies in the Arts & Cultures domain, serving as technical assistance specialist with the Education Development Center, advising tribes, schools, and communities with federal funding streams, serving as tribal administrator for Lower Sioux Indian Community, and as program officer with the Grotto Foundation, where she administered key initiatives, including the Native Language Revitalization Initiative and American Indian Family Empowerment Program. Her community and professional experience has centered on Indian education, Indian child welfare, Native history, language and lifeways, leadership, and community development. She is committed to perpetuating and sharing Native cultural knowledge, particularly Native songs, dance, and horse traditions.

Marcus Walton

President & CEO, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations

Marcus F. Walton joins GEO with over a decade of practice in both nonprofit management and the ontological learning model. He specializes in operationalizing conceptual frameworks; racial equity facilitation and training; leadership and management strategy; stakeholder engagement; program development and navigating philanthropy. In his previous role as Director of Racial Equity Initiatives for Borealis Philanthropy, Marcus lead the Racial Equity Initiatives team and worked in partnership with 18 nationally-networked, philanthropy-serving grantee organizations to move past the “transactional” nature of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to a unified movement which prioritizes strategies that close gaps in access to opportunity, resources and well-being (across all categories of gender, identity, sexual orientation, class and ability). Before that, Marcus served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE), where he oversaw its operations, HR and staff development functions, including the overall strategy, conceptualization and administration of racial equity programming. Prior to ABFE, he combined his organizing experience and passion for public service in the role of Program Officer of Community Responsive Grantmaking with the Cleveland Foundation and Sr. Program Officer with Neighborhood Progress, Inc. Marcus is a Newfield Network-trained ontological coach, with additional training in the Action Learning systems coaching model.